By Patte Purcell
I always do my interviews by phone but I made an exception when it came to Alfie Petit. When he suggested that we meet at his place I had to say yes. We were not disappointed. We drove through the neighborhood of gorgeous contemporary town homes when we spotted the one with the glitzy jacket and pink wig displayed in the window. This was his place.
Alfie and Petunia (his pug) met us at the door. The home is spectacular with a view to the patio with a vortex fire tower. We chose to do the interview out there. I met Alfie once in Palm Springs along with his signature pink Cadillac. We friended on Facebook and I’ve become quite a fan of this tireless promotor, entertainer and businessman.
I’ve watched on Facebook Live when he got his star on the ‘Walk of Stars’ Palm Springs last September, a fabulous affair that had the whole town buzzing. I watched him on Facebook as he went through a facelift procedure that was quite amazing to see. I’ve heard and seen a lot from one of Palm Springs most famous residents.
I can’t say that he’s actually a jazz performer but he likes jazz and has some in his show so that should be close enough.
So who is Alfie? At present he is the promotor of the ‘Carnival Cabaret’ the leading female impersonator review in Palm Springs. The cast of men portray famous women performers and musical artists.
Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion are just some of the artists impersonated.
We had a great conversation about how he grew up including a funny story about how his mom used to dress him up as a girl when he was little and how she sent him to school dressed as Shirley Temple for Halloween. When he got there, he padded tissues in his dress and said he was Dolly Parton. Even as a child he had a dramatic flair.
Alfie is probably best known for his alter ego ‘Arial Trampway’ the 6’4′ performer in stilettos that single handedly took a fledgling show and turned it into a packed powerhouse. When approached to be a part of the show the savvy businessman negotiated 40% and in turn promised to put ‘butts in chairs’ as he put it. When he first took over, part of the promotion for the show included Arial on a segway during Villagefest, passing out fliers for the show before and during intermission on Thursday nights.
He retired from performing last May and now devotes his time to promoting and managing the popular show.
In addition, he raises money for charities and is a tireless advocate for the underprivileged. We enjoyed an instant connection when he mentioned Louise Hays (You Can Heal Your Life) which is also my wellness bible.
Alfie has overcome some major health challenges including HIV and substance abuse issues. He has been sober for over 5 years now. His sober date was 11/11/11 a spiritual number of awakening. I enjoyed our conversations in metaphysics. He is a devotee of the famous Abraham writings (The Law of Attraction, The Vortex) and used those principals to heal and overcome the challenges in his life.
When I asked about his future plans we discussed the possibility of him doing some RVing (something dear to my heart). He mentioned that some of his friends are on their 3rd RV so he might be joining them for some fun time on the road.
His biggest news is that he also has his own reality show in the works for cable TV. Now that would be fun!
Whatever his future brings we know that Alfie has his finger on the pulse of Palm Springs and brings an exciting, and fun aspect to the city we all love. His motto is ‘Art is life and life is art’.
To find out about Carnival Cabaret (at Oscars) visit www. carnivalcabaret.com.
I asked Alfie if he’d like to do a guest spot at one of our Celebrity Jams and he said he’d love to! So look for that to happen in the not too distant future.
Patte Purcell – Muze Muzic
pattepurcell@yahoo.com 1-702-219-6777
