volumeone

from VOLUME ONE, february 2003

by Jennifer Matthews

For those of you who liked Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and The Birdcage, but don't know where to catch a live drag show, you are in luck. There is a thriving entertainment nightlife in Eau Claire that has a large underground following. For those in the know, drag shows feature local and regional performers who create a dynamic crowd-pleasing extraveganza. Men whose personas are framed by their wigs and make-up and occasionally women whose alter egos produce facial hair and machismo flair lip-sync to popular music while delivering brash and baudy performances to packed audiences.

I recently sat down with one of Eau Claire's growing celebrities, Miss Dee-Lovely. We talked about Eau Claire's drag scene, the drag mystique, and her personal journey from the awkward days of an unusual teenager growing up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin to finally feeling comfortable rocking the stage at Eau Claire's most popular drag bar.

I arrived at Scooter's Bar to meet with Miss Dee-Lovely and chat over cocktails. She was out of drag and sitting patiently at a table in jeans and a black ribbed turtleneck. Even as a boy with a hint of 5 o'clock shadow, her drag presence is unmistakable. With white-blonde Warhol-esque hair and angular rimmed glasses, she looks like a movie star. After ordering a dirty martini, she sat back and offered up her insight and experiences for inquiring minds.

Despite the long history of performances at various bars in Eau Claire, drag shows are most frequently held on a regular basis at Scooter's (411 Galloway Street). What draws people here?
I firmy believe that Scooter's, being a gay bar for as many years as it has and through as many incarnations as it's had, will always have a monopoly on the gay community. It's 'the watering hole.' It caters to everybody in a certain way. It's very open to any ideas.

Generally speaking, how would you describe the crowd?
The crowd, for drag shows at least, is about 70% straight; people who have either been to shows before, or people that have heard through the grapevine. Friends bring them or they may have randomly met one of the drag queens somewhere.

Co-workers?
Co-workers, things like that. Even in public, like at restaurants. They may show a little bit of interest. They may even be nervous about coming for the first time, but we always try to emphasize to people that it draws a really straight audience. These are people that aren't always used to drag queens. The gay community sees it all the time and it can seem pretty run-of-the-mill, but for somebody that's not too educated about the different culture and nightlife possibilities here in town, you can find the outlets to equal big-city nightlife.

One of the things that I notice...it seems like it's usually a pretty good atmosphere.
There's a really good vibe about it. My favorite part of the night is just to sit back afterwards and talk to people that have never been here and make them feel welcome, thank them for coming and get their feedback on their first experience, if it is, at a drag show or a gay bar. Usually it's overwhelmingly great. Some of my best friends are regulars down here now because the first time they came was to a drag show.

On any given night in Eau Claire, there are several different things to do. What is it that draws a crowd to a drag show?
It's something so completely out of the ordinary, and I know that a lot of people have no clue what to expect. They don't know if we're just a bunch of guys that threw on some make-up and wigs and got up on the stage and...I think they're pleasantly surprised to see the amount of work that does go into a show. I'm one of the only drag queens here that uses dancers on a regular basis, and for the entire week before a show, I will choreograph my performance with my dancers.
My theory on drag shows is that if we're going to charge a cover for people to come in and see our little "freak show," then you have to entertain them. You have to make them feel that when they leave, they got their money's worth. I think, on the whole, most people come for the first time and experience it and leave pleasantly surprised that Eau Claire does have such an alternative talent. On eof the questions that I get from most people is where I learned to do everything.

So, hoiw did that happen?
I started at The Rocky Horror Picture Show on campus in 1995. That's my big claim to fame. If they didn't come to drag shows, they at least know me from Rocky Horror. I had this hideous green thrift store dress on and a long black cheap wig on and at the point where Tim Curry gets up and throws off his cape, he's standing there in his underwear. I got up on stage abd I threw the dress over my head and I sat there grinding in my cheap knee-high pantyhose and the audience went nuts! I've done it for eight years now and through the years, we've had more people get up on stage and act out the characters.
Throught the year I still have people come up to me and say "Yeah, you're Frank-N-Furter, right?" Most people that go to that movie have no clue what I look like in drag aside from my garish Frank-N-Furter getup, because I put black shoe polish in my hair and wear garish makeup and I'm half-naked up there onstage. That's why it always stuns me that somebody will recognize me down here, because it's a completely different end of the spectrum as far as drag goes.

What do you say when people ask you why you do drag?
I sit down and I explain to them...In high school I was President of the drama club, active in swing choir, I excelled in visual art; I was in every corner of the arts. Drag was just one way to roll it up into one huge enchilada. It takes a visual artist to do the makeup. The theatricality, the music. I've always said that the reason I take so many photographs of myself is because I am my own work of art. I've worked so hard on perfecting this and every time I do it, it's different.

give me more bitch-babble!