Back to the future

From screen to stage, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has got Sydney’s finest going head to head for the lead roles.

The town seems to be a buzz of coloured eyeshadow and foam wigs, with renditions of I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine coming from every direction.

The likes of Courtney Act, Cleo Coupe, Matthew Newton and even David Campbell are all vying for the chance to wear the thong dress and board the Priscilla bus.

I have to ask the question: if Priscilla the stage play is going to be as huge as anticipated, which direction is drag going to go now?

Unfortunately, minimalist drag is at a peak at the moment. It seems that a Paddy’s Market wig, lip-gloss and a Supre slip dress is all that you need these days.

Not knowing whether it is actually a young girl next to you or one of the new female illusionists is becoming a common thing.

One showgirl who has admitted to having promoted this look in the beginning and now refers to it as skank drag, Ms Vanity Faire, claims if you are going create a look, then for God’s sake do it properly.

It seems we have fuelled a group of girls -“ social skank drag queens -“ that get putrid, run amuck, get as much as they can for free and don’t bring anything to the party.

Maybe this is what Sydney needs to get back to the over-the-top fabulousness that drag used to be. When showgirls and baby showgirls actually thought about what they wanted to look like and took time in preparing their looks.

Girls weren’t afraid to use colour on their eyes, colour in their outfits and glitter everywhere. Jesus, I still have glitter everywhere from when I first though it was a crime not to dip my head in the glitter pot before leaving the door.

One showgirl who wasn’t afraid of showing her fabulousness to anyone that would watch is legend and returned Sydneysider, Cindy Pastel.

I can remember many times seeing this amazing, colourful creature enter the Albury stage. I would just sit and watch in awe, most of the time not really knowing what the hell she was doing or understanding it, but always thinking, wow.

So should we follow Ms Faire’s campaign and try and stamp out these so-called skank drag queens, and say no to lip gloss and flat hair? Or should we just go with the flow and see where the natural progression takes itself?

I guess either way it is a form of self-expression, whether you do it on the cheap or not (remember, it is easier to be cheap than look cheap!).