For some of us life can be a real drag... in a fun, flowery, fabulous way. Britt Coker investigates.
I was 19 when my head was swallowed by Dolly Parton’s bosom. During a long weekend visiting Sydney with my mother, one minute I was watching a drag performance and the next I was part of it. Suddenly all I saw was blue satin as the impersonator’s hand-controlled breasts bounced out and enveloped my head entirely. I eeked and then it was over. I guess we all have our drag show story.
Nick Erasmuson has more of them than most of us. When he was a young man growing up in Nelson, he was only Nick. Involved in the Nelson Youth Theatre Company with a great love for performing on stage, he knew he wanted to make a career out of it and this idea was consolidated on a subsequent trip to London with the Young Shakespeare Company. But a couple of years later, settled in Wellington, Nick found himself in an entirely different role. He became manager, publicist, sound technician and make-up artist for a drag queen called Eva Goodcoq. Also, he became Eva.
At first thought, it seems like quite a contrast, to go from performing Shakespeare to being a drag queen. But when the Bard of Avon wrote the parts of Juliet, Viola, Ophelia and Beatrice, he knew full well that men would be playing them (female actors weren’t legally allowed to perform on stage until 1661), so it’s not that big a (high heeled) leap really. Back in Wellington and going along to drag shows, Nick realised that with his performance background, watching from the audience wasn’t his only option. And that’s when Eva was born. Just as Athena burst forth from the head of Zeus, fully grown and armoured for battle, Eva sprung out of his head as a glossy-lipped glamazon, ready for anything. Well, ready for anything in about 90 minutes to two hours. Putting on an entirely new face takes time.
And where does Nick go when Eva takes the stage?
“She’s a bit louder, a bit quicker with her wit, but it is me, just much more dressed up and giving myself permission to be as loud and as extravagant that I can't be all the time.” Despite the cheeky, larger than life characters that audiences see, Nick believes all drag queens present themselves as an honest representation of the person they are when the make-up is not on.
Nick had already been performing on stage for eight years when Eva stepped into his spotlight four years ago.
In 2020, she was part of a show specially designed for kids called The Glitter Garden. Covid delayed production the following season, but The Glitter Garden is returning for another season this June if everything goes to plan. Nick says that children love the show. Perhaps at some level they are just relieved that being an adult doesn’t look like it’s going to quite be so mundane and boring as their parents have made it appear.
“To them all that they're seeing is something sparkly and glamorous and musical on stage which is everything they love and want as far as entertainment, you know. They see something so remarkable. A beautiful, glittery, flower person and that’s all they care about.” There are similarities too. “We always like to say, drag is just dress up for grownups except we have grown up jobs so we can afford nicer wigs and nicer clothes than what you find in the dress up box at kindy.”
I suspect not many parents expect their children will grow up to be drag queens. Most of us probably have the obvious career options come to mind that we had considered when we were kids ourselves. Astronaut, truck driver, ballet dancer, police officer, vet.
Cue slightly surprised look on Nick’s parents’ faces.
“Right at the very, very beginning my parents were like, ‘Well that’s a bit different’, but after seeing me perform and getting to know this entertainer better, they absolutely love it and love coming to my shows to support me, which is amazing.” Now they introduce themselves to his friends as ‘Mama and Papa Goodcoq’.
When life is unaffected by covid traffic lights, Eva performs in theatre shows, hosts quiz shows and karaoke nights. While a lot of drag performers lip synch, Nick’s background in theatre means that Eva can also sing and tap dance. But he is quick to point out that there are no rules and a drag performer can do whatever the hell they like.
“It's an art form that gives the performer and the artist the opportunity to express themselves exactly how they choose to without any kind of syllabus or training. There are no guidelines they have to meet. No one has written a Drag 101 on what to do and not do. Everyone just gets into the dress up box and works it out for themselves.”
Who makes a good drag queen?
“That’s a hard question. Anytime I see any performance I’m always looking at the storytelling behind the song and the number. Having a beginning, middle and end and taking the audience on a journey, even if it’s basic. Being able to captivate them and make them experience a story that they haven’t seen before.”
Eva Goodcoq is planning to come to Nelson as one of the performers of, ‘Drag Up your Life’ in late March but there may be a change of plans, pandemic dependent. Nick says the show first came here several years ago, held in a small theatre. It was so successful, they returned again to entertain for larger audiences at the Theatre Royal. Nick loves that Nelson has embraced the show. He admits to being ‘a city girl’ but Nelson is where his love for performing began and he enjoys sharing his journey with the people he used to share the stage with here.
I wondered if he’d ever had an inkling back when he performed in Nelson that drag was the gig for him.
“There were a couple of theatre shows where I got ‘dragged up’ on stage as an ensemble member just for the fun of it…. It’s sort of a full circle moment coming back to drag and bringing the drag back to Nelson theatre.” He laughs. It’s just a little bit more polished now.”
Eva has shown him a couple of things about himself that he may not have discovered otherwise. Firstly, there’s been an adjustment in his wardrobe’s colour palette. “I really love pink”, he says cheerfully. Secondly, Eva looks good with a moustache. An accessory he grew during the 2020 lockdown, the mou’ was all set to go when performances started up over Zoom, but a last-minute reprieve was a good call, according to his friends.
So he’s discovered that pink outfits, make up and moustaches coordinate joyfully, but perhaps more importantly, Ms Goodcoq has provided Nick opportunity for personal growth.
“I have learnt to be a bit more unapologetically myself when I’m not in drag as well. Being Eva gives me such a confidence and power when I’m in drag and I think that's the same for everybody. The power you feel, getting all dolled up and looking so beautiful. You can take that power with you every day.”
At the time of print the Drag Up Your Life performance in Nelson has been postponed with new dates to be confirmed.
