Queens of Cabaret
Drag queens have often been a misunderstood element of modern and past culture. Drag queens use women as a muse of creativity, moulding a persona and identity based on women’s sexuality and appearance. Drag queens use this persona to create a performance and these performances and styles of drag have evolved throughout the years. The Viaduct Showbar is nestled in the heart of the LBGT community of Leeds. I met some of the drag queens who have been performing in drag for years. The Viaduct always seems to be the one place that music is played really loudly throughout the day. It can be heard nearly 50 metres up the road and as soon as the
sun is out the volume is increased. When I walked in it reminded me of a mixture between and 80’s disco an old mans pub. The ceiling is covered in disco balls and any area that they could have put some kind of flashing light, they’ve done it. I’m instantly greeted by Carla Jackson who flashes me a huge smile and shows me to the dressing room where I would be spending the evening taking photos. I go through the red curtain and into the beautiful dressing room. Each drag queen has their own mirror with bulbs round and there are colourful costumes covering most surfaces. There is stacks of makeup on the table and about 30 wigs on shelves around the ceiling.
As each of the drag queen arrives to start getting ready for the show the dressing room starts buzzing with laughter and activity. The art of makeup is astounding. Real eyebrows disappear in an instant to be replaced with perfectly shaded brows while lips are made three times the size as normal. Iva Bouquet, one of the showgirls tells me, ‘it can take me up to 4 hours to get ready sometimes and it does get really tedious if you’ve been doing it all week. I work nearly 5 nights a week and it’s long hours. Usually we don’t leave till about 4 o’clock in the morning.’ Each drag queen has insulted one another’s makeup while I’d been sat with them but it all seems to be in jest. While Uma touches up her contouring she says, ‘we seem like we hate each other don’t we? We don’t mean it really. We’re like a big dysfunctional family.’
Right The showgirls get ready backstage before their show Middle Sascha applies Uma’s eyebrows using the ombre technique bottom right Carla chats with the showgirls backstage before her standup set begins Below Sasha applies vaseline to her lips while getting ready
Above Sascha and Iva apply makeup while Mystique steams her wig Left Iva applies lip liner
While in the dressing room the showgirls were discussing the lack of modern British drag queens. Uma said, ‘drag has really evolved through the years. The performances are different and to do modern drag makeup you need to have a lot more skill. There aren’t many modern British Drag Queens in the news or the media. We have Dame Edna and Lily Savage but we don’t have any young celebrity drag queens.’ The comedy drag that was so popular in the late 90’s and early 00’s has been rivalled by the more flashy American style of drag. Different sub cultures within drag have emerged such as the club kids and the artistic drag queens. RuPauls drag race has had a huge effect on not only the drag community but the younger gay community. Mystique explained, ‘the younger gay men are constantly using lines from the show and acting catty, like how they do in the show. I suppose having gay people on TV to look up to is good but some of the men on RuPaul don’t always set a good example to the younger gay community.’
Top Carla waits backstage before her next stand up performance Above Mystique applies makeup before she performs Left Mystique steams her wig the afternoon before her show
Top Uma Daze performs as Edna in a cabaret Hairspray performance Above Brooke Spears performes Neon Lights Right Pearle Gaates lip syncs in a Sunday night cabaret show
FULL NAME Bradley Denton DRAG NAME Pearle Gattes AGE 19 I told my parents I wanted to be a drag queen when I was 16. It wasn’t a surprise for my mum who said, “Bradley, my makeup’s been disappearing for about a year now, I knew it wouldn’t be your little brother playing with action men in the kitchen. Unless it was your Dad, it had to be you.” Coming out as gay when I was 13 was difficult. My dad didn’t speak to me for a week, but when he did he said he’d learn to accept it. About a year ago he bought me a Lipsy dress that I’d fallen in love with. Although he’d bought it two sizes too small I thought it was an adorable gesture. I was gutted about that dress. I’m currently studying dance in my first year of university. I didn’t want to tell my course friends that I did drag at first; I was worried about their reaction. I kept it to myself for a while but when I did tell them, they were very honest. Some said that they didn’t understand it so weren’t sure what to say to me but the first thing every girl asked was if I could do their makeup. I always go out in drag. I’m not established yet in the drag community so the best way to get noticed is to go on a night out with my friends in drag. Every time I go out, there’s always someone who insults me but I couldn’t care less about someone’s opinion who doesn’t know me. I had an incident when I was walking to a cash machine in Leeds and three guys attacked me. They broke my nose and fractured my jaw. I didn’t want to leave the house after it happened but I don’t view them badly for it. I don’t think anyone should be abused for something they do; some people just need to understand the culture instead of being aggressive towards it. I think doing drag for me is a way of putting out an energy that I can’t exude as a boy. I love to dance as a boy but when I’m dancing onstage in drag I can throw on some heels and be this sassy, glamorous character. I feel a lot more confident when I’m in drag because people aren’t seeing me, they’re seeing the makeup and I can be exactly who I want to be. It’s like putting a barrier between you and strangers. There’s a quote that I think sums up how I feel about drag. “If you’re not feeling too good but you put on a smile, sooner or later you will start to believe in that smile. It will become natural.” I see putting on the makeup and the costume as putting on my happy face. It soon becomes natural to put on this happy face.
FULL NAME Scott Peckover DRAG NAME Uma Daze AGE 21 When I was 16, I tried drag for the first time on Halloween. Like most drag queens that’s how I got into it. I was lucky enough to be offered a job that night at a club in Bradford and I’ve been performing ever since. I got my first job here, at the Viaduct Showbar as a boy dancer a few years ago and since then I’ve become a regular performer for the show cast. We all act like we hate each other but at the end of the day we’re a big family. A lot of people seem to think drag queens are men wanting to be women or that they’re doing it for sexual kicks, but it’s a job and I love my job. I think it’s the transformation you can create with makeup, turning yourself into a completely different person. That’s what
I enjoy the most. My makeup technique is completely self-taught; I only used YouTube tutorials before I got the job here. I would say my style of drag is artistic because I like experimenting with different styles of makeup to create a look that is unique. In heels I can be as tall as 6’6” and I know I can look quite intimidating. You get a lot of people stop and stare but generally people will laugh along and enjoy it. You still get close-minded people though. I’ve noticed the older they are the more standoffish they can be. Saying that I think drag is definitely more accepted now than it has been before.
FULL NAME Luke Heptinstall DRAG NAME Mystique AGE 25 When I was 21, the Viaduct Showbar decided to do a routine for Leeds Pride where some of us opted to dress as women. I dressed in drag and ended up really enjoying it. You can get away with a lot more stuff when you’re in drag than you could do as a boy. You can be flirty, a bit rude, but you’ve got to be able to make light of a situation as well as yourself. I always say drag is like being a clown. You get paid to act like a clown and put makeup on like a clown. People aren’t aware of the talents of drag queens. We are all performers and artists in a way. It’s a talent to completely change our faces from a man to a women’s. My style of drag is all about how I look and compose myself. On stage I’m very girly and elegant. I like to make people think, “is it a boy or is it a girl?’ I think
the UK are used to the brash makeup of Lily Savage and Dame Edna. There aren’t a lot of young queens in the media. Being a drag queen is a time consuming and expensive occupation and we are very hard working. As well as the long hours working nights, we also have to fit rehearsals into our day. It’s not just our time we spend on our performances; we have to buy our own makeup and outfits that can be really expensive. My family were quite accepting of me deciding to become a drag queen. My dad passed away when I was 18 before I got into drag, so I don’t know how he would react. He found it difficult when I came out as gay. He was a police officer and knew people weren’t accepting so didn’t want my life to be difficult.
FULL NAME Carl Onwochei DRAG NAME Carla Jackson AGE 27 I’m what you call an old school drag queen, I’ve come from an older breed. For me, anyone who can pick up a microphone and slate the audience is what drag is about. It’s about comedic timing and someone’s overall performance. I don’t think drag is about getting on stage and miming to a song. Anyone can do that, there’s no entertainment in that. I first started doing drag when I was 19. It wasn’t even something I knew anything about. I was a newly gay student nurse at the time and I entered a competition to raise money for a HIV charity. I had to dress in drag and got spotted and was offered a job. 9 years later I’m still doing it. At first my parents hated the fact I wore women’s clothes to earn money. When I first told them, we didn’t speak for years. I think my Dad approached me in the end and I assured him it was a job, I didn’t want to be a woman. It took them to realise the dress was metaphorically just a shirt and tie for me. Now they’re my biggest fans and love to see me perform. As soon as the eyelashes and the wig go on, I become a different character. As a man I’m very kind and compassionate, completely opposite end of the spectrum to what Carla Jackson is. She’s loud, she’s brash and she’s vulgar. But she’s taken 9 years to get to that point. For the first 5 years Carla was just myself in a wig. One day something clicked and I knew I had to give her a character. I’m sure there’s people in the past who’ve been sec-
tioned for having two personalities, I’ve just happened to make mine into a very good money earner. I don’t think people are aware of how much the drag community advocates for unspoken causes. At the viaduct we do a lot of fundraisers for cancer research. One of our cast members is currently recovering from cancer and has just returned back to work. We also do a lot of charity work for HIV charities. We’ve all had friends who’ve died of Aids. Whatever has affected us stirs us emotionally, making us want to highlight it to the community. We have a voice so we want to use it. The drag community in Leeds is very close nit. It used to be quite fragmented. We’ve had a few bullies behind the scenes but now they’ve gone there’s a lovely harmony across all the venues. This can be quite rare because drag queens can be very catty. If anyone asked for help and visa versa it wouldn’t be a problem in our community. We’re all men in wigs at the end of the day. I like drag but I can’t see myself doing it for the rest of my life. I cant see myself at 40 still putting makeup on. I do voluntary work for a HIV charity on the side of this as well. I’m also waiting to hear if I’ve been accepted on a social work course at University. Social work I think is something I’m suited to. I have a genuine passion for helping people.