The Drag Queens
Anyone else see this programme on ITV1 last night at 11pm?
The interest, for me, was in having been to the Birdcage nightclub in Leeds, allbeit a few years ago. Well, it was an opportunity to get to know these characters a little better and find out what has been happening at the club.
First of all the drag queens were interviewed and seen getting ready for their performances. Next we saw the Choreographer, a sweet RG, going through a few practice sessions with the troupe. TBH, the standard of the dance was pretty low - my wife, an ex-dancer, pulled it to pieces. On the other hand, I don’t think the audience at these sort of venues would be too critical.
Next, we found out what the future plans of the company were. An additional £2m venue in Manchester - looked as though it was close to the Arndale centre. Problems complained of were tradesman not thinking about the practicalities of trannies putting on make-up in the loos. Come on, what self-respecting tradesman is going to have that kind of foresight? That was the job of the club owners at the planning stage, yeah?
After that, the club manager interviewed a few trannies for the extra drag queens that would be needed. I’ve no idea whether this new club is up and running - anyone know anything about it?
IMPORTANT: next week (same time, same channel) one of the drag queens is going to give a demonstration of how she transforms herself.
I feel this programme had some personal interest, because I could relate to my impressions of the club in Leeds, but it certainly wasn’t a programme you could use as a launchpad for explaining to the wife/girlfriend that you were a trannie. She’d be thinking you were a raving queer (not that I have anything against raving queers) it’s just that all the drag queens were very camp… in the best tradition of course.
I’ll be watching the final part next week, if I remember…
Since writing this I’ve taken a look at the Birdcage website and discovered the Manchester venue has already opened so there you go.
on April 6th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
I missed it. B***er. :-\ I remember reading the line “Trannys don’t do good drag” and as generalisations go, it’s not a bad one. Drag, IMO, has always been about performance and entertainment.
Trannying, on the other hand, while superficially the same, is mostly about looking like a women. Although not that all of us achieve that goal as much as we’d like! :-) Sure, there are outfits that trannys wear that RGs would not, but who’s to say what you should or shouldn’t be wearing? It all starts getting a bit Fashion Police then doesn’t it.
on April 7th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Yes, Drag is all about entertainment. The birdcage company feel they’ve found their own niche in the market by adopting a standard nightclub format, but with a drag showbar act running every 45 minutes on some nights - Thurs, Fri and Sat, but don’t quote me on that I could be wrong.
Tied in with that is the opinion of the club manager that a pretty TV doesn’t always make for a good drag artist. If he hasn’t got the necessary confidence then his looks only won’t be sufficient to gain entry to the team.
As for what’s allowable in the garb department for us committed Trannies, I belive anything should go - but I’m, of course, always willing to listen to those with a different opinion on the subject, and I’m sure their opinions will be facinating - just won’t necessarily subscribe to them. ;-)
At the end of the day, to adopt a “Fashion Police” attitude is to deny people’s rights to self expression, which, in the case of a trannie, would put him/her back in the ‘intolerance’ camp we all so vehemently complain about.
Quite a few years back now, I was at a support group meeting where one of the gurls sported a pretty tartan mini-skirt, white blouse and…. beard. A number of other gurls commented on how strange he looked and the concensus was generally disapproving. Excuse me but isn’t that a bit strange given that for those same gurls they would probably expect to be treated with a more understanding attitude by society?
So yeah, thumbs down to the Fashion Police.
on May 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 am
Dam. Missed it. Could that be a new word? “Missed “:To have completed the change of the appearance of a male to a female. “Missing”: The act of dressing a male as a female. “Missed it” : information technology on how to…
Hi girls. Been on holiday in Cornwall. Like the debates here and sorely missed (no pun intended) the girly chat.
Juliexx