Drag Queens of London promises to be one of the flagship programmes of new television channel London Live. Involving nine familiar leading ladies of the Soho scene, the series follows the ups and downs of drag life whilst also trying to ascertain who are the people behind the makeup. We caught up with creative director Jason Mitchell to find out why he wanted to cover the wonderful world of drag…
What made you decide to make this documentary series?
Everyone’s quite scared of drag queens, I think. You worry when you go into clubs that they’re going to slag you off or they’re going to abuse you, and I thought there must be more to them than that. You never really see the male side of them, what’s behind the makeup. And they’re so lovely as men, we thought it’d be really interesting to show this juxtaposition of these scary drag acts with six inch stilettos verses these quite ordinary, nice chaps.
Were you out in a club and you saw a drag queen and you were like ‘that’s what I need to make my documentary on!’?
It came more from the fact that London Live were looking for stuff that was very London-centric, reflecting multicultural and diverse elements of London. We just thought no other channel is doing this and would do this.
And how did you go about finding the drag queens in question?
We met in excess of fifty different drag queens for the series. We had them all in for casting days so we basically got them on camera and then we were looking for both strong characters and interesting stories. It was just a bit of a balancing act. People like Lloyd: he’s quite happy with his life, he says himself he hasn’t got much ambition, he doesn’t want to do much, but you know, great TV. So we wanted to mix that with people like Rosie Beaver who’s in a quest for love, every episode she’s dating someone new, and she’s like ‘I’m rapidly approaching 30, if I don’t get a man soon then my life is over’. That’s how we approached it.
Did you anticipate discovering anything about these characters?
There were certain stories that changed as you were filming, like Lady Lloyd and Munroe, for example: we knew they were good friends at school and we kind of anticipated that their story may end up being about their friendship, but it actually became about the end of their friendship. I often think ‘if it’s wrong, it’s right’. If a story happens and that wasn’t the plan, you just have to go with it.
So, has the series changed your personal understanding of what drag is?
Yes, I think so. I’m less scared of drag queens now, having gone through it.
You found them a little bit intimidating before?
Yeah, I think most people do. Not intimidating in the sense that I wouldn’t go and talk to them but you know it’s such a mask, and often it’s so thick the makeup and they look so tall, and also they’re so confident as drag queens but when the makeup’s off, some of them are still confident, but some of them are quite unassuming, gentle individuals.
What reasons did you discover for why guys do drag?
It’s a real mixture. For some, it’s about earning money. Like one of our characters, Silver Summers, spent years trying to break it in boybands and then discovered drag and all of a sudden was earning good money and found a way of getting on a stage basically. For others it’s an artistic choice, they want to play with gender, it’s part of their personalities, and some of them, they just want to pull.
Can you give us some of your personal bits and highlights of the series?
I loved the transformation of rugby player Nick into Violet Sparks, that was just amazing. Jercinder, who lives and works on a farm in rural Derbyshire, had only done drag before in her bedroom. Entering Trannyshack Academy, she’s scared of escalators on the tube, she gets this car into London and it’s brilliant. You just see it through the eyes of someone who’s petrified of London, you think ‘how the fuck are you going to get on stage?’ but she does and she does a great job.
Were there any difficult parts in making the series?
Not as many as you’d expect, but yes, we had problems along the way with some of the drag queens. It’s about trust, and sometimes people worry ‘why do you want to film this scene?’ so something may have happened and you’re saying ‘we need to follow this story’ and it may be something that they weren’t that happy about and so you have to build trust with your contributors and explain why you need to show both their highs and their lows. Because when you see people’s lows you start sympathising with them.
And finally, who was your favourite drag act on the show?
My favourite character is Richard Rhodes, aka Cookie Monstar, aka Sheila Simmonds, who’s not even a main character in the show, but she’s a brilliant sidekick to Vicki Vivacious and when the two of them are together it’s magic, it’s really funny. But they’re all brilliant, I love them all!
AND WHAT DID THE DRAG QUEENS THINK?
Munroe Bergdorf
For me personally, the whole filming process was kind of intense, it kind of forces you to really think about what’s going on in your life and how you approach situations. I learnt that I’m extremely hard on myself in terms of setting myself goals and personal standards. Maybe also that I sometimes expect a little too much from others as well.
(Munroe Bergdorf is not a drag queen, but took part in the show as a well-known face on the drag scene)
Vanity Von Glow
If I’ve learned anything through my participation in the programme it’s that I have far more adoring fans than even I originally imagined – indeed in the back of almost every shot you can see my Glow Worms hanging around ever-hopeful that I might sign an autograph, or bless their baby.
Silver Summers
I find that I got so used to the cameras being around that when they were not there I am not sure if I really existed anymore? One thing I have learned about myself is that I am unable to cope with Vanity Von Glow for longer than ten minutes a day. Her constant banal drivel would drive anyone to drink!
Dusty O (David Hodge)
It was quite difficult having a camera pointing at me the whole time at first. Especially when I was not in drag as I was acutely aware that people would be judging the “real” me and not my work persona. It made me more aware of how I behave as I was aware that millions of people might see me. I think I am fairly contained most of the time anyway, but at first I did try and behave and not make a fool of myself. The difficulty is after a while, you do genuinely forget you’re being filmed and revert to type, which can be good and bad.
Lady LLoyd
I’ve loved the film crew, it’s been so much fun… Though I have drunken blackouts every night and never know the state I’m in or what I’ve done, NOT NOW! Recorded forever – oh god.
Baga Chipz
Most of the time I’ve been filmed I’ve been pissed as a pudding! So expect me rolling around in me own shit down Old Compton Street… It’s been a camp experience, I do feel like Kerry Katona who has always been a lifestyle guru of mine… I think it’s just amazing that we can show people what us queens do and how diverse our fabulous gay scene is… And you so know all the men at home are gonna be wankin’ over me! Ya can’t make it up!
Vicki Vivacious
I won’t lie I got extremely stressed when they filmed me putting on makeup and doing my hair! When I get ready I like to be alone in silence but they want you to constantly react with other people around you, it took me twice as long to get ready!
