Life’s a drag for Daniel but he loves his work
HE TELLS OF HIS TRANSFORMATION INTO ANNA PHYLACTIC
WHEN he pulls on his silk stockings, Daniel Wallace undergoes a transformation just as dramatic as any of the masked superheroes of his childhood.
The softly-spoken man who wears chunky glasses and Doc Martens is unrecognisable as the larger-than-life and twice-as-sexy Anna Phylactic with her booming voice and theatrical laugh.
But the 32-year-old drag artist, who was too shy to tell his parents about his career choice, has created one of the best-loved legends of Manchester’s Gay Village - immortalised in her own mural at The Molly House, on Richmond Street.
“I always think it’s like having a Clark Kent and then a superman persona,” he said. “Drag for me is quite transformative. It accesses a part of your personality that you wouldn’t normally channel if you were dressed in a jumper and glasses. It releases something else inside of you.”
Daniel spent his childhood interested in acting and playing with make up. “I used to get in trouble all of the time for messing about with my mum’s makeup. I remember once I’d put bruises all over my face using her makeup. I was quite little but it fascinated me playing with all the colours.”
He first realised he loved dressing up and performing when he was in primary school: “The nativity play is what started it all. I remember being really jealous of my twin brother at the nativity play because I got cast as a shepherd and my brother was the star of Bethlehem. Daniel Wallace and as he applies his make-up. Right, as Anna Phylactic He got to wear a beautiful silver suit and wore a big star on his forehead.
“So my whole life I’ve been like, I will be the star of Bethlehem!”
Daniel studied drama at university and slowly found his niche in drag performances for Manchester’s vibrant nightlife. He designs all of his own costumes, as well as producing the routines for the shows.
“While I toyed with dressing up, being a drag queen wasn’t my aspiration. I trained as an actor and did art but actually drag sort of brought all of those skills together which is really exciting.”
Daniel is part of a drag collective with seven others in Manchester, who call themselves the ‘Family Gorgeous.’
Daniel explained what his relationship is like with his family at home in the North East. “My dad is a bloke’s bloke, working man’s club type” he said. “He is lovely and its fine as long as we don’t talk about any of that drag stuff, and that goes for my sexuality as well. He just doesn’t want to engage with anything like that.
“My mum is a lot better with stuff like that, it’s taken her some time.”
Daniel giggles as he described how his parents accidentally found out about his profession.
“I told my parents I was a club entertainer and kept it ambiguous, I didn’t want to say I put on a frock and heels, I thought it might be more trouble than it was worth. But my mum happened to be in a restaurant opposite the club I was working in.
“She saw someone carrying my 70s-style suitcase and she thought, ‘I’m sure that’s Daniel suitcase…’ then she sees me following the suitcase in neon pink heels tottering across the road.” “Now she is really supportive.” It takes Daniel two hours to turn into Anna Phylactic. He chooses not to shave his legs, instead opting to wear thick tights. He says this is so when he isn’t working he still feels masculine.
“I like being a boy when I’m not working,” he explains.
“It in some ways is a little like a uniform because I wear drag when I’m at work.
“There is a big difference the drag persona and me generally so it’s nice to be able to fade into the background sometimes.”