Take a step behind all the glitz and the glamour to get an insight as to how the drag scene and culture is like in Singapore.
By: Katharina Francesca Dittmer Jia Hui and Julieanna Praize Austin
The tools needed for success: Charlotte Ray showcases her extensive make-up set-up for her horror wedding-themed video shoot held on the 1st November 2020. PHOTO BY: JULIEANNA PRAIZE AUSTIN
Rows and rows of make-up brushes, metal kits filled with many layers of concealers, eye-shadow pallets, eyeliners and different shades of lipsticks. Wigs of different lengths and colours and clothes that are seen as theatrical and controversial to some. But to drag queens Noristar and Charlotte Ray, drag is an outlet, an avenue used to freely express themselves. A safe space for their personas to run free.
“I like entertaining on stage and to me entertaining is very joyful, it’s not just that, but at the same time the experience we get through as an entertainer it’s very rewarding and fulfilling,” explains Charlotte Ray, who is a resident performer at Taboo Club.
Houses in drag
In drag culture, the word mother does not only refer to a term that a child would call their female parent. Better known as a ‘House mother’, these are drag queens who mentor, guide and provide the ins and outs of the industry to the young protegés or drag queens who are passionate about the art form.
“To be a house mother, you are supposed to literally guide them, nurture them and also make them grow. You have to feed them with a lot of ideas, a lot of tricks and trades of being a performer and a drag queen and of course you have to give them a chance and an avenue to perform,” Noristar, the drag mother of “House of Star”, explains what it takes to become a house mother.
House of Stars: Noristar (Pictured on the left) with her drag daughters after a show last December. PHOTO BY: Noristar.official on instagram
“Most of them come from broken families, most of them are foreigners who come from far, so we as a mother, we take care of them as family. So, that is what being a mother is all about, it's another family that they have that can take care of them and understand them,” She added.
The concept of drag mothers and house mothers can be traced back to the 1970s in New York, where drag balls originated. According to a BBC article on the history of drag, around this time, seasoned queens would take the new, up-and-coming drag artists under their wing and show them how to perform and prepare for a show. They often also provided a home to youngsters who may be going through difficult times in their lives. However, this works a bit differently in Singapore’s context.
Most house mothers don’t own actual houses where all the drag queens live. Instead, it works more like a clan or an “agency” where the drag mothers help the drag daughters find shows, create costumes and looks or with any other admin issues including ensuring no discrepancies or mistreatment of the drag queens.
“Whenever I have outside gigs that require more than one drag, I always put them as a priority to perform,” Noristar, who has been in the industry for 22 years explains. “You bring them along to where you go so that they get explored and they get more contacts, I am introducing them to the community, I am introducing them to show business.”
The 44-year-old also mentions that being part of a drag house means being able to have a place and a space to vent out their anger to to be able to be open about the profession.
“It's like a little counselling family, we are each other's unofficial counsellors, but it works,” he says with a chuckle.
Noristar, who is currently a house mother to four drag queens, chooses her drag daughters based on their characteristics as performers. She scouts and looks for people with “character” and “potential to explore”.
She explains that the different houses in Singapore all have different characteristics that make their houses unique: “ The House of Joaquim is known for their dancing, while the House of Blaque is known for the looks and their make-up. I feel that my house is known for their character so everyone is a character queen.”
A show to remember: Noristar, who has been a drag queen for 22 years, performing at Taboo Club located at Niel Road in ChinaTown. PHOTO BY: Noristar.official on instagram
Even to independent drag queens such as Charlotte Ray, the different houses in Singapore are still part of a big sisterhood: “Drag houses in Singapore have different styles, backgrounds and rules, which make them different from one another. Even if some of the drag queens are in different houses, we are all still part of a big sisterhood in Singapore. We do support each other.”
In Singapore, there are about five to six prominent houses according to the 10-year house mother, but it is hard to know an exact number of drag houses there are as some of them are not as well known.
Independent drag queens
Though many would think being part of a drag house would be the most beneficial to a drag queens, some prefer being an independent.
For Charlotte Ray, who’s real name is Muhammad Zuhairi Bin Kramli, says she prefers to be an independent drag queen because of the freedom. The 26-year-old mentioned: “Freedom is what I’ve got. There’s no restrictions or boundaries from anyone.”
It's in the moves: Charlotte Ray rehearsing the Vogueing choreography with her team for the video shoot. PHOTO BY: JULIEANNA PRAIZE AUSTIN
Charlotte has been a drag queen professionally for one year but has been practicing drag for about two years. She says that she found out about drag through her friends in the field and through the reality competition television series “Rupaul’s drag race” and “Drag race Thailand”.
When asked about what she hopes to achieve in her drag career, Charlotte wrote: “I would like to take my drag to a mainstream level, be it on the main stage or any channel. For example, as a local artist for starters. By gaining experience through this, I would be grateful to also be able to mentor new queens that want to start doing drag.”
Charlotte, who was a dancer for 10 years, prior to the birth of the persona explains that she is currently under no pressure to join a house.
“Currently, there is no pressure on me at the moment because being an independent drag queen has no limits. I can do whatever I want, experimenting with my own art. It’s not necessary for me to be under a house or for me to open my own house.”
Charlotte Ray was runner-up for the second season of “Drag it Out”, a local drag competition hosted by Taboo Club. She is currently under a five year contract with the club as a resident performer and is still performing through live-streamed shows despite the closure of clubs due to the pandemic.
Show Stopper: Charlotte Ray, The runner up for “Drag it Out” Season 2, posing for a photo at Taboo Club. PHOTO BY: Itscharlotterays on instagram
History of drag in Singapore
The local drag scene has roots dating back all the way to the 1950’s. According to an by The Compass Asia published on the 6 December 2018 about a drag queen’s story , Drag in the 50’s centred around a pre commercialised Bugis Street, which was renowned internationally then as a place for transgenders and crossdressers. It was an infamous destination where transvestites, sailors and tourists would visit.
In 1995, the film “Bugis Street” which was a Hong Kong-Singapore co-production which was about the lives of Singaporean transgender women in the bygone era was released only to be banned for 20 years after a short time in local cinemas.
Moving on to the 21st century, the connotation and the association that only trans people did drag started to loosen, and people started to see drag as an artform and a form of entertainment that anybody of any sexual background or identity could do. Drag became more well known worldwide with the introduction of the culture through the reality competition television series “Rupaul’s drag race.” and locally, through the comedian, actor, television host and drag queen, Kumarason Chinnadurai, popularly known as Kumar.
Drag Queen Noristar actually got her drag name from Kumar, after winning the opportunity to work at Boom Boom Room with her. “I introduced myself as Dory to her but she was confused as to why I wanted that as my name. Why would I want to be called by an old woman's name? And then she recommended to me; why don’t you call yourself Noris? It could be a girl or a guy name.”
The representation of drag queens in local media also started to clear the many misconceptions about the art form. Just this year, actor Mark Lee was nominated for a Golden Horse award for his role and portrayal as a drag queen in the movie “Number 1”.
When asked what he wants to see come about from this representation of the drag culture, Norisman Mustafa, better known as his drag persona ‘Noristar’, said:” I want to see respect for the art form, respect for the culture of drag queens, respect for the whole of aesthetic of drag because we may be comedians and entertainers but we are not a laughing object.”
Today, clubs such as Taboo have hosted two seasons of their very own drag competition where it has seen many young hopefuls whether independent or part of houses “Drag It Out” to be crowned the winner.
The struggles and misconceptions a a drag
Despite the progress and the growing media representation about Drag and its culture, there are still many misconceptions about it, leaving some of the drag queens feeling disregarded and harassed.
“I was doing stand up comedy when two drunken people from the audience came up on stage and started rubbing themselves against me, hugging me and holding me tight, not letting me go. I felt so degraded, so molested, so raped,” Noristar recalls of an incident when she was performing.
Charlotte added on about the harassment: “It is really disrespectful. Because I have friends who did sexy songs and performances, and after the show, the guys and girls will go towards the drag queens and touch their private parts. They feel like we are toys, but we are not, we have feelings.”
So, rows and rows of make-up brushes, metal kits filled with many layers of powers, eye-shadow pallets, eyeliners and different shades of lipsticks. Wigs of different lengths and colours and clothes that are seen as theatrical and controversial to some. Many see drag as just men or women dressing up and putting on obscene amounts of make-up. But with such diverse rootings in history and with its non-conventional system and concepts, there is so much more than meets the eye when it comes to drag.
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