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Canada’s Drag Race queens share their nostalgic journeys to the stage
Canada’s Drag Race premieres on Thursday July 2, 2020 on Crave and the WOW Presents Plus subscription streaming service in the United States.
Over the past few decades, the world of drag has slowly been creeping beyond the fringes of mainstream entertainment to reach its current and rightful place: spotlight centre stage. For many, it’s in large part thanks to the queen of drag, RuPaul Charles, but the earliest instances of men dressing in drag can be traced all the way back to the Elizabethan era. What began as men filling female roles in Shakespearean theatre productions evolved into vaudeville and burlesque shows that became a fixture in the early 1900s. For decades following, and with laws limiting the rights of gay men, drag was forced behind closed doors until 1969 when the queer community fought back in New York City. Led by heroes like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera who were both transgender rights activists and drag queens in their own right, the famed 1969 Stonewall riots were a series of violent protests that erupted after a police raid at the popular gay bar, the Stonewall Inn. The uprising blazed a path for LGBTQ+ rights, and ultimately created a safer space for drag queens to express themselves freely. The drag scene began to flourish and emerge louder and prouder as the art of self-expression we know today.
But back to RuPaul, who after gaining recognition on the New York Club scene in the late 1970s and ’80s, broke out in 1993 with the release of the dance-pop album, Supermodel of the World, that featured the still iconic hit, “Supermodel (You Better Work).” Work is exactly what Ru did, building an impress resume that includes television and film appearances, music videos, albums, a talk show, and in 2009, a reality show that paved a path for drag culture legitimacy that was long overdue.
RuPaul’s Drag Race has transformed the one-time underground art form into a bonafide phenomenon, spawning an ecosystem of over 150 queens from an impressive 12-and counting season run. The show is now that bitch at the Emmys, snatching the trophy for Best Reality Competition Program for three years straight, and sending the message that drag queens are central to entertainment.
Now, RuPaul is in the midst of phase two of drag domination with a slew of spin-off shows popping up across the globe, from Thailand to the UK. On July 2, Canada joins the club with Canada’s Drag Race.
To celebrate, we are kicking off a new series celebrating drag queen culture through a nostalgic lens. Here, five stars of the upcoming Canada’s Drag Race open up their own proverbial time capsules, sharing tales of their early days in the industry, ghosts of their drag queen pasts and more.
Tynomi Banks
@TynomiBanks
Tynomi Banks has been burning up Toronto’s drag scene with her megawatt fashion sense (a tribute to Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks) and incredible moves, often busting out to Whitney Houston, Beyoncé and more. Banks is a regular performer during Pride and last year, she became the first drag entertainer to be a trophy bearer at the Canadian Screen Awards.
Tell us about one of your earliest memories starting out as a drag performer.
When I first started drag, I only knew a few drag queens. The scene wasn’t inclusive, it was very niche and more like a hobby. There was no RuPaul’s Drag Race and no tutorials for makeup. You had to go to your elders who paved the way in the community, have them adopt you and pass the torch with their experience and skills.
What are your top three throwback songs that you love to perform to?
“All the Man I Need” by Whitney Houston, “Jerk It” by Thunderheist and a mix of “Jump,” “I’m So Excited,” and “Automatic” by the Pointer Sisters.
What has been your most memorable moment in drag?
World Pride in Toronto [in 2014]. It was the first time I performed on a big stage at Yonge Dundas Square. Beyoncé had done a free concert there months before and I just couldn’t believe I was performing on the same stage! It was also the first time my mother saw me perform, so it was pretty special.
Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
The movie, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar was really my first introduction to drag. I wouldn’t say it inspired me to get into it (I was too young at the time to really think about a career choice) but that world looked amazing to me. My mom and I watched this movie together. She’s always been so supportive of me. It’s a nice memory to have.
My first live drag show was a Sofonda Cox show in Toronto. It was so memorable because she did an X Men themed performance as Storm. I loved comic books as a kid. They were a getaway for me. I could relate to these characters who were different and who had different abilities while “normal” people tried to hunt them down and kill them.
If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood, what three items we would find?
My teddy bear named Webster, video games (they were safety blankets for me to make friends. If I was being bullied, it would be an escape. My favourite was Chun-Li from Streetfighter) and a photo album of my family and friends.
What was your first experience meeting a drag queen and how did it impact you?
The first time I met a drag queen, I couldn’t believe their energy. It’s at 100 all the time! They were loving accepting and I felt super safe and wanted. I felt like I belonged in this community.
If you had to put three items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag, what would they be?
A human hair wig, a corset and a kitten heel.
Lemon
@Lemongivesyoulife
Lemon may only have been performing in drag for just over a year before she got the Drag Race call, but it doesn’t look like it. Just like her name, the Paris Hilton doppelganger is equal parts sweet and sour and she’s got a thing for yellow. Lemon is a Toronto native who now calls New York home and most recently starred alongside Sasha Velour in an Opening Ceremony show during New York Fashion Week. Expect some Big Apple energy.
If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood, what three items we would find?
A Bratz doll, a full dressed Build-a-Bear and a tap shoe!
If you had to put three items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag, what would they be?
Fenty lip gloss, Paris Hilton’s Tinkerbell perfume and my little gold lemon necklace that I’m always wearing.
What is your top pop culture drag moment from film or TV?
Honestly, I think RuPaul’s speech at the Emmys is something I will always remember. It was so clever and such a “stick it to the man” moment. I mean, she genuinely said she’d rather an enema than an Emmy and then got both, truly legendary.
Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
My early drag inspirations were some of the RuPaul‘s Drag Race queens such as Raja, Alaska and Alyssa Edwards but even more so I was so inspired by some of the local New York City girls, my drag mother, Jasmine Rice Labeija, and her drag mother Kizha Karr. Also, Jan and Brita, who were just on Season 12 are some of my closest friends and they definitely had a big impact on inspiring me to do drag!
What are you top 3 throwback songs that you love to perform to?
“Speechless” by Beyoncé, “Nobody’s Supposed to be Here” (the dance remix obv) by Deborah Cox, and “Kiss” by Prince.
What has been your most memorable moment in drag?
I think either working with Alyssa Edwards at her Drag Con New York booth or walking in Sasha Velour’s collaboration with Opening Ceremony. It is always very surreal to work with people who you’ve looked up to and watched on TV, and even getting to hear them say your name feels so wild!
Scarlett Bobo
@ItsScarlettBobo
This seasoned Toronto queen is a self-professed circus freak who has talents that surpass comedy and lip syncing… like eating fire and performing aerial stunts. Scarlett Bobo is also all about giving back and founded the Absolut Empires Ball, a drag competition which she uses as a platform to address community needs and inspire the younger generation of queer youth.
Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
Some of my early inspirations for drag would all have to be my mother. She is my rock and always has been. I’ve also always been inspired by strong female artists. My mom used to force me to listen to awesome music with strong female leads such as Bif Naked, Hole, Pat Benetar and through that I found P!nk and Amy Whinehouse who defy what pop music should sound like. I always wanted to be that loud tattooed chic slamming on a guitar on a roof somewhere and I think I managed to get pretty close.
What are you top three throwback songs that you love to perform to?
“You Make Me Sick” by P!nk, “Tango Shoes” by Bif Naked and “Love Is A Battlefield” by Pat Benetar.
Tell us about one of your earliest memories when you first started out as a drag performer.
One of my earliest moments would have to be one of my first performances if not the first, I remember I was doing “Radar” by Britney Spears and the song cut off in the middle and I was terrified and had no idea what to do and the entire club started singing the song and I kept performing to everyone singing it until they put the track back on. It was my Mean Girls moment!
What is your top pop culture drag moment from film or TV?
I think Priscilla Queen of The Desert is one of the big ones. I always remember that from my childhood. Their accents, the story, the sad and happy moments, their classic drag looks. Fantastic.
Another one would have to be a collaboration Amanda Lepore did with Heatherette and M.A.C. cosmetics. The video shows Amanda putting on bright pink lipstick in the mirror and then started to cover her whole naked body in it and then proceeds to run down a highway naked, pink and holding a bright blue suitcase and I literally thought to myself, this woman is a superhero. I was obsessed with her and that was one of my early pop culture moments learning about what Trans is and how fabulous the queer world is.
What was your first experience seeing a drag queen? How did it impact you?
The first drag queen I met made me part of her drag family later which I wouldn’t have expected at the time. I saw Ginette BoBo perform with Vicki Lawsuit in matching mermaid tail outfits and I was like…WHAT IS HAPPENING!? It was hilarious and wild. I wasn’t sure how I felt. Then, I met Robyn De Cradle at a bar called Edge and she was doing Janet Jackson and the way she danced and moved and commanded the stage and crowd I was in complete show and I said to myself. I want to do that! And I did.
If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood, what are three items we would find?
My old notebook full of poems and songs with NEMT coloured stars all over it, My Gameboy with every Pokémon game imaginable and a photo of me, my mom, my papa and my best friends Tina and Lisa.
If you had to put three items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag, what would they be?
An oversized leather jacket with studs and chains all over it, a beautiful pair of Christian Louboutins and red lipstick.
What has been your most memorable moment in drag?
Performing at any major pride stage is always a memorable moment because the rush of love and togetherness you feel from the audience is so magical. I think I would have to say performing at last year’s Starry Night event during Toronto Pride. I was doing a big emotional P!nk mega-mix and it was pouring rain and my friends and family came out and handed images of all the murdered Trans women of the past year and I was hitting my choreo so hard and just sobbing watching everyone’s reaction and feeling like I did something that really mattered and was important. It was just a really beautiful moment to experience to have with all my friends and family in front of such an amazing crowd like that.
Ilona Verley
@ILONAVERLEY
Ilona Verley is a fierce First Nations queen who is Nlaka’pamux, identifies as two-spirit, and is striving to be the role model she wished she had growing up. Back home in Vancouver, Verley is known for strutting her stuff in her signature head-to-toe monochromatic pastel looks which is something we can’t wait to see.
Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
I remember watching season six of Drag Race and falling in love with Adore Delano. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t full out have an Adore phase: denim jackets, fishnet everything and oversized shirts galore! Contrast to that more grunge girl aesthetic I was so inspired by Marina’s album and character Electra Heart and that soft pastel vintage aesthetic, however, at the time I had no resources to pull looks like that off so edgy punk girl using things I could get at the thrift store was my aesthetic for the first year or so of my drag career.
What are you top 3 throwback songs that you love to perform to?
“Lucky” by Britney Spears, “Headstrong” by Ashley Tisdale and “Potential Break Up Song” by Aly & Aj.
What was your first experience meeting a drag queen? How did it impact you?
My first time meeting a drag artist IRL was Vancouver’s legendary Jaylene Tyme during my time attending the Global Makeup program at Blanche Macdonald in Vancouver. As a fellow Two-Spirit Indigenous artist, Jaylene inspired me to see the life I could have if I just accepted who I was and chased after my wildest dreams!
If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood, what are three items we would find?
I’d say for sure a few of those colourful rubber snap bracelets that were big in elementary school (we called them sex bracelets… yikes), a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards because I was big into those until probably like Grade 8 and a classic TY beanie baby. My grandma got my cousins and I hardcore into collecting those, I still have my collection at her house to this day!
Tell us about one of your earliest memories when you first started out as a drag performer.
One of my earliest memories getting into drag was early 2014, waiting for my mom to fall asleep and rounding up all the makeup I could from her washroom (which wasn’t a lot) and digging out this wig she had from a few Halloweens before. I had no idea what I was doing, but I put as much makeup on as I could, and I thought I was the only girl in the world. The rest of that year was learning how to do my makeup to somewhat resemble actual drag makeup and saving up all my money to get some good wigs and some lil outfits from the thrift store.
If you had to put three items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag, what would they be?
A powder blue Lindsay wig from Arda wigs (that’s my go to hair which has sadly been discontinued so she’s already practically vintage), my floor length double lined custom Evan Clayton powder blue ostrich coat and the powder blue AB rhinestoned bodysuit I wore as part of my Canada’s Drag Race promo look – I have had that thing forever and it was actually one of the first things I ever rhinestoned.
Rita Baga
@RitaBagaz
Simply put: if you don’t know Rita Baga, you don’t know Montreal drag. She’s been the queen of Sunday nights in the city since 2007 and has already been a TV staple with her own reality show Ils De Jour. Odds are she’ll do her crowd favourite Adele impression for Snatch Game, but after Ginger Minjs’ challenge winning go at it on Season 7, there’s a lot to live up to. Here’s hoping she’ll give her fellow Québec queen, Celine Dion, the Snatch Game treatment she deserves.
Tell us about one of your earliest memories when you first started out as a drag performer
I was first hired to be a club kid at Cabaret Mado in Montreal. I was not performing, I was paid to drink and dance with the customers. When I first started, I feel like it was the end of the golden age. Before the Internet era, if you wanted to meet someone, you had to go the clubs.
Who were some of your early inspirations and how did they inspire your drag?
My first inspirations were Leigh Bowery, Mado Lamotte and RuPaul. I didn’t know their names, only their faces. I still admire their audacity and ambition.
What are you top 3 throwback songs that you love to perform to?
“Le Saule” by Isabelle Boulay (the first song I did, dressed as a tree), “Gimme More” by Britney Spears and a Missy Elliot medley.
What was your first experience seeing a drag queen? How did it impact you?
I was 15 or 16, I decided that I wanted to experience a queer night in a club. I did not really know what a drag queen was and nd suddenly one appeared. Miss Butterfly (who is now a close friend) and did a “mistress” number and I was so scared I thought I was in a sex club. That was something!
If we were to open a time capsule from your childhood, what are three items we would find? A Spice Girls CD (my big sister is triggered every time she hears a song from them), a yoyo and probably some Ketchup, as I used to put it on E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.
What is your top pop culture drag moment from film or TV?
Probably the “Rockafeller Skank” dance moment in She’s All That. On the moments that I was like “Yep, I’m queer”.
If you had to put 3 items in a time capsule today to represent your current drag, what would they be?
Coloured contact lenses, big earrings and a crown.
Canada’s Drag Race premieres on Thursday July 2, 2020 on Crave and the WOW Presents Plus subscription streaming service in the United States.