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Written by Michael Muckian, Contributing writer
Jul 14, 2011
Randy Thompson – Photo: Facebook
When Randy Thompson takes the stage at Milwaukee’s Brady Street Festival on July 30, many in the audience won’t realize they’re watching a movie star.
“I went to L.A. for a role in the movie ‘Familee’ with Alan Cummings last month,” says Thompson, an actor, singer and drag performer who lives and works in Key West, Fla. “It was a walk-on role and I had one line.”
Thompson’s drag roles were what caught the attention of one of the film’s producers who lives in Key West, he says. Several years earlier his performances caught the eye of individuals involved in the Brady Street Festival, who are bringing Thompson back to emcee the Boys Will Be Girlz Drag Queen Show, which takes place at 9 p.m. on the Bud Light Island Main Stage at Brady Street’s west end.
“We’d like to get a few people down there and out of their comfort zones,” Thompson says.
The annual festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., began in 1970. It’s designed to celebrate the various lifestyles in the Brady Street neighborhood, according to Steph Salvia, head of the Brady Street development corporation. In addition to supporting area merchants, the festival is a chance each year for one of Milwaukee’s most culturally diverse neighborhoods to come together and celebrate.
“Brady Street just isn’t a street, but a diverse neighborhood representing people from all walks of life,” Salvia says. “The festival’s purpose is to celebrate Brady Street and its entire community.”
Thompson is no stranger to Brady Street, nor is he a stranger to drag performances. The Dallas native has been performing in drag since his days studying musical theater at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La. He has been in and out of wigs ever since.
“I got into drag one year in college for Halloween and found I had a knack for it,” Thompson says. “Then I got a drag role in a play called ‘Pageant.’ I played Miss Bible Belt.”
There are various versions of the etymology of the term “drag queen.” The most popular appears to be its use in describing 18th century transvestites who let their long dresses drag on the ground. Other references say the word “drag” is really an acronym for the phrase “dressed as a girl.” “Queen” is thought to refer to the affected royalty of many drag characters, and it might even be a nod to the word “quean,” an archaic label for promiscuous women and gay men.
The source of the term doesn’t matter to Thompson, who left a hospitality career and positions with both the Wyndham and Hyatt hotel chains to become a full-time performer seven years ago. “I am an actor and singer first,” he says. “Drag happens to be another costume I put on.”
That costume may take the form of Cher, Pink, Dolly Parton or any of a number of contemporary female performers. With rare exception, performers have to be living in order for Thompson to consider impersonating them.
“Generally, I don’t do dead people,” he explains. “The one exception is Joan Crawford – and my excuse is that she was played in ‘Mommie Dearest’ by Faye Dunaway, who is still alive.
But when Faye dies, I’ll still continue to do her,” he adds.
At this year’s Brady Street Festival, Thompson will emcee, sing and perhaps do a little comedy. He’s bringing along another drag queen to help with his duties.
“He’s Tucson’s queen of comedy – Lucinda Holliday, also known as Larry Moore – and he’s hysterical,” Thompson says.
Thompson bridles at the accusation by some in the LGBT community that drag queens impede public acceptance of gays and reflect negatively on their image. Nothing could be further from the truth, he says.
“Some people suffer from the misconception that we’re the same on the inside as we appear on the outside,” Thompson says. “The queens I know are some of the most self-aware people around, and when something needs doing it’s usually the drag queens who get things done.”
Considering that the Stonewall Riots that sparked the LGBT civil rights movement were started by drag queens, Thompson has a point.
But in the end, Thompson says, drag is really all costume and façade.
“To me, dressing drag is like being a banker who puts on a suit every morning to go to work,” he says. “I still put on my pantyhose one leg at a time.”
