20th anniversary Club Skirts Dinah: Bigger and better than ever

Mariah Hansen (Photo:Club Skirts)

20 years ago Mariah Hanson threw a party... a big party... at the Palm Springs Art Museum in the California desert.

“I hired a top 10 artist… Martha Wash [It’s Raining Men] … we ended up throwing just a stellar, incredible party,” she recalls. And with that, Club Skirts Presents The Dinah was born. “It was my first year out and it was kind of a nice way to start out because the museum is incredibly gorgeous and women were at Dinah Shore next to statues of Rodin and just priceless artwork…so that was fun…

“We weren’t invited back the next year,” she adds with a laugh. “I think it was a little too wild for them… we definitely started out with a bang.”

The 2010 Club Skirts Dinah won’t have the same problem this year in Palm Springs with the hotels and the community much more accepting of the yearly mega party.

Pool party at the Dinah (Photo: Club Skirts)

“20 years ago people were a little bit more closeted and the hotels were much more conservative than they are now… there is a greater sense of freedom and a greater sense of living out loud than there was 20 years ago and along with that the hotels have really embraced the group and the gay community here in Palm Springs so the combination really creates a very comfortable setting for this weekend.”

While the Dinah template has not changed, the partiers and the venues have. The event has steadily grown and attracted a wider more diverse audience. “We certainly have added events and increased the profile of the entertainment but I think the template that is Dinah Shore has not changed,” Hanson adds. Part of that template is taking over whole hotels. “I think the concept really stuck having 100 percent women-occupied locations. I made sure everything was in walking distance and brought in corporate sponsors,” she says describing the early events. “It was this great package that really resonated with the lesbian market.”

Dancing at The Dinah (Photo: Club Skirts)

Hanson has lots of special events and guests lined up for the 20^th anniversary Dinah March 31 through April 4 at The Hilton Hotel, The Hyatt Regency and the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“I am beyond thrilled to have Rosie O’Donnell join our stellar entertainment line-up on our 20^th Anniversary. My customers love Rosie. She’s a role model, a beacon of hope and a voice of truth. And at The Dinah, once again, she’ll do what we have missed from her for years: stand up. And no one, and I mean no one, does it better than Rosie!”

Hanson is known for being on the cutting edge of guest selection for her popular event.

“I have created a formula for picking emerging artists that I have been honing since 2006 and last year it really worked. When I booked Katy Perry and Lady Gaga they both had one hit on the charts and they were popular but neither of them had become this international phenomenon … by the time they played the Dinah they had both gone triple platinum. That’s pretty interesting to hit that kind of grand slam.”

Hanson is working the same formula this year. “I picked Ke$ha as our emerging artist … already the fourth week at the number one spot in the nation -- Billboard Hot 100 which is every artist’s dream. We picked Salt ‘N Pepa who are still groundbreakers in women’s music…. They are the first rap female duo to cross over mainstream to pop to win a Grammy to go platinum paving the way for a lot of artists that we are enjoying today they are still wildly popular …” The Paradiso Girls, Lolene, and The Motels are also in the 2010 Dinah talent lineup.

A veritable who’s who of lesbian comics will appear in a show April 1 in the Zeldaz Nightclub (walking distance from the hotels). Entertainers include Suzanne Westerhoefer, Vickie Shaw, Erin Foley, Bridget McManus, Sandra Vals, Gloria Bigalow, Jennie McNulty and Nicole Paone.

Hanson also is sensitive to the fight for equality in the LGBT community. “I’m a very active participant in a lot of the causes we face, so I like to sneak in a lot of ‘party with a cause’ themes at my events … but they have to be fun because the Dinah is fun. I can argue the many important ways that the Dinah is a political statement… That it’s a social statement… That it’s a statement of being out… It’s so layered but at its core it is a party.”

A special "No H8" Sunday Pool Party, hosted by fashion photographer Adam Bouska and Jeff Parshley, co-founders of the N0 H8 campaign, will be held at The Hilton Hotel Sunday, April 4. “It’s just going to be part of the party there is no extra cost…. At the end of the day we are going to do a mass photo of the pool party with all those NoH8 tattoos on people faces.”

Celebrities will strut the runway during the Friday fashion show, sponsored by “No H8” Campaign, with part of the proceeds going to Equality California. “We have some great talent… Suzanne Westenhoefer, Elizabeth Keener from the L Word, Brianna Stockton from Workout, Bridget McManus from Logo. Meredith Baxter just agreed to walk our catwalk.”

Hanson said the best part of the event is providing an environment to celebrate lesbian lives. “Women come from all over the world and their differences seem to dissolve once they get into the hotel and the party atmosphere takes over. I like to think that my staff is very welcoming and we set a really nice stage for people…the Dinah can be intimidating …”

Does she have a dream guest? “Pink would be just the pinnacle of success for me… I have talked to her people and they want to play the Club Skirts Dinah … it will happen…Of course I would love Madonna to play it and I have asked her and she said no,” she says laughing.

When the last guest leaves Palm Springs and the 20^th anniversary Dinah is in the record books, Hanson will still be working on the event tying up loose ends. And after a short break she will be back at it again preparing for the 21^st annual Club Skirts Dinah Shore, hoping to make it even bigger and better than this year’s event.

Click here for a complete list of events.