CT drag performers adapt to virtual stage
Drag queens were, according to Rashawn Lee, able to shift their performance style to suit the pandemic relatively easily. Other performers and artistic endeavors might have had a difficult time coming to terms with the new pandemic normal, but drag queens were well situated from the start.
“Drag queens are nothing but innovative when it comes to doing our craft,” he said.
Lee, who goes by the stage name Robin Fierce and is based in the Hartford area, is one of a small community of Connecticut drag queens who have had to roll with the pandemic punches, reinventing the scene first as lockdowns prevented live audiences and again when the market became saturated with online entertainment options.
“The week the pandemic hit I had a small tour of my ‘Gag Reflex’ gay stand-up comedy show and a drag brunch planned, so I had to cancel five shows and refund 750 tickets,” said Sky Casper.
“That was certainly disappointing. Ever since that happened, I’ve been forced to continuously reinvent my way of show producing, and it has been quite stressful.”
Casper, born and raised in West Hartford, is an events producer and agent focusing on LGBTQ+ talent. He said that until March 2020, much of the scene was in person.
He’s perhaps best known for a “drag brunch” called “Pink Eggs & Glam,” which Casper said “features live singing and comedic drag queens from around the country, pride festivals around Connecticut,” among other projects.
“I find great joy in seeing my audiences smile and laugh,” he said.
It’s not that there hasn’t been a learning curve. Courter Simmons, whose drag persona is Cacophony Daniels — whom Simmons described as “the Belty Broad from Broadway” — said there was a plethora of new skills to master.
“I’ve had to learn a lot during the pandemic about how streaming services work, about lighting, and, most importantly, about sound mixing and distribution,” said Simmons, who
lives in Queens, N.Y., and performs in Connecticut.
“Of course, anyone can ‘go live’ on their phone, but if you want to look and sound professional, it takes a lot of knowledge and equipment. I’m learning every day.”
Like Simmons, Lee said he’s learned quite a bit over the course of the pandemic. He hasn’t been able to perform live, but that restriction has helped the art form mature.
“Many drag performers just limited themselves to a nightclub or a bachelorette party or something like that,” Lee said of life pre-pandemic.
“Yes, I love performing. And I love being in physical spaces. But it makes
you realize there are other ways to express this particular art form, just like there are other ways to express other art forms.”
A new kind of community
The drag scene in Connecticut is not really analogous to the drag scene elsewhere. There are a few clubs in Hartford, New Haven and Norwalk, but this is a small state compared to others.
“Just in general,” Lee said, “there’s not a lot of us here compared to, like New York or Massachusetts, or like the Boston area.”
The comparatively small size of the scene has fostered something of a community, though Casper said, “it’s been challenging” to maintain that sense as the pandemic has worn on.
“I have tried my best to connect with my friends and followers on social media and make my virtual shows as interactive and intimate as possible,” he said.
“Without the internet, I probably would have gone crazy!”
The new online nature of the business has resulted in more personal experiences, fractured though they may be.
Simmons, for example, said he and his regular viewers have “formed a little community.” There is a regular audience of about 50 to 60 people, and they’re not limited by geography, disability or age.
“We’ve all gotten to know and interact with each other,” Simmons said. “We’ve celebrated birthdays, toasted successes and mourned loss together. We have friends watching all over the world in real time, and we communicate through the comments.
“It’s not the same as being in the same room, but it’s more inclusive because people can watch from anywhere, and it doesn’t focus around being in a bar, and folks of any age can watch and participate.”
The more fractured nature of pandemic performing has, perhaps surprisingly, helped strengthen interpersonal bonds.
No community is without its divisions, but shared sacrifice and innovation have helped bring drag performers together.
“EVEN WHEN WE GO BACK TO NORMAL, YOU STILL NEED SOCIAL MEDIA TO PROMOTE YOURSELF.”
“Just like in any community, there are going to be people that you don’t necessarily like or people that, like, aren’t for you,” Lee said.
“But at the end of the day, we are a community, and the fact that we can’t be around each other as much has made that community a lot closer, and made us realize how appreciative we are for each other.”
A wider audience
It wasn’t just drag shows. Symphony orchestras and burlesque troupes, circuses and poetry and live performers of every stripe shifted to an online