A nod to drag’s history

A three-minute MySpace video has sent Sydney’s drag world into a historical spin.

The video of the final Capriccios show Roseland Ballroom, posted by an Adelaide drag queen, prompted Amelia Airhead and Mini Cooper to pull together a tribute show to Oxford Street’s past entertainment treasures.

Queen Of Clubs: From Leather To Feather celebrates the diversity of our history, and in particular the celebrated club Capriccios, but with a modern twist. Airhead designed and produced the new show.

“The show isn’t just a celebration of Capriccios, but also the leather scene at the Midnight Shift Club, which the first part of the show highlights,” she said.

“The second part is an exploration of the famous club but has a modern day twist.”

With help from the original costume designer Tony Thompson, the performers kept the outfits as true to the originals as possible.

“Everything is about yellow and sparkle,” Airhead said. “This symbolises the amazing era of the 70s. Many of the outfits are kept to the original way.”

Airhead said the show was a fitting tribute as it showed the current generation how much drag shows had changed over the years.

“Drag shows have changed, especially as Capriccios was a seven-nights-a-week venue that had the ultimate professionalism with sets flying in and out,” she said.

“Today we perform in pubs behind the bar or on a little stage. Not that it’s a bad thing – the economy has changed. Drag queens have had to become cleverer and innovate. The video clip tells how drag has changed.”

It’s believed the Roselands Ballroom show cost around $32,000 to put on. These days, Airhead said, budgets are about a tenth of that. But, she said, the art form is still as important today as it was in previous decades.

“We are very valuable because we bring in all the crowds and the fact that everyone from club licensees to the audience sees the importance of us – we’re an excuse for people to go out,” Airhead said.

“Drag has opened so many doors for me. I’ve travelled overseas and even performed with Cold Chisel all over Australia – it’s about living another fantasy life because you can create these amazing worlds.”

Queen Of Clubs: From Leather To Feather is at the Midnight Shift every Saturday. The show starts at 1.30am.