KEY WEST, Fla. — Christopher Peterson has a big shoe to fill: the giant red high heel that carried drag queen Sushi for 25 years during Key West’s famed New Year’s Eve Red Shoe Drop — a takeoff on New York City’s Times Square ball drop.
Female impersonator Peterson was chosen to star in the shoe drop when Sushi “hung up the heel” after last year’s celebration. A veteran performer, Peterson is renowned for his one-man EYECONS show at a local cabaret, where he portrays famous women including Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Joan Rivers and Lady Gaga.
“I always wanted to be a female impersonator,” said Peterson. “I didn’t necessarily think I would be in a giant red shoe, but I knew that I was going to wear a pair of red shoes because I do a fabulous Judy Garland impersonation.”
However, he admitted, presiding over New Year’s Eve festivities while sitting in the shoe — suspended high above thousands of revelers at the Bourbon St. Pub/New Orleans House complex on Key West’s Duval Street — has its nerve-wracking aspects.
“I think the major nerve is, I’ve never really done performing 30 feet off the ground inside of a giant red shoe,” Peterson said.
Since its inception, the Red Shoe Drop has become so famous that it’s regularly featured on national and international New Year’s Eve television programs.
Peterson, who intends to wear a glamorous self-designed gown, got some tips from predecessor Sushi for the big night.
“The main advice that I asked Sushi was how to hang on and make sure that you don’t fall out,” he said. “That’s pretty much what I’m going to be doing all night, is just hanging on for dear life.”
Peterson plans to sing several numbers live from the shoe during the festivities’ pre-midnight show — including the aptly-named “Defying Gravity” from the hit musical “Wicked.”
And as the last 60 seconds of 2023 tick off the clock, Peterson is to be lowered from the complex’s second-story balcony in the giant red heel while the crowd cheers, and pop the cork on a celebratory bottle of champagne to welcome 2024.
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