Dylan Forbis - transgender activist, Jimbo - Drag All Star, Late Night Catechism Nun
As the vibrant hues of Houston's Pride rainbow unfurl, we're joined by Dylan Forbis, a transgender man whose tapestry of activism has positioned him as a candidate for Houston Pride 365 Grand Marshal. Dillon's story is a beacon for the LGBTQIA community, a testament to resilience amidst Texas' evolving legislative landscape. His dreams of reveling in the joyous celebrations of World Pride and Mexico City's Pride remind us of the universal quest for equality and acceptance. This week, our conversation also dazzles with the unexpected twists of Jimbo, the beloved queen from RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars, whose artistry at the crossroads of clowning and drag promises a kaleidoscope of joyful surprises. Simultaneously, Denise Fennell's emotive discourse on her role in "Sisters Irish Catechism" reveals the nurturing embrace of Houston's theater scene for growth and inclusivity.
Venture behind the sequins and extravagant breastplates with Jimbo as she recounts her journey from a biologist to a theatrical costume designer and, ultimately, to a drag performer who captures hearts with her authenticity. Hear how her 'gay audacity' led her from sewing to the spotlight, crafting a drag persona that defies convention and captivates audiences. Meanwhile, Denise Fennell opens up about the serendipitous twists in her acting career that have woven her into the fabric of Houston's artistic community, including the unexpected challenges and triumphs of performing one-woman shows and fostering a sense of belonging within the diverse tapestry of the local theater.
This episode isn't just about the spotlights; it's a salute to the unseen threads of support and solidarity that hold our community together. As artists, we navigate the peaks and valleys of critiques, drawing strength from the shared experiences and wisdom of our peers. We honor the mentors who shape our paths and the emotional resilience required to keep the show going. With a nod to our contributors Andrew Edmondson and Deborah Moncrief Bell, we reaffirm our commitment to stories that resonate with authenticity and vibrancy, ensuring the spirit of Queer Voices remains a beacon of inclusivity for all who listen.
Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
Dylan Forbis - transgender activist, Jimbo - Drag All Star, Late Night Catechism Nun
As the vibrant hues of Houston's Pride rainbow unfurl, we're joined by Dylan Forbis, a transgender man whose tapestry of activism has positioned him as a candidate for Houston Pride 365 Grand Marshal. Dillon's story is a beacon for the LGBTQIA community, a testament to resilience amidst Texas' evolving legislative landscape. His dreams of reveling in the joyous celebrations of World Pride and Mexico City's Pride remind us of the universal quest for equality and acceptance. This week, our conversation also dazzles with the unexpected twists of Jimbo, the beloved queen from RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars, whose artistry at the crossroads of clowning and drag promises a kaleidoscope of joyful surprises. Simultaneously, Denise Fennell's emotive discourse on her role in "Sisters Irish Catechism" reveals the nurturing embrace of Houston's theater scene for growth and inclusivity.
Venture behind the sequins and extravagant breastplates with Jimbo as she recounts her journey from a biologist to a theatrical costume designer and, ultimately, to a drag performer who captures hearts with her authenticity. Hear how her 'gay audacity' led her from sewing to the spotlight, crafting a drag persona that defies convention and captivates audiences. Meanwhile, Denise Fennell opens up about the serendipitous twists in her acting career that have woven her into the fabric of Houston's artistic community, including the unexpected challenges and triumphs of performing one-woman shows and fostering a sense of belonging within the diverse tapestry of the local theater.
This episode isn't just about the spotlights; it's a salute to the unseen threads of support and solidarity that hold our community together. As artists, we navigate the peaks and valleys of critiques, drawing strength from the shared experiences and wisdom of our peers. We honor the mentors who shape our paths and the emotional resilience required to keep the show going. With a nod to our contributors Andrew Edmondson and Deborah Moncrief Bell, we reaffirm our commitment to stories that resonate with authenticity and vibrancy, ensuring the spirit of Queer Voices remains a beacon of inclusivity for all who listen.
Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a home-produced podcast that has grown out of a radio show that's been on the air in Houston, texas, for several decades. This week, brian Levinca talks with native Houstonian and transgender man, dillon Forbus about his candidacy for Houston Pride 365 Grand Marshal.
Speaker 2:We all need to be united on the forefront when it comes to our rights as queer people, as LGBTQIA people, and I would encourage everybody to participate in any level that they're able to in their community.
Speaker 1:Brett Cullum talks with the current reigning All-Star Queen of RuPaul's Drag Race All-Stars. His name is Jimbo and he thinks of himself more as a clown than a traditional drag performer.
Speaker 3:It's called shared surprise and clowning, where you kind of go in and you're open and you just take your worst idea and run with it and you don't try and judge yourself too much and you just kind of go with it. And the funniest moments are usually those moments that are unplanned, that are spontaneous and where you surprise yourself and your audience at the same time. And those are the things that are really funny.
Speaker 1:And Brett has a feature length interview with Denise Fanel, her persona for many years bringing the late night catechism series to stages in Houston.
Speaker 4:The show that we have today. Houston stepped right in. They helped build the props, they did the lighting and sound design. They produced this show with me, with Mary Pat, with my husband, and it really was such a beautiful gift. So when I'm out there, the fact that I can give this world premiere to Houston, it means so much more to me than most people know.
Speaker 1:Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 5:This is Brian Levinke, and today I'm speaking with Dylan Forbis, a candidate for Grand Marshal Mail Identifying Welcome to Queer Voices, Dylan.
Speaker 2:Hi, thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here, and my pronouns are he, him, his.
Speaker 5:Now, dylan, I've known you for a long time from creating change. Can you let our listeners know what you've been up to and what are some of your achievements, and the community?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so creating change was a really awesome experience. I got really plugged into the city of Houston at large. Since then, I've been working as an activist, as an advocate and in political organizing throughout the Greater Houston area and I was a part of the hero campaign during an advertisement that spoke about how trans people are just like everybody else and we deserve protections To running for office. I ran for House District 29 in the Pearland area. I also served as a committee man for the Texas Democratic Party and I served as second vice president on the NAACP. I've really enjoyed my time in community work and I'm still active and still going strong and recently started a small business so I can continue to concentrate on it, and I currently work for government inside of Houston and I really enjoy it and living in the Montrose area.
Speaker 5:I've been working for a while and I love the work that you're doing. What does it mean to be nominated as Grand Marshal? To you, what does that mean?
Speaker 2:to you. So being nominated as Grand Marshal for me is a big honor. I know that it comes from a board of past Grand Marshals, so knowing that people are seeing the work that I'm doing and acknowledging it and the role that I have in my community means a lot and representation matters. As we know, in Texas, queer people and trans people specifically have been under attack through legislation. So knowing that not only is the work that I'm doing being seen, but the need for visibility being brought to the front of this for pride, memorizing Stonewall that we do every year, the largest riot for queer rights in our history means a lot to me.
Speaker 5:What are some of your experiences been with pride in the past?
Speaker 2:Well, I've attended my first pride when I was 18 years old and I was standing in front of chances with my then partner. I've walked in the parade numerous times till my legs hated me, and I've been able to volunteer in the history tent for the Transgender Foundation of America, so I have a wide experience with pride and with Houston. I've also I've never attended Pride in another city, so which is on my list of things to do, because just seeing how other people celebrated is really important to me. But the love that I have for the Houston Pride celebration runs very, very deep. As soon as I was able to go out and participate in the celebration, I learned about the significance of it through, you know, my older community members, and I tried to continue to bring that presence.
Speaker 2:Every Pride season Since past Pride, I was asked to be a keynote speaker at one of the Pride block parties, and so I was there and I was like you know what I've never spoken in front of a group at Pride before. So I'm going to show up, and I did so in my leather gear and a jockstrap, and it was probably one of the most amazing experiences, but also one of the most nerve wracking experiences, because I'm there, vulnerable in front of my community, to try to bring a sense of history and a bring connectedness, and it was very well received. So I'm definitely one of those people where, if there's an opportunity to bring community together, I'm going to show up, and part of that is what's instilled with me through Houston Pride.
Speaker 5:Which Pride would you like the most to attend that you have not been to?
Speaker 2:I would love to attend one of the World Pride events that I had thought I wanted to go to the one when it was in New York, but I missed out on that opportunity. So one of the World Prides. And then I've been told by a lot of people that Mexico City has a very good pride. So that's on my list. If I had to go with those ranking orders World Pride, then Mexico City. What does Pride mean to?
Speaker 5:you.
Speaker 2:The actual definition of Pride. To me, it's like an embodiment of connected to the community. Pride is knowing that we have to fight for our rights and that we have the same rights as everybody else for right to privacy, equal protections under the law and your first amendment right to just express yourself and exist. For me, those are the things that really matter when it comes to talking about Pride In the celebration sense. Pride is about creating space, taking up space and utilizing the resources that everybody else gets to. When it's our turn to celebrate and remember the fights and the struggles that we have, pride isn't just about right now. It's about looking at our past. It's about looking at our future. That's what Pride is for me.
Speaker 5:Do you think Pride is too relevant?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I think Pride is definitely relevant. We haven't. So I was looking through a news story where someone running for office was quoted as they were endorsed by the gay ones, and it reminded me of the straight slate In the 80s when Kathy Whitmire and the whole Louis Waltz scandal and everybody reacting to that saying that the homosexuals are invading Houston. Our history matters and Pride is a part of our history. It's so incredibly relevant. If we don't know where we've been and what we fought against, we're going to continue having to fight these battles over and over again and we're looking at 40 years later and it's the same narrative. This is why Pride is so relevant. This is why knowing our history is relevant and this is why we have to keep our books available and accessible to the general public.
Speaker 5:The thing about this here is Pride is you won't break our pride. How do you relate to that?
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm unbreakable baby. I've been through a lot, I've experienced a lot of. I've experienced workplace discrimination. I'm not very close to my family due to my transition and I've had to build a lot of a chosen family, I would say, here in Houston. So the spirit of Pride being unbreakable I mean that rings true on so many levels and I think probably to the listeners too. We're unshakable as a community. We come together, we close rank and file when we're under attack and I mean they're not going to break our pride, no matter how hard they try. What do you like about?
Speaker 5:living in Houston.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love everything. I love the food. I grew up in the southwest side, so the food was very, very good and it's good throughout the whole city. I think the thing that I probably like the least is the lack of regulation and the fact that the grid hasn't been repaired yet, but other than that, I mean there's not a lot that I could say I don't like about the city. I'm used to the traffic, having lived here my whole life, so if I can add on an extra 20 minutes if I need to get somewhere in rush hour, an extra 30 minutes if I have to go across town, so I love so much about this city.
Speaker 5:What would you say is your number one achievement in the queer community?
Speaker 2:My number one achievement in the queer community is when someone in the trans community came to me on the side and they said Dylan, I just want you to know, it was during Hurricane Harvey. There were a few trans people looking for services, but they weren't out and they weren't able to get the help that they needed. And by me sharing resources and checking on people, they were able to get the resources that they needed and it kept them from being homeless and it kept them in access to housing. It kept them in their job. And this isn't something that is posted on social media or anything, but knowing that I'm sharing information, creating spaces for trans people, for them to utilize the services that they need access to, that to me feels like the greatest achievement, because we have to fulfill those gaps for ourselves most of the time. And if I can be someone who I don't know what to do about this, let's call Dylan. If I can be that person, that's the greatest achievement to me.
Speaker 5:Dylan, is there anything that you would like our listeners to know that I didn't ask you about?
Speaker 2:I guess the main thing is that we all need to be united on the forefront when it comes to our rights as queer people, as LGBTQIA people, and I would encourage everybody to participate in any level that they're able to in their community, whether it's just checking on your friends, whether it's getting involved in the political arena, or whether it's helping each other find a job and posting resources when you can. That's the most important part. That's where my morals and values lie as a member of this community, and I would really want our listeners to know that whatever you're doing is making a difference. Keep doing it and when you're able to do a little bit more and show up.
Speaker 5:We've been speaking with Dylan Forbus, a nominee for Grand Marshal Mail Identified for Pride 365. Thank you for coming on, Dylan.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me. Y'all have a great one. Happy Pride. Thank you.
Speaker 1:This is Glenn from Queer Voices. You're listening to KPFT. That means you're already participating just by listening, but how about doing more? Kpft is totally listener-funded, which means it's people like you who are making donations who support this community resource. Kpft has no corporate or government strings attached funding, which means we're free to program responsibly but without outside influence. Will you participate in KPFT financially? This station needs everyone who listens to chip in a few dollars to keep the station going, because that's the way it works. Even if you're listening over the internet on another continent, you can still contribute. Please become an active member of the listener community by making a tax-deductible contribution. Please take a minute to visit kptorg and click on the red donate now button. Thank you.
Speaker 6:Today is my special day and I am taking on peas on Queer Voices because I get to talk with the winner of RuPaul's Drag Race All-Star Season 8, jimbo. From theatrical costume design to clowning, jimbo took Drag Race by storm when he entered Canada's Drag Race Season 1. He didn't take home the crown, but he might as well have. Then Jimbo did RuPaul's Drag Race UK versus the World, season 1, where, well, he didn't win that one either, thanks to Pankina. But third time was the charm, and now he is the reigning supreme, supreme and the imaginary Drag Race Hall of Fame. He's also Canadian. Did I mention that Jimbo will be coming to Houston with his one man, or is that one woman's show on March 20th? I mean, hell, it's maybe non-binary when they are ghost hurling baloney, but it is called Jimbo's Drag Circus World Tour and hits Houston on March 20th. House of Blues. Welcome Jimbo to Queer Voices.
Speaker 3:Hey, brett, but it's my special day too. I'm so excited to be here on Queer Voices.
Speaker 6:First things first. All right, I blame you for every queen I see now wearing these huge breastplates with humongous memories. You have instigated the boob wars of this decade. You have a lot to answer for. So where did that first come from?
Speaker 3:When did you first get the idea to incorporate I guess I'm a clown, so I like big, I like bold, I like sexy. My mom had big breasts and I don't know. There was just something. You know, I love Baywatch, pamela Anderson's and Icon Dolly Parton's and Icon Elvira, someone that I absolutely loved, mesmerized by her beauty and her sense of humor, and you know, she's kind of you know, the female pee we get away and yeah, I guess there's all kinds of big, powerful breasted women that have inspired me throughout my life and I think that's why it's a part of my persona.
Speaker 6:Well, it's definitely a signature for Jimbo and anybody that wears them. Now they get compared and everybody says, oh look, they're the discount, jimbo, so you've branded it already. So there you go. Okay, unless your Wikipedia is completely made up, which it could be. You are from a family of Canadian scientists and you have a biology degree, is that right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so my dad was a scientist and I also went to the University of Western Ontario for Adrien Biology, which took me over to study in Uganda as well. And yeah, it's true.
Speaker 6:That is crazy. So then after school sometime you went to Victoria in British Columbia and you did a stint as a costumer for theatre, and I saw this mentioned too. You even did some like clothes for hallmark movies. Is that right?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I met this designer, Ken Schapkin. He's a queer designer and he basically brought me into the hallmark world and I started working. And I got to work with Jewel, who I'm a really big fan of. I got to be her personal dresser and I got exposed to working in film and television. And I got my start working in theatre and kind of putting together what you can for whatever you can. And when I moved into film I brought my theatre work ethic with me and they really appreciated that and so I was able to move up quite quickly through filming and get a lot of experience before I went on to be on Canada's Drag Race, which helped me, I feel like, be more comfortable on the set there.
Speaker 6:So this means you can sew like a maniac. You're not one of those girls that go in the work room and be like I can't sew. Where's the glue gun?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I love sewing. Sewing is something I, as an artist working in theatre and someone that I, you know I like to say. When you're an artist, you're, you try to say yes to everything. And the company I was working for, autonomic Vod Bill. They asked me can I sew on Austrian curtain? And I said of, oh, of course I can. You know, I had never sewn before, so, yeah, I just had to basically learn how to do that and I did it. And you know, that's what they call the gay audacity, where you, you know, you just say, of course I can do that, and then you figure out how to do it. I'm right there.
Speaker 6:I've done that so many times. I did with you were an expert and what you brought into the drag world was kind of a sense of clowning. Did you study that formally? Was that something that you kind of took classes or got some kind of mentor?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I worked with a clown teacher here in Victoria, britsmo, who's a director as well and a founder of a company, autonomic Vod Bill, which is a sketch comedy troupe here in Victoria. So I was first working and introduced to Autonomic Vod Bill through my partner at the time and his music band. I would tour and sort of participate in as a backup dancer or as the human disco ball and kind of do these funny kind of side entrances. And then Autonomic Vod Bill said, okay, well, jimbo, why don't you get on stage and, you know, be a part of these shows and be a performer? So that was sort of my first step on the stage.
Speaker 3:And then clowning really was what allowed me to understand what I loved about performance, which is really about connecting through a medici and through, you know, just being a conduit for kind of joy and feeling in the moment. And I don't necessarily love rehearsing or too much preparation ahead of time. And clowning is kind of that perfect thing where you kind of just show up with an idea or with an intention and you just kind of throw it all away and and give over to what actually happens and what feels good and what your audience wants. So there's something just magical about clowning that I still try to weave into everything I do.
Speaker 6:It's so amazing because you always seem like you're just in the moment. Like every time I watch you perform on television or whatever, it just seems like you were just experiencing it, and I think we experienced it with you and I think that's why we relate to you so well.
Speaker 3:Well, that's probably the you know the best. It's called shared surprise and clowning, where you, where you kind of go in and you're open and you just take your worst idea and run with it and you don't try and judge yourself too much and you just kind of go with it. And the funniest moments are usually those moments that are unplanned, that are spontaneous, and where you surprise yourself and your audience at the same time, and those are the things that are really funny.
Speaker 6:We're talking to Jimbo, the current reigning all-star queen of RuPaul's Drag Race. How long had you been doing drag when you hit Canada's Drag Race stage?
Speaker 3:I think I had been sort of toying around with drag for maybe three or four years prior to that. I had always been interested in drag. My brother and I had drag hidden in our basement as children and we would go down and we would get dressed up and we would play and make up and play in my mom and my grandma's clothes and then that was really seen as a really bad, negative thing and so something we were really embarrassed of, obviously through our teens. I didn't. I sort of experimented in high school being a little sexy cheerleader and and then again I sort of dabbled again later when I came out.
Speaker 3:But clowning really was my first entrance and then I started weaving drag into my clown and then after some time doing that, I I decided to try being beautiful and to try like okay, like I'm gonna stop being crazy looking or you know, ugly or you know, and attempt to to do a glamour or a PG look. So that was only sort of right around that start Candace, ray, grace, where you kind of see I'm still pretty crunchy bungee trying to look pretty.
Speaker 6:I never agreed with that, though I know that there was that one episode where Jeffrey Boyer Chapman kind of critiqued you and he said that you had a look that lacked some glamour. And I just thought, what are you talking about? And I had the same reaction that you did on the show. I was like because you always came out and you kind of had this stunning presence. But you have a point of view and I think that sometimes you have a unique approach to fashion and beauty and I think sometimes people kind of have to dial into that.
Speaker 3:Well, I appreciate that you're so sweet, you know how to talk to a drag queen, but I definitely went in and I had never really tried to look like that, like a pageant girl.
Speaker 3:I'm a clown and pageant was something foreign to me and and I didn't really watch pageants or that's a really big part of drag culture, certainly in a little bit in Canada, but a lot bigger culture in the States, and so you know I didn't know the kind of silhouette and I also, when I looked online I thought I saw what everyone else was doing and I thought I don't want to do that. What's my version of a pageant? You know I probably would have done better in this outfit actually, but but I wanted to be kind of a clowny Barbie sixies pageant girl, like crying tears with my curls and I had all of that feathers on and I just was feeling like so stunning and glamorous and so to be, to feel one way and then to be viewed so oppositely in that moment was such a slap in the face. And I think I said you know that he needs to get a dictionary and look up the word glamour and stuff like that.
Speaker 6:A lot of us agreed with you. I mean, I was certainly was like what are you talking about? This is really an interesting moment in that series. Drag Race fans know that RuPaul doesn't host Canada, that's Brooklyn Heights, but you did two seasons with RuPaul at the end of that runway, so what was it like going down there and thinking, oh my gosh, I'm going to be doing this for RuPaul, was that?
Speaker 3:intimidating. It's really intimidating. But it's also when you I love fashion and when I realize that Ru wants a fashion show and so Ru wants you to take the brief and to take the, take the idea to and to simultaneously put your own spin and gravy on it, but also to do it through the lens of fashion. And that's a fine line between fashion and costume. And of course, these are all costumes we're showing, but I think if you try to elevate it and add that layer of Mamoru is a supermodel. I think then that's when you really grab her attention.
Speaker 3:And as a designer as well I'm a fashion designer as well I really love that moment to collaborate with other artists to conceive of these looks and costumes and looks prior to going and using all these really elevated materials, and then to be able to present them to Mamoru and and to go in so excited I knew I had. I was really proud of what I was going to show her and I really wanted to. Every time I turned that corner, I wanted to gag her and to for her to go look that great queen, and I think that I did that and that it was magical. It's a little bit stressful, but it's mostly exciting.
Speaker 6:Well, the big thing on you. You slayed the most iconic segment of Drag Race Match Game, and you did it not once, but twice. First is Joan Rivers and then a Shirley Temple. How did you decide to do, joan?
Speaker 3:Well, joan was a character that I found going into Candidate Drag Race. I had to do my audition. We had to come up with three characters going in, and I growing up used to watch a lot of Joan Rivers with my mom and she was a character I loved, just how raisin and funny and crazy she was on TV. So I just tried doing the voice one time when we were preparing, and that performance Joan the first time on Candidate Drag Race was only the second time I had ever really done that character, or had I even done that. The first time was in my audition tape, and so it was really exciting to find, oh, that I could even do that. I didn't even know I could do that and then making up all that stuff and in that moment on the show was just so exciting and so fun and I had.
Speaker 3:You know, it's not like I went into that as sort of like a Joan impersonator. I had never done it before and I hadn't really necessarily done that much impersonation of anyone before, that much. So it was really exciting. It was amazing to see like, oh yeah, you're good at this and you're kind of good at mimicking or channeling energy and I love improv and so that's that perfect, a perfect opportunity to just kind of like be fully weird and try to channel someone and try to be in the moment and and doing a Shirley Temple was so fun as well. Like that was amazing to be with RuPaul, and it was one thing playing Snatch Team with Brooklyn, but it was a whole other thing playing with Mamoru and it was amazing.
Speaker 6:The Shirley Temple was amazing because we've seen people do Joan before, but I've never seen anybody even contemplate doing Shirley Temple. How did you come up with that?
Speaker 3:I think I was trying to think of like, what levels do I want to play with? What characters do I want to play with, what energies? And there's something about, you know, childishness and being. You know I love whatever happened to baby Jane. I love that idea of a child star that has, you know, aged but not aged out of their child stardom and is kind of still hanging on to that. So there was something funny to me about being this old Shirley Temple that still looked like you know her baby self. And also I found out when I was doing UK versus the world and I didn't get a chance to do my Snatch game when people asked me who I was doing. If I didn't say someone recognizable, they weren't that excited about it. But if you say something that someone knows, then they kind of they bring their own idea with it and kind of half the work is kind of taken care of, because people go okay, I have my own idea and you can either subvert that or you can emphasize that or you can totally change that.
Speaker 6:Did you have any inspirations in drag? Did you ever like look at certain drag queens and go gosh. This is what I want to be.
Speaker 3:I think like I was inspired first by RuPaul and seeing RuPaul as kind of the most out there queen, drag queen in the world. Also later, when I started watching John Waters movies and being inspired by divine and just how crazy and just insane and boundary pushing that stuff was. And you know I was already kind of obviously vintage at that time. So that is, I love John Waters and I love that inspiration of divine and that sensibility and that sense of humor and in terms of queens from Drag Race that are inspiring to me, I've always, you know, loved Trixie beyond Sasha Ballour winners that were game changers. And you know Sharon Needles at her time on the show she was a really cool, crazy queen that you know that we had never seen sort of one of those sort of dark queens before. So at that time she was a really, really cool queen. And, yeah, I think there's so many different queens Alyssa Edwards and so many other amazing queens that have their own strengths to look up to.
Speaker 6:The divine thing makes a lot of sense because I think sometimes your glamour comes from that John Waters world, that kind of ironic glamour, and I think that that's probably where the disconnect was with maybe Jeffrey or something like that. I could see him not vibing on that whole thing but because he probably doesn't even know John Waters. But with Levenby we're talking to Jimbo, the current reigning all star queen of RuPaul's Drag Race. So from RuPaul's Drag Race to conquering the world, we love you. We will definitely see you at House of Blues March 20. Thank you for being a queer voice out there and for raising the bar and drag and performance art and for scaring TSA agents all around the country.
Speaker 3:Right On a daily basis. I do what I can. Thank you for having me. I'm so nice chatting with you and I can't wait to do it again.
Speaker 1:You don't have to ask Martha. We've got all the names, dates and web page links for people, events and anything else mentioned in the show right on our own website. It's QueerVoicesorg. We even link to past shows and other tidbits of information, so check it out, queervoicesorg. Besides, martha is a cat. She doesn't know anything about websites.
Speaker 6:You are listening to Queer Voices. I am Brett Cullum, and with me is Denise Fennell, who is currently starring in a show at stages in Houston called Sisters Irish Catechism, saints Snakes and Green Milkshakes. It's a one-woman show where Denise dons a nun's habit and basically teaches us a Catholic school class. So welcome to Queer Voices, denise Fennell.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much for having me. I am super excited for this particular interview because it's you.
Speaker 6:Oh well, thank you. So tell me, is there a name for this numb that you play, and how long have you been doing these? I feel like I see you every year with a new one.
Speaker 4:You know well, there isn't a name. Her name is Sister and that's it. And it's interesting because I get that question a lot. But the character's name is Sister. Some people in Houston now call me Sister Denise, which is wild but really sweet because I've become so connected to this community and, yes, I am spending more time in Houston than at home at this point in my life. The theater community here is thriving. People have embraced not only Sister but other characters that have come to town to play and I truly do my best work here. This is where I've grown as an actor, more so than any other city, any New York, I mean. Everybody says to me oh you know, new York is where it's at. I'm like you guys are missing the boat here. I'm like Houston is arriving. The theater community here is dynamic and the talent pool is outrageous. I love Houston.
Speaker 6:There is your home base. Where do you live?
Speaker 4:Now Los Angeles. I was living in New York. I had a cute little one bedroom apartment in New York and then over the past couple years my life just changed. I ended up getting married. A little bit later in life I found my person and that was super exciting and he's a crazy talent at human being. So he wrote me a play based loosely on our wedding, which Staged, presented in their season last year, which ended up being a huge hit, and now that is getting booked and toured all over the country. So, careful, what you wish for. All of your dreams can come true, absolutely.
Speaker 6:Now I noticed that you credit Mary Pat Donovan, who helps you write these. Who is she?
Speaker 4:Mary Pat Donovan actually is the writer, so it's kind of the other way around. So she created Sister. My goodness, this show has been in existence I think 30 years. It started in Chicago in Second City. It was a late, late, late night performance. That's how it got the late night catechism name and I can call up the character there. It went on to be performed at the Live Bait Theater and then she was the original sister, so it was all of her material that she created and the show became so popular that she had to find nuns across the country so that we could fill all the roles.
Speaker 4:I came in about 10 years ago and I've been part of kind of relaunching production and this particular one I got credit as a writer and that was. It was such a gift to me to have my name next to hers and to know that I'm being able to contribute now in different ways than just performing this one, and this is the world premiere. So this show has never, this version has never existed in any other city and I just am so grateful. Stages really produced this one for me, so I'm super excited about that that I could give this to this theater community and for the rest of the world to know forever and always that Irish catechism originated here in Houston and it will be developed here over the next six weeks. And judging from my last preview of performances and opening last night, this is outrageous. This one is next level, next level.
Speaker 6:Well, I'm excited because I've seen a lot of these previously. You know you have it, this role, so well. It feels like you. I mean, do you improv a lot in the show or is it just?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's highly, highly interactive. There's a wonderful script that supports you know the kind of path that I'll take but the audiences, in particular here in Houston it's almost become like a Rocky Horror Picture Show experience, where there's like call and responses that they want from me from seeing previous performances. So if somebody is dressed inappropriately, the audience is ready. They can't wait because they know what's going to happen. If somebody is chewing gum, they know If I go to pull a tissue, I mean it's, they're screaming the second I walk in the room. So it's highly interactive. It's like a live wire act. I have no idea what is going to happen and in the last five performances I've experienced stuff that I mean I am being challenged as a performer, as an interactive artist, and I love it. I mean they are. It's like they almost practice at home before they get there. So it's like whoa.
Speaker 6:Well, I have to admit, every time I've come I think I've gotten in trouble with sisters. I know I'm like, oh no, what's going to happen this year?
Speaker 4:Oh, quite your seatbelt on. Literally, literally. She's really feisty. You know, with all the different versions of the show, sister also takes on a very different persona, and in this one, look, we're dealing with Irish catechism. With that, you know, does drinking really have anything to do with the history of St Patrick's Day? No, but somehow it's become associated with it. So everybody's coming feeling really good about themselves. There's signature cocktails. In the lobby, people are dressed in green, so I have to gain control of the classroom immediately when I come in, because everybody is a little buzzed and I love it. I don't have it any other way.
Speaker 6:Thankfully, you have an intermission, though I do want to warn people that you do have an intermission there is a bathroom break, because when I first saw the show I made the mistake of thinking there was no bathroom break and I was just looked it out of there and then I was in trouble.
Speaker 4:So Funny to me, like the behavior like everybody really falls into the role of being students in this classroom of sister. So you know I was describing. At the other night there was this gentleman and they had never seen it before. So I was watching them, watch the whole experience and enjoying the experience through their eyes and they were like people would get up to go to the bathroom and I would yell at them and they just they were cracking up. They had, they had no idea what they were coming to. They're like somebody gave us tickets to this. We had no idea, we had nothing else to do tonight, so we just kind of showed up and I think we're having the best night of our lives.
Speaker 6:No, it's totally fun and one of the things that I think is really, really interesting, because we're on queer voices with Denise Fennell. But you are super straight. I mean, you did a show called the Bride, which was inspired by your marriage to your husband that you mentioned earlier, and you do have, though, this drag aesthetic going on with this nun. There is a thing where you transform and you become her. Like I don't recognize you. Like when I first saw you out or in the Bride, I was like that's not, that's not Denise Fennell, that's somebody else, you know, but you really do. I mean, like, what makes you feel different? Is this just an instant thing when you put on that habit?
Speaker 4:There's just something so empowering about it. It's like you lose your gender completely, you, you, you become something else and it's really so freeing to me and so empowering as a woman to be stripped away of everything except my face, you know, and and I I think, where I've grown so much, and and this happened in Houston for the first time the beautiful thing about Mary Padonna, then, with this show, is, you know, there's like so many people come and take it so seriously that, you know just, they think that sisters beliefs are the beliefs of the Catholic church. And that's not necessarily the path of this show. It's her, it's. If Denise was a nun, what would she believe? What is her mission in life? To bring people together, people of all backgrounds, faiths, culture. There's so much diversity in the world now and I really love that. Mary Pad has allowed me as the character to represent that, and I remember we did the version here called till death, do us part.
Speaker 4:And typically what I'm doing in that show during the second half is I'm looking for a couple that's been married for many, many, many years, like over 50 years, and a couple that is, you know, newly married or dating. And there was two men that had just gotten married and this was probably eight or nine years ago and, as far as we think we've all come. Still people are shocked by it and I was absolutely 100% bringing them up to play the game show and the whole audience was like what is happening? And I'm like this is the world we live in. We must embrace everybody. That is the mission. That is what a religious sister does and I really have consulted with so many religious sisters across the country and that was their job. It was like they're the bridge between the doctrine and human beings and I'm so grateful to be able to capture that and to bring diversity to the show and have it be inclusive in so many ways.
Speaker 4:And we take a lot of steps to do it and not a lot of people realize that. You know, kind of taking the gender association out of it and including people as people, not so much men and women. Just a person is a person and I'm new to all the pronouns and I'm working them out as sister, but I really respect that and I try to honor that with everything that I do, every piece. You know, just because I'm with a man doesn't mean I don't respect everybody else for who they choose in life too. I'm glad that you see her as this kind of person who just takes something on that doesn't have to be labeled to one thing or another. I really appreciate you saying that, because that is something I'm really working hard to accomplish. It's our new world and we have to embrace it.
Speaker 6:In this year especially, the Catholic Church officially announced that it's softening a little bit on its stance towards the LGBTQIA plus community. They now allow blessings of our unions as long as it's not on holy ground. So I was wondering are you working that into your show this year at all?
Speaker 4:Absolutely, I am so and the community here has just embraced it so much and, yeah, like this.
Speaker 4:So this particular version to me is about group activities bringing people together that necessarily would not be together, but because I'm giving them a group activity that you might never know the person across from you in this show but I'm going to pair you up with them to accomplish something and through that experience you will see that there's parts of you that are similar than different. It's easier to unite than it is to divide, and I really feel like over the past few years look, we're on social media now. I love it, but most of us have gotten lost behind our phones. Most people, when they're seeing other people succeed, have negative things to say, and I want people to get back to a face-to-face experience where we see each other as human beings, not as words, where we all have feelings, no matter what our choices are in life, to really bring a community back you get that admission for me in this show to get the community back together, being accepting of each other, loving each other and really helping each other out.
Speaker 6:If somebody wants to get a blessing during the show, should they ask for that?
Speaker 4:I'm not qualified as a religious sister to give you a blessing. I know it wouldn't be anything impactful. Last night I was going to marry somebody that would be awesome I was literally going to marry this couple and I'm in ordain so I can. But I was like Ken, let's go. We got wedding dresses back there. I know there's one wedding dress back there, I wore it.
Speaker 6:There's going to be a million of them back there. It's fun to do that. It's fun to do that.
Speaker 4:I'm like we've got bridesmaids gowns. I'm like we'll throw you a wedding right now. We'll get you married right in this room and it was opening night. I'm like you'll get some nice gifts too, because there's some pretty amazing people in the room.
Speaker 6:Have you ever thought about going to the gay bars as this non-character and doing like some publicity stuff?
Speaker 4:You know what? I would go to the gay bar, but they would just invite me in like I was a regular human being. I don't think they'd be shocked in any other way, or they'd expect me to get up and perform something, and I'd love to tell you that I could sing.
Speaker 6:I don't know. We do have an order here of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which is very familiar. Yes. So if we could get some of them to come to your show, I think it would just be a scream. I'll work on that.
Speaker 4:I would love it. I support them 100%. I feel like they were involved in something in Los Angeles and they were going to be like yes, I don't like, why not? Like there was such a big uproar. So many people in the Catholic church were like, no, this is a disrespectful thing. And I'm like it is not disrespectful. It's people enjoying themselves. It's people bringing the community together. Like, stop, stop trying to prevent people from having joy in their lives. That was the mission, that was the message, and people don't realize it. It's not about excluding people or saying no. It's about saying yes and then being worth coming with all of the things that we learned from those types of experiences. And I think in the end they did get to participate. It's like let's have an event where we're featuring gay and lesbian but let's not invite them. What is that me? I almost wanted to get involved in the conversation as sister, but then I was like forget it, this will be next level because I'll slap somebody.
Speaker 6:No, no. Now we're talking to Denise Finnell. She's, of course, starring as sister in a Irish catechism I always trip on that word, but it's at stages and this year we're talking about saints, snakes and green milkshakes and all of that. But I know you as an actress as well, and do you do shows that are not just one woman's shows? Do you ever come? Because I feel like I saw you at stages and something else.
Speaker 4:Well, I started out touring and then I had. I just loved the community that stages, theater itself represents, and as I would tour in as sister, like one day I would see somebody that was working in the box office was now directing the play, or somebody that was directing the play is now starring in the play. And I was like, wow, what an incredible theater company, like a true theater company, where everybody just kind of shifts their jobs, nobody's put in a box, like one day you could be starring in something and one day you're selling tickets. And I started to see the same people year after year and I thought what a beautiful place. It must be really lovely to work here on a regular basis and be able to create. So I started basically begging Ken to involve me in the theater company and he was like you don't really live here. It doesn't kind of, it doesn't work like that. I was like, please, I desire to work with these other actors. I would love to have the opportunity to grow as an actor and a person with you all. And he gave me the script for the Lily Tomlop piece search for signs of intelligent life in the universe. So, of course, as an actor, you say yes to everything.
Speaker 4:I didn't do a lot of research, I'm embarrassed to say, and I just started reading the play and I was like I would love to play Trudy back lady. I'm like this will be great. And look at all these other fun characters. I'll get to work with all these actors, never realizing it was a one woman show. So the more and more research I started to do for it. I called the drama bookstore in New York because they have recordings and I was like, ooh, maybe I should watch the recording of this play of Lily Tomlop, who's a brilliant genius, right. So the guy at the bookstore is like why are you, why do you want to see that archive? And I said I was just cast in that in Houston silence. Oh, that's a really difficult piece to perform. And I was like really, I think Trudy the back lady's in it and he's like honey. That is a one person show where you play multiple characters with accents. I was like what? So I had to act like I knew what I was doing.
Speaker 4:So that was my first experience outside of the habit in Houston and I ended up getting to meet Lily Tomlop because of it, and she was. They say don't meet your idols or legends, because they'll disappoint you. And she was so awesome. We were at an Emmy party in Los Angeles and he was my boyfriend at the time. But my husband went right up to Lily and he said my girlfriend just performed search for signs in Houston. She stopped everything at this party and sat down and we talked for 45 minutes about the production. She didn't care what was going on, she wanted to talk theater and it was like and she sent my name so many times she was like, oh, denise, that's so wonderful. And I was like, what a gift. So Steve just brought me Lily and then during that production I had been asked to join the Off-Grodly Company of Sheer Madness in New York City.
Speaker 4:I was living in New York City at the time and that's a dream to be invited to perform. And I had to turn it down because I had accepted the role of all the characters in search for signs. And Ken was so wonderful. He said you know what? Thank you for choosing us and you know what? We'll just produce Sheer Madness here and you can be in it here. And I'm so like what. So then I got to be in a play with Demo, who is wonderful, incredible actress here in Houston, mark Ivey I mean Jets. It was directed by Mitchell. I mean, I was in my glory being able to perform with some of Houston's most incredibly talented people. We had a ball and that was such. That was a well-received show also. So I've really gotten to do a lot of stuff here in Houston and really become part of this incredible theater community here and they've embraced me, which is really, really.
Speaker 6:Has Deb and Joel come to see the sister show?
Speaker 4:yet. So not this one. They will come up and I love this podcast that they're doing. I think it's so fun Partakes. So they came to see the bride that I had done last season and that was commissioned by Stages developed here world premiere here and I got to ride in the car with them and we were just cracking. I mean, the two of them together are hysterical. I love that. They're uplifting theater in Houston. They're taking so much time in their lives to go see all these other productions while they're working on productions themselves and they're so positive in their message and to me that's what a gift.
Speaker 4:It's hard to be a review. It's hard to have somebody show up and critique you in some way. So when you find people and you write beautiful reviews too, like when you find people that really uplift artists and find something beautiful and there are words to give to, you hope in some way that you're making a difference in this world with your art, it really means a lot to an artist and people that take the time to write, people that take the time to see your shows it's such a beautiful gift to me and I see you all and I recognize that you don't have to do that, and it's because you're artists too, and you love this world, and you continue to create and promote. Without everybody working together as a team, it wouldn't mean as much as it does. So I love that about the Houston community too, that you all really support each other. It's really a beautiful thing to see.
Speaker 6:There are times we don't, but we do it at that.
Speaker 4:Listen, I haven't always gotten great reviews, and that's okay. You subject yourself as an artist to be exposed, and sometimes it's great, and sometimes it doesn't hit the wall the way you want it to. So you try again and you're resilient, and I know that it's not always perfect, and that's the beauty of theater it's live, and sometimes you succeed and sometimes you don't, and sometimes the projects are great and sometimes they're not. But we don't give up. We just try again.
Speaker 6:Well, it's interesting to me and I've been on both sides, I mean, I've been a critic and I've been an actor, so I know that what you do is hard. So I take that into account when I see a show. And I had a great mentor when I first started that said you know what, if you believe them when they say you're good, then you have to believe them when they say you're bad. So go with your own guts.
Speaker 4:You know there's something in there and it was interesting in particular when we did the bride, and that this, this show, is very dear to my heart because Mary Pat now has become a mentor to me and I just love her, so I always want to do a justice the bride for me.
Speaker 4:It was such an intimate peek into my life, so it was. It was a little harder to take some of the critiques, but I and everybody said, will you read the reviews? Like some actors do not read the reviews, and I said I always learned something from. Whether it be a good one or a bad one, it's somebody's point of view and if I can be better because of it or see things in a different way because of it, I'm open to to be exposed to that. I surrendered to that when I put myself out there as a public figure. So I learned a lot by reading some of the reviews and I was able to, you know, work on the play and get it to the place where it needed to be, because of both great reviews and not so great reviews.
Speaker 6:It's just like Facebook. We remember the bad comments. For some reason, those get in there and they get in your head sometimes.
Speaker 4:So definitely like I try not to make the show open. It's always, you know, hit or miss with me a couple of times Like everybody was, like it was amazing, we loved it, we loved it. I came home, I knew every joke I missed, I knew every line I reversed, I knew I focused on that for a really, really long time and then finally I just had to like surrender to the fact that I can't go back and change any of that. That's the live performance and I just have to be accepting of everything that happened and know that tomorrow I can try again. And it doesn't solely define who I am. I'm so much more than than that and I'm just grateful to have the opportunity tonight to get back out there and do what I love and watch people smile and watch them escape their lives for a couple of hours in in this room. It's really a beautiful day.
Speaker 6:We're listening to Queer Voices and we are talking to Denise Fennell about her show at stages, which runs through March 17th. It's Sister's Irish Catechism, Saints Snakes and Green Milk Shakes. And, Denise, I just realized on the billing for this show you hyphenated your name.
Speaker 4:Mark Sylvia and Mary Paddanovan. They co-wrote a lot of the sequels together the late night catechism sequels and Mark Sylvia was my original director. He trained me into the role of Sister incredible human being, incredible director, wonderful writer, great partner to Mary Paddanovan, creatively and friendship wise, and we had started to work on this particular play. This was my passion piece in 2017. I had gone to Mary Paddanovan and said I think that there should be a version of this show that is the Irish Catechism, and there was something about it to me and it took them many, many years. They said they're done writing sequels, they're finished. And I said no, no, no, please one more, just write me one more. So we started to write the play and as we were working on the play, mark Sylvia got very sick. He just wasn't right and I couldn't figure it out and he was taken from us very quickly. He was diagnosed with lung cancer that had already spread to his brain. So this man was fearlessly trying to write a play in the face of death and he was trying so hard to stay focused for me, for Mary Paddanovan. He was trying so hard to stay with us and unfortunately, he passed just a few months ago and we were kind of in a position with this show where we didn't know how to move forward. The script hadn't been finished yet. I did not have a director and Ten from Stages called and said let's just do Easter, let's go back to the version of the show that we did a few years ago. It kind of fits into the liturgical calendar of where we are and I really didn't want to do that. I said I had promised Houston Irish Catechism and I had promised Mark, before he passed, that we would make this happen somehow, some way that we would get this show up on its feet, because he really wanted to see this happen. So, mary Paddanovan, she was really gracious about it and she brought me in as a writer for the first time and she said you'll work on this with me. Now I'd love to say that I'm a wonderful writer. I'm not great at structure, but my husband is.
Speaker 4:So, as you know, in this business there's a lot of ghost writers that don't ever really get recognized for the work that they have done on this project. And Mary Paddanovan knew all along that he was really helping and that's how I gave credit to him, because I knew as a writer he wasn't going to be credited in the program and it was really important to me that he was recognized for the work that he did on this play, because he wrote some really beautiful lines for me, he wrote some really beautiful jokes for me and he really just jumped in and he didn't want to be credited. He didn't need to be credited, he just wanted to be part of the process and he wanted also to really give this gift to Mary Paddanovan, to Mark, to uplift him, to keep his name out there and let people know that you are gone but not forgotten, and we will continue to have your legacy live on through your words, through your direction. And it was hard I'm not going to lie, because a lot of people think that I just go out there and make it all happen and it takes a village to put this show up and at that point we didn't really have the show that we have today. Houston stepped right in. They helped build the props, they did the lighting and sound design, they produced this show with me, with Mary Paddanovan, with my husband, and it really was such a beautiful gift. So when I'm out there, the fact that I can give this world premiere to Houston, it means so much more to me than most people know To be able to stand out there and speak these words for my husband, for Mary Paddanovan, for Mark, for all of the crew and staff at Stages Theatre, for everybody that has put their heart and soul into this. So I'm the vessel. Now it's my job to uplift the whole experience, but I could not have done this without any of them. So that's why I hyphened my name, because he's of my husband's.
Speaker 4:An incredible writer what's his name? Rick Pasquillon and he's a really talented artist and a wonderful actor and a voiceover guy. He's amazing and he's gifted me so much in my life. I have two beautiful children because of him, anthony and Isabella. Anthony is 18. And Isabella is 14. And I do this all for them. They're so supportive. They let their bonus mom leave town for six weeks to join the circus and they cheer me on and I'm just, I'm full. You know it didn't happen for me until later on in life and you know, as a woman, when you turn 50, everybody kind of looks at you a little differently. But for me, when I turned 50, everything that I had ever hoped and dreamed or came true. I got a husband, I got a family, I got a wonderful career and an opportunity to be once again blessed, to grace the stages here at Houston.
Speaker 6:Well, that is a beautiful story and I think it's a unique story for career voices for sure. So, yeah, thank you so much for coming on and sharing all of this with us and for sharing your sister with us for so many years here in Houston. You've entertained us for ever and we love it. And, of course, stages, theater, sisters, irish catechism, saints, snakes and green milk shapes runs through March 17th. You can catch Denise. You can catch the entire village that built it up. She'll be the one, in the nun's habit, scolding you. So thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you. This has been Queer Voices, which is now a home produced podcast and available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage Queer Voicesorg for more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian LaVinca. Andrew Edmondson and Deborah Moncrief Bell are frequent contributors. The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast called this Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.
Speaker 7:Some of the material in this program has been edited to improve clarity and runtime. This program does not endorse any political views or animal species. Views, opinions and endorsements are those of the participants and the organizations they represent. In case of death, please discontinue use and discard remaining products.
Speaker 1:For Queer Voices. I'm Glenn Holt.