On March 25, a very special girl had her Bat Mitzvah. For 13 years, David Krom has been De De Deville, a droll and willowy glamourpuss with a knack for stealing the spotlight: at Belle Starr's weekly drag show at Sidekicks, as a cover girl for KC's Camp Magazine, with the Girly Show at Bar Natasha, or as Suzanne Pleshette's character in The Birds at Late Night Theatre. Any skinny pretty boy with good legs and better balance can throw on a wig, paint his lips, strap on some stilettos and become a drag queen, but Deville's wicked humor and impeccable style make her a diva. "One night during a performance of The Birds for Late Night's 10th anniversary, a cell phone went off in the audience in a scene when De De was showing me her garden," Late Night's Ron Megee recalls. "De De says to me, without missing a beat, ÔOh, those must be my blue bells.' She never made me break before. She definitely did then." On that Sunday night in March, throngs of party animals flocked to Megee's West Bottoms loft to attend "The Night of 1,000 De De Devilles." The Dynasty-themed soiree included a floor show where friends paid homage to their lady of the night by aping Deville's most celebrated numbers, and also featured a performance by Deville herself, who was a vision in pearly taffeta and a platinum-blond bob as Dynasty's Krystle Carrington. Well played, De De darling.
