Woman Crush Wednesday: Rudy Flesher

Every hump day, a Philly woman (or man) shares her local picks for Woman Crush Wednesday. Today, co-president of the Spruce Foundation, activist, entertainer and mainstay on our Man Crush Monday column Rudy Flesher. 

Rudy Flesher

My name is Rudy, and these are my picks for Woman Crush Wednesday.

Kelly Kroehle

When she's not empowering youth at The Attic Youth Center she's kicking ass and taking names for Girls Justice League. Does it hurt that she's a total babe and has a dog that looks like an Ewok extra from Return of the Jedi? No, no it does not.

Rebecca Alvarez

I met her as one third of Screw Smart, but she's a fierce lady in her own right, as well. She has a honking laugh that can cheer the despondent and wake the dead, and a smile that beams pure joy across a city block. One day I will win her heart by getting in good with a curator at the Mütter Museum and taking on her a behind-the-scenes tour of rare dental disease specimens. So weird, so Philadelphia, so her!

Lascivious Jane

Some queens have drag mothers, but I'm genderfuck royalty and I have a Glitter Mama. Maybe that makes this all a bit Freudian, but she makes my list! Without her I would have never shaken in Philly, shimmied in New York, or done a spoken-word burlesque striptease and prayer in Cambridge. True story! Whenever she's on stage, you should be in the audience!

Lobstar Bisque

My first memory of Ms. Lobstar Bisque is her pulling me aside at a bumping Stimulus party to sing a soaring opera aria right into my ear as though it were a private concert. Whether she's singing with the Anna Crusis Women's Choir or working a burlesque stage, she brings talent, joy, and a hell of a set of pipes to every stage she graces.

Ashley Coleman

I don't know if I want to read Ashley's tarot, date her, or rein reincarnate as her in another life. It's no secret that if I rang in at a zero on the Kinsey scale I'd be a boob man, but the first thing I noticed about Ashley was her hair styled in a retro victory roll and pinned with a stylish fascinator. She's an award-winning bartender for a reason—you can't walk away from her bar without a warm heart and a big smile!

Amber Hikes

What can be said about Amber that hasn't already been written in sonnets, and Woman Crush Wednesdays of yore? Among the very best things about my tenure as a Board member at William Way has been the opportunity to become friends with Amber, not to mention us discussing our mutual crush on Pennsylvania history-maker and former Board colleague Judge Ann Butchart. Our mutual love for brilliant, trail-blazing women in smart suits keeps us close. (Hillary 2016!)

Mistor Fahrenheit and Lili St. Queer

I don't have any drag daughters—we can probably all agree that one The Notorious OMG was enough for the Gayborhood. However, both of these brilliant performers gave their first show on my stage, and that is one of the proudest points of my cabaret career. The only thing cuter than them as individuals is them as a couple and I cannot wait to toast their marriage.

Share your Woman Crush Wednesday!

Here are the rules: (1) Name five to 10 ladies you’re crushing on (2) You and all women involved must be from Philadelphia (3) Email your crushes to ferrazchristina@gmail.com.

Our Last Five Woman Crush Wednesdays:

• Ashley Coleman
• Lauren Zumpano
• Suzi Nash
• Alyssa Mutryn
• Morgan Levine