The brilliantly funny queer comedian Robert White who made it to the finals of Britain’s Got Talent flippantly explained his Asbergers away by claiming he is a genius. He played the line for laughs although, by the time he finished his act, I had totally come to agree.
White’s appearance on TV is part of a visible dialogue about the sheer potential that people on the spectrum can achieve if their parents refuse to accept the traditional medical advice of just writing them off at childhood. Up to very recently once a child had been diagnosed with Aspergers they were actively encouraged to place them in a special residential home and literally walk away knowing that their child could never amount to anything.
Luckily for six-year-old Kyle Westphal when his parents learned he was on the Autism spectrum they went against all medical advice and refused to accept they could never develop a real connection to him. As they watched him withdraw from their world and all that was around him they desperately searched for an alternative means to enable Kyle to start to relate them
They are the real heroes of this heart-string-pulling film that documents the journey the entire family , and a host of volunteers undertook for Kyle to have a real connection with them. They came upon an experimental project which they soon embarked on which immersed them all in an intense one-on-one program with them joining Kyle in his unique behaviors The emphasis was not to punish or forbid him from constantly wrapping himself up in blankets and his favorite piece of fabric but to join him and encourage him and to slowly develop him to adopt other activities that would path a way into some more social behavior.
The documentary tracks this exceptional journey and the sheer patience and commitment to the lengthy process which is a story of extraordinary love the like of which is way too rare.
Now twenty years later and Kyle has achieved his lifetime ambition of becoming a fashion designer in which his tutors acknowledge how very talented he is at. It’s an art form that encourages individuality and uniqueness that so suits a very happy Kyle and gives him a sense of fulfillment none of us could have imagined at the start if his journey
Except maybe his parents as they look back and see how by ignoring the traditional medical advice and let the Kyle who always found comfort in his favorite fabric to making it his real purpose in his life.
We viewed this fascinating and eye-opening documentary by Dan Crane and Kate Taber recently at DOC NY Festival,and the new good news is that Greenwich Entertainment will be giving it a full release in February 2022. Make a note as you really shouldn’t miss it.
Long-running “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider lost in an episode that aired Wednesday, ending the second-longest winning streak in the quiz show’s history.
Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, was defeated by Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, who raked in $29,600 in the latest game, besting Schneider, at $19,600.
She left the show with nearly $1.4 million in winnings and had no regrets about the streak’s end.
Almost all of Schneider’s wins had been in 2-to-1 blowouts going into Final Jeopardy, meaning the final questions figured only in how much prize money she would score.
But Wednesday’s game was unusually close. Schneider led Talsma by $27,600 to $17,600 heading into the last question, under the category “Countries of the World.”
The show wanted to know which is the only nation that ends its English spelling with an “h” and is also among the world’s top 10 most populous countries.
Talsma correctly asked, “What is Bangladesh?” while Schneider came up blank. His winning bet of $12,000 and her losing wager of $8,000 meant a new champion was suddenly crowned.
“It’s really been an honor,” Schneider said. “To know that I’m one of the most successful people at a game I’ve loved since I was a kid and to know that I’m a part of its history now, I just don’t know how to process it.”
Talsma’s quick trigger was key to his staying close throughout the game, Schneider said.
“I had thought that Rhone was going to be tough going into it,” she said in a statement released by the show.
“I loved hanging out with him, we had great conversation before the taping, but I could tell that he was here to play and that he was going to be good. I still came very close to winning, but I did feel like maybe I was slipping a little bit. And once it was clear that he was fast on the buzzer, I knew it was going to be a battle all the way.”
Rhone Talsma, a librarian from Chicago, finished in first place with $29,600.Casey Durkin / Sony Pictures Television
For much of the Double Jeopardy round, it looked as though Schneider would cruise to another easy win. At one point, she was up by $24,400 to $5,800 over Talsma.
But then Talsma nailed a late Daily Double, correctly naming the Greek goddesses of vengeance, the Furies. He doubled up from $7,800 to $15,600 and put himself in position to overtake Schneider in Final Jeopardy.
Just after the game, Schneider praised Talsma for taking the huge gamble on that Daily Double.
“It’s the right thing to do but I’ve seen several contestant not be able to pull the trigger on that,” she told the winner.
With nothing to lose, Talsma said he didn’t think twice.
“I’m just playing for fun, I was just going to go big. Wow,” he said.
When Talsma, sporting distinctive neon-framed glasses, took the “Jeopardy!” stage in Culver City, California, he had no idea he’d be facing down one of the winningest contestants in the show’s history.
“I’m still in shock,” Talsma said of his victory. “This is my favorite show. … I was so excited to be here, and I just wanted to do my best. I did not expect to be facing a 40-day champion, and I was excited to maybe see someone else slay the giant. I just really didn’t think it was going to be me, so I’m thrilled.”
Schneider’s success was particularly celebrated by the transgender community, as she became the first transgender contestant to make it to Tournament of Champions, which will be played this fall, and is now the highest-earning female competitor in “Jeopardy!” history.
She won $1,382,800, good for No. 4 all time in regular season play, trailing only Jennings ($2.5 million), James Holzhauer ($2.4 million) and Matt Amodio ($1.5 million).
Jennings, who splits “Jeopardy!” hosting duties with former “Blossom” and “Big Bang Theory” actor Mayim Bialik, presided over Schneider’s winning streak.
“It was just so amazing to watch; like I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” Jennings told Schneider on stage after the game. “It was an honor to be here.”
Set amongst the bustling crowds and underground karaoke clubs of Tokyo, WEST NORTH WEST explores themes of gender, sexuality, nationality, and religious identity through the complex desires of three women. The film is now featuring on PeccadilloPOD, a new On-Demand platform for LGBTQ+ cinema.
Beautiful Kei (Hanae Kan) works at a cocktail bar, and her girlfriend Ai (Yuka Yamauchi) works as a model. Fearing she’ll be ostracized by society, Kei chooses not to admit her sexual orientation to anyone, and, as a result, she becomes distressed and lonely. One day, randomly in a café, Kei meets Naima, (Sahel Rosa) a very religious Iranian student studying art in Japan. Despite their vast cultural differences Kei and Naima begin to enjoy each other’s company. Passionate Ai quickly becomes jealous of them and their budding relationship. Kei gradually becomes pessimistic as she thinks about a future with Ai, and Ai worries that she will lose Kei. In the meantime, Naima is having a hard time understanding what Kei wants despite growing closer to her. All three of them are embarrassed and insecure but eventually, they begin to share their emotions.
Actor turned award-winning director, Takuro Nakumura’s feature film takes us on a slow journey through modern-day relationships in Tokyo. Dark and gloomy cinematography complements a melodrama told through dialogue, the actors’ expressions, and long silences rather than action-packed scenes. We follow the three young women as they tentatively navigate their way through their developing relationships with each other, often inconclusively. The slow-burn scenes are intimate and intriguing, and sometimes confusing, reflecting today’s life for many early 20 somethings who don’t fit into a stereotypical relationship box.
Sahel Rosa gives a very convincing performance as the studious, very religious, Iranian Naima who has never even worn make-up before she encounters the very sophisticated Japanese Kei. Hanae Kan (Kei) and Yuka Yamauchi (Ai) are also strong actors with great chemistry, and the three hold our attention for the two-hour running time of the film. Director Nakumura wants us to appreciate that ultimately there are actually only very small differences between characters of different sexualities and different cultural backgrounds. This he achieves. A good film for the long winter evenings right now.
Sunday January 30 @ 3 pm. Duo Quartet at Occidental Center for the Arts. The Duo Quartet brings together the stellar talents of Nina Gerber and Chris Webster in concert with another dynamic duo, Pam Delgado and Jeri Jones of Blame Sally. With a beautiful set of original music mixed with surprisingly original takes on a few choice covers, Duo Quartet brings to the stage a band that is greater than the sum of its already impressive parts.Tickets are $30 General / $25 for OCA members at www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org . Proof of COVID Vaccine is required for this event, please bring your vaccine card and ID. OCA’s facilities are accessible to people with disabilities. Fine refreshments available, masking required when not eating/drinking per current County Health Ordinance. OCA Art Gallery open for viewing/gift purchase.Become an OCA Member and get discounts/free admission. OCA is a non profit performing and fine arts center located at 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465.
Proust wrote “Perfume is that last and best reserve of the past, the one which when all our tears have run dry, can make us cry again!” The Perfume Thief by Timothy Schaffert offers a vivid and striking story that exemplifies this observation. A whiff of a scent conjures up an event in the past, transporting one to that moment where a smell becomes indelible in the catalog of one’s senses. In a novel imbued with deception hidden in plain sight, perfume emerges as the most powerful and truthful presence in this redolent tale of Nazi Occupied Paris during World War II.
It’s six months since the Nazis took over Paris. An American ex-pat lesbian, seventy-two-year-old Clementine, spends her days creating perfumes on the first floor of her house, formerly a school for young gentlemen, which serves as her laboratory and shop. At night, Clem dresses in her best menswear to move around the dingier side of Parisian nightlife. Accompanying Clem on her nightly excursions is Blue, named after his stunning blue eyes, a twenty-one-year-old gay Frenchman, who escaped his abusive uncle to find the school. Most nights Clem and Blue, in matching tuxedos, head to Madame Boulette’s, a brothel that hosts a lively and seedy cabaret. At Madame Boulette’s, they visit their friend, Day Shabillée, an American singer known for a sentimental hit twenty years ago.
As Clem’s reputation as a perfumer precedes her, Madame Boulette also hires our hero to produce signature fragrances for her girls. With a candid first-person voice, Clem’s empathy, tinged with cynicism, establishes itself in her relationships. Day summons Clem to Madame Boulette’s in hopes of convincing her to help her friend, Zoë St. Angel, the daughter of a famous Jewish perfumer, Monsieur Pascal.
… the novel evokes a tapestry of smells and their obscure origins. Paris is wistfully recalled through the scents of each character’s freedom before the war.
The Nazis have taken Pascal away and a superior intelligence officer, Oskar Voss, is ensconced in his house. Zoë receives a note from her father adorned with a special symbol which she knows is the key to finding her father’s perfume secrets, including the formula of the eponymous perfume he created for her. Faced with the reality of the Occupation, she wants to reconcile with her father after a seventeen-year absence. She asks Clem to help her find his book before it falls into Voss’s hands. Voss believes the diary contains a perfume recipe that can disguise the use of a fatal gas which he hopes will solidify his worth in Hitler’s estimation. Clem herself has an ulterior motive for finding Pascal’s book: she thinks it will confirm her suspicions that Pascal stole a perfume from her.
When Voss hears about Clem and her talent for recreating any scent, he orders her to his house so they can partner in the search for the book. Voss, close in age to Clem, flirts with her with invitations to parties and excursions including a grotesque free reign shopping spree in a department store housed with goods taken from the Jews of Paris. He finds Clem so enigmatic because she was mythologized in a tawdry exposé, The Perfume Thief, penned by a detective that spent his career chasing after her. Voss challenges her gender expression by sending over dresses for her to wear on their outings. Clem demonstrates her agility to code-switch as she strings Voss along with stories of her thieving escapades and revealing to him about the great love of her life, M. Clem learned from M about tea concoctions that elicit sickness. She uses this knowledge to make sachets “stitched together [from] a smoky blend of noxious herbs and pernicious weeds that would be fatal only to a kitten,” and passes them off to Voss as healing teas. What ensues is a high-stakes strategic and intellectual game of cat-and-mouse with consequences that could result in death for either of them. Their relationship is complicated further by their flourishing respect for each other’s survival skills.
As the novel pulses forward, the narrative is infused with impending danger as Clem struggles to protect everyone. Through interspersing chapters, Clem narrates the memories of her past triggered by her present life. Clem’s intelligent narrative voice and her upfront tone captivate with its honesty and acuity. Through Clem’s perspective, the novel evokes a tapestry of smells and their obscure origins. Paris is wistfully recalled through the scents of each character’s freedom before the war. As secrets and truths are revealed of all, the destiny of each character—and the choices they make—cause reverberations in the lives of the others.
Small acts of bravery during the Resistance may be less known, but this novel gives imagination to the courage of queer lives during the Occupation. Clem embodies the wisdom of a fully-rendered life, filled with deception, compassion, and transformation.
Small acts of bravery during the Resistance may be less known, but this novel gives imagination to the courage of queer lives during the Occupation. Clem embodies the wisdom of a fully-rendered life, filled with deception, compassion, and transformation. A luminous character invented to populate the queer history that was lost. Once she’s allowed herself to love others, she deceives one last time for those she loves.
The Perfume Thief
by Timothy Schaffert
Doubleday
Hardcover, 978-0385545747, 368 pp.
August 2021
Dr. Phil is in the hot seat following an episode of his talk show featuring conservative blogger and podcaster/anti-trans activist Matt Walsh.
The episode aired on January 19 and featured Walsh, a self-described “fascist,” debating a non-binary couple. Over the course of the conversation, the couple, identified as “Ethan” and “Addison”, argued with Walsh about what constitutes a woman as he accused them of “appropriating womanhood.”
“This is one of the problems with left-wing gender ideology,” Walsh ranted. “No one who espouses it can even tell you what these words mean. What is a woman?”
Later in the exchange, words got especially heated when Addison asked Walsh, “I’m trying to understand. You definition of a woman is someone who is female, is what you said, right?”
“Correct,” Walsh answered. “A biological female.”
“So what happens when you have maybe someone who is female, a cisgender woman, as you just explained, that doesn’t have the ability to reproduce? Maybe she doesn’t have those organs–”
“I have answered the question,” Walsh snapped. “You sit up here and said ‘trans women are women.’ You tell me. What is a woman?”
Addison replied, “Womanhood is something that, as Ethan explained, I cannot define because I, myself…”
“But you use the word!” Walsh interrupted. “What did you mean when you said ‘trans women are women’ when you don’t know what that means?”
“I do not define what a woman is because I do not identify as a woman,” Addison explained. “Womanhood is an umbrella term that describes people who identify as a woman. Each person has their own relationship with their gender identity.”
Of course, to anyone who knows him, it should come as no surprise that Walsh came ready to spew transphobic vitriol. He has a long history of transphobia, having authored the children’s book Johnny the Walrus, which compares being transgender to pretending to be a walrus.
He also has a history of homophobia, having called Pride month a “celebration of vanity” and denounced adoption by same-sex couples. He has also defended the vigilante actions of Kyle Rittenhouse, opposes abortion, and claims that doing yoga is anti-Christian, among other things.
Saturday January 22 @ 7:30 pm. Stephane Wrembel Band. Occidental Center for the Artsis proud to presentthe world renowned French composer (theme song for ‘Midnight in Paris’) and dazzling Gypsy jazz guitarist Stephane Wrembel ! Wrembel brings his superb band, unique multi-faceted style and his dazzling Django-inspired guitar techniques to OCA for the third time. Wrembel’s stellar band includes long-time collaborators Thor Jensen (guitar), Ari Folman Cohen (bass),and Nick Anderson (drums). Don’t miss one of the finest guitar players in the world with his band on our stage! $30 General/$25 OCA Members. www.occidentalcenterforthearts.org. Masks are required. Fine refreshments available, Art Gallery open. OCA is accessible to people with disabilities. Become an OCA Member and get discounts/free admission. OCA is a non profit performing and fine arts center located at 3850 Doris Murphy Ct. Occidental, CA. 95465.
TV shows featuring transgender and nonbinary people dominated the media award nominations released Wednesday by the LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD.
Every year since 1990, GLAAD has honored films, television shows, musicians, journalists and other media figures for fair, accurate and inclusive representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
Of the 30 television shows nominated in three categories — outstanding comedy series, outstanding drama series and outstanding new TV series — 18 feature transgender and/or nonbinary characters, including “Pose,” “9-1-1: Lone Star,” “Good Trouble,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The L Word: Generation Q,” “Star Trek: Discovery” and “The Sex Lives of College Girls.”
Ian Alexander as Gray of the Paramount+ original series “Star Trek: Discovery.”Michael Gibson / Paramount+
This year’s list includes 246 nominees across 30 categories — up from 198 nominees across 28 categories last year. This year GLAAD added two categories: outstanding new TV series and outstanding original graphic novel/anthology.
“Media can create positive change and this year’s nominees represent powerful projects, stories, and creators that positively shifted culture and enlightened audiences with new and impactful LGBTQ stories,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, said in a statement. “There are more nominees this year than ever before, highlighting a growing landscape of LGBTQ visibility, and serving as a reminder to the critical role that film, television, music, journalism, and other forms of media can play in growing LGBTQ acceptance in the face of ongoing attacks against our community.”
Many of the nominees in other categories also featured trans characters or told the stories of trans people “in timely, nuanced, and empowering ways,” GLAAD said, in the deadliest year on record for trans people. Also in the last year, dozens of states considered legislation to ban trans girls from female school sports teams and block trans youths’ access to gender-affirming health care.
Other nominated shows and films featuring trans and nonbinary people include “West Side Story,” “Changing the Game,” “Legendary,” “Queer Eye,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “We’re Here,” “Port Authority” and “The Loud House.”
Of the 10 nominees for outstanding video game, six feature trans and nonbinary characters, including “Boyfriend Dungeon,” “Far Cry 6,” “The Gardener and the Wild Vines” and “Life is Strange: True Colors.”
Transgender and nonbinary characters appear in five of the nominated comic books and graphic novels, including the two anthologies: “DC Pride” and “Marvel’s Voices: Pride.”
GLAAD noted that many of the nominations in journalism also featured trans people or highlighted issues affecting the trans community.
NBC News, MSNBC and NBC’s “TODAY” show garnered a combined seven nominations, with NBC News Digital receiving nominations for “TransAmerica” for outstanding TV journalism, long form, and “As anti-trans violence surges, advocates demand policy reform“ for outstanding online journalism article.
Though many of GLAAD’s nominees centered on trans stories, GLAAD’s latest “Where We Are on TV” report released last year found a year-over-year decrease in the number of transgender characters on TV. The group attributed the decline to the pandemic and the fact that several shows with prominent trans characters were not expected to return.
However, transgender actress Angelica Ross, who starred in Ryan Murphy’s “Pose,” told NBC News last year that she believes the dropin representation is due to a lack of effort in Hollywood.
Angelica Ross as Candy in “Pose.”JoJo Whilden / FX
“As to be expected, a good percentage of the movement for diversity was performative and predictable,” Ross said. “Many of my trans colleagues who are creators saw this coming well before it started happening. It is why folks like myself, Rain Valdez, Janet Mock, Shakina Nayfack and others are using our space in the industry to create more roles and create more space for truly diverse storytelling.”
Though GLAAD’s report found that overall LGBTQ representation was down — as well as trans representation — it also found that LGBTQ people of color on TV outnumbered their white counterparts for the first time in the 25 years that GLAAD has been keeping track.
Similarly, a significant number of this year’s nominees feature the stories of LGBTQ people of color, according to GLAAD. Those nominees in the film and television categories include “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” “Breaking Fast,” “Gossamer Folds,” “The Obituary of Tunde Johnson,” “Plan B” and “Tu Me Manques.”
Many LGBTQ artists of color were also nominated for outstanding music artist or outstanding breakthrough music artist, including Lil Nas X, Halsey, Kaytranada, Demi Lovato, Arlo Parks and Japanese Breakfast.
Award winners will be announced during two live ceremonies: in Los Angeles in April, and in New York City in May. The full list of nominees can be found on GLAAD’s website.
“Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider made history again on Friday, becoming the highest-earning female contestant in the game show’s nearly 57-year run.
The engineering manager’s 18th consecutive win brought her total earnings to $706,800, bumping her above Larissa Kelly to become the show’s top-earning female player.
Kelly, a science fiction writer and academic who built up a record $655,930 through regular season play and tournament competitions, applauded Schneider’s historic win on Twitter.
Amy Schneider on “Jeopardy!”Jeopardy
“Well, it was fun to hold a Jeopardy record for a few years…but it’s been even more fun to watch @Jeopardamy set new standards for excellence, on the show and off. Congratulations to Amy on becoming the woman with the highest overall earnings in the show’s history!” she wrote.https://iframe.nbcnews.com/fOv9xz6?_showcaption=true&app=1
Schneider responded, tweeting: “Thanks so much, I’m honored to be in your company, and I look forward to some day watching the woman who beats us both!”https://iframe.nbcnews.com/RSvqMQI?_showcaption=true&app=1
The Oakland, California, native’s record-breaking win marked the second time she made game show history this year. Last month, Schneider became the show’s first transgender contestant to qualifyfor the Tournament of Champions, an annual competition among 15 players who have earned the most money from the prior season.
Despite the historic nature of her win for the LGBTQ community, Schneider has said she does not want her gender identity to be her entire persona.
“I didn’t want to make too much about being trans, at least in the context of the show,” she wrote in a Twitter thread last month. “I am a trans woman, and I’m proud of that fact, but I’m a lot of other things, too!”
Schneider’s Friday win also made her the fourth-highest earner in a single season, according to a tally on the show’s website. Her earnings put her behind only Ken Jennings, James Holzhauer and Matt Amodio — who earned $2,520,700, $2,462,216 and $1,518,601 in a single season, respectively.
On Monday night, Schneider nudged her earnings up to $745,200 with a 19th consecutive win.
If she wins again Tuesday, Schneider will make game show history for a third time this year, tying with supply chain professional Julia Collins, who won the most consecutive games among the show’s female contestants in 2014.
This cast of five features Alexander Howard as Casey, the Elvis impersonator whose career goes awry, whose life falls apart, and who ends up needing to learn how to work in drag.
Joey Abrego is the fabulous Miss Tracy Mills, who teaches Casey how to do it.
The following is a slightly edited interview I conducted with Joey, who arrives next week from LA to begin rehearsals on the show.
CK – In The Legend of Georgia McBride, you teach Casey how to perform as a drag queen. Did you have mentors when you entered the world of drag performance?
I truly am a believer in the idea that it takes a village. I have been fortunate enough to have a variety of mentors in and out of the drag community that have influenced, inspired, and shaped me. I started out in theater here in Santa Rosa and then continued to study theater in college down in Southern California. After graduation, I was working in regional theater in the area, and during that time, I would go out with some friends every now and then and I met a couple of drag queens. One of them convinced me to participate in a fundraiser as a drag queen and they put me in drag and let me prance around to some music. It was an absolute BLAST! From that moment on, I dove headfirst into drag and tried to soak up as much knowledge as I could.
I’ve had mentors who helped me figure out makeup, hair styling, performance for drag, outfits, business relationships, etc. In addition to these queens who have helped me in those areas, I also have to acknowledge all my theater teachers and mentors who gave me the foundation upon which I develop my drag. I try to bring theatricality and all the training that goes with that into my drag in order to make it feel more unique and like myself.
CK – What were your greatest strengths or challenges?
I felt like my strengths always resided in my performance and connection to the audience. Of course, I have learned and continue to learn to refine and improve, but I’ve been lucky enough to have the instincts to work a crowd and perform.
Challenges have been PLENTIFUL! Drag is FAR from easy and takes a while to get used to and to feel grounded and comfortable in. Of course, learning to style hair or do your make-up is challenging, and being in tights and heels for hours upon hours is difficult. But the most challenging part of drag for me has been discovering what I bring that makes my drag special and allowing myself to sit in that instead of comparing myself to others. Which is a WASTE of time. Haha!
CK – You participated in our Applause Gala virtual performance earlier this year, and wowed the audience with your performance. What have been the high points of your experience performing in Sonoma County?
Well, thank you so much for saying that! It was very fun to get to actually sing for a change! It really was such a well-executed fundraiser and I was so lucky to be part of it!
I started out doing the youth theater summer programs at 6th Street under the brilliant Holly Vinson. I did Music Man and Oliver! with her and she really opened me up to the wildly fun world of theater. I also did RENT, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and Producers with the Playhouse before I left for college. In addition to those productions, I also assisted with the Playhouse’s School of Drama and helped direct and teach in a couple of youth productions. I love love LOVED being at 6th Street. It always felt like a safe, warm home for me through my teen years and I am forever grateful for the love I felt and the freedom I had to explore and learn there.
I also have to say that being a student under board member Sue Byrne in the Montgomery High School Drama Department was also a HUGE and vital part of my upbringing. Sue really was and still is one of the most wonderful, encouraging, supporting, and loving humans I know. I was very lucky to be a pupil of hers.
CK – I can’t help noticing, in your drag photos, that you have some amazing and beautiful cleavage. I can’t find a clue as to how you do that. Is it a trade secret?
AH YES! My boobies! Haha! I get this question all the time!
It’s honestly just a heavy silicone bib that wraps around my neck. I usually cover the line around my neck with a necklace so it looks seamless. I’ll let you try them on when I see you! I just made my aunt try them on about 20 minutes ago! It’s a great laugh!
CK – How long have you been doing drag performance? Where do you usually perform?
I have been doing drag since the fall of 2017—so a little over 4 years now! That feels so long, yet so short. I have friends who have been doing it for 30 plus years… which is to be applauded because I don’t think my body will last that long! Haha.
I perform all around Southern California! I can be found from Long Beach to West Hollywood to Palm Springs! It is my full-time job and I couldn’t be more fortunate for that.
CK – You mentioned that you’re not yet in rehearsals, so your portrayal of Miss Tracy Mills will be evolving, under Carl Jordan’s direction, but what are your thoughts about her so far?
At this current time I would say that Tracy is motivated by her love for drag and performance. And on the other side of that she is also motivated by fear of failure. She spends a great deal of time saving the show, and helping it grow and blossom. I think the great deal of love and joy she has for drag really pushes her to not only improve the show but also allows her the opportunity to impart knowledge and teach Casey/Georgia all about it.
I also think that a fear of what she considers to be failure motivates her to keep the show going and make sure that employment is steady for herself. I truly think she’s afraid of not being able to work as a drag queen. I see that drive and that same quality in a lot of not only drag queens but performers in general. I completely relate to all of that. It’s an incredibly human quality that is so universal, yet laid into a very specific being. That’s part of the brilliance of Matthew Lopez’s characters.
I think what I love MOST about Tracy is that while she is sassy, fun, and can be frank or serious, she leads with kindness and compassion. I don’t get to see that quality reflected in drag queens very often on TV or in movies.
CK – Is there anything else about your preparation for this role that you’d like to share?
This is the first theatrical production I’ve done in a few years! So I am equal parts excited and terrified! I’m excited to dive into the play with everyone, collaborate, discover, and play! Terrified that I forgot how to do all of that! But I suppose the only difference between fear and excitement is if I’m breathing or not. Haha!
