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Queen of the
new drag

Mado looks back on the heady early ’90s days of wigs and anarchy

by JOHN CUSTODIO

Twelve years ago, the Mirror heralded the rise of “The New Drag”: an underground movement taking the gay scene by storm. Writer Cathleen Skidmore called it “The Punk of the 90s”—you could almost hear the finger snaps punctuating the caption, daring you to challenge the claim—and featured on the cover were the outrageous queens, Huguette Bonne Chance, Titi Galore and Mado Lamotte.

It was the year RuPaul released “Supermodel of the World.” By the time Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and To Wong Foo hit the cinemas, it was clear: Drag queens were once again leading the gay revolution, giving a much-needed morale boost to a community exhausted by its fight against AIDS.

But where is “The New Drag” today? What’s become of the movement, now that Ru Paul has found Jesus and Joey Arias is playing Vegas? To find out, the Mirror spoke to Mado, the doyenne of the Montreal scene, who has since built herself a little empire: a widely-read column in ICI, a regular gig on Musimax, and her very own cabaret to boot.

Mirror: Do you miss the old days, when you were still making a name for yourself at Lézard?

Mado: I did, for a while. The club scene got very boring and I got sick of what I was doing. But since opening Cabaret Mado, I feel much more revitalized. One of the great things about Lézard, what I missed most, was that it wasn’t gay-only. All kinds of people went there to have a good time.

M: But surely “The New Drag” was about more than partying. You were compared to punk rock, I imagine, because underneath the outrageous costumes and wild performances was a kind of angry energy.

Mado: For sure. We were the anarchist revolutionaries of drag! We were at all the demos, holding banners, screaming “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to us!” But those were the times. People hated us, even in the gay community, which is why I worked at Lézard. There was no place for me in the Village. I remember one gay pride—this was before Divers/Cité—when organizers told drag queens to keep away, because we were a “disgrace.” That’s what it was like. People didn’t understand us. They thought we hated women. Other drag queens hated us, too, because we made fun of the tacky singers they impersonated.

Pushing buttons

M: Now you’re the establishment.

Mado: We’re still pushing buttons; we’re the only ones! Madame Simone used to have to perform in dark nightclubs. Remember how she used to grab everybody’s dick? Now she does that on the sidewalk in front of the Cabaret! I still tell raunchy jokes, but now it’s for a bigger audience. Not just club kids, but ladies from the suburbs, teenage girls, all kinds of people come to our shows: young, old, gay, straight. I like to say that the Cabaret is like what the United Nations want to be. If drag queens ruled the world, we wouldn’t have these stupid wars.

M: What about the politics?

Mado: I never liked being a porte-parole anyway. Also, it’s not the same, there isn’t anyone to “act up” with anymore. I feel very alone in that sense, because the other girls, when they perform, aren’t really political. If I’m angry about something, I say it. I write about it. But I don’t go to demonstrations so much anymore. I’m no Pierre Falardeau.

Drag kings?

M: What about the gender politics? Drag’s still a guy thing, mostly, right?

Mado: We’ve had one or two drag kings compete in our Star Search, but usually they do it just once. I think it’s mostly an anglo thing. Remember the Mambo Drag Kings? They used to do Tom Jones? They were great! I would LOVE to see more of that kind of thing: Barry Manilow drag, or Michel Louvain—all those tacky crooners! That would be great.

M: Is there a new “New Drag”?

Mado: Not really. It’s gone back to female impersonation, mostly. Some of them are very good; they’re just not very imaginative. Outfits from Le Chateau—a tank top and a G-string, whatever Britney or Beyoncé is wearing—not like us, with our tacky Village des Valeurs Alexis Carrington dresses. Some of the girls are starting to include more comedy, and I encourage that.

M: You’ve been around a long time. You’ve seen them come and go. What’s the average lifespan of a drag queen?

Mado: Five years, maybe. Ten at most. It was easier for the ones who did Liza Minnelli or Barbara Streisand, but the young queens who are just starting, I tell them: you have to do more, be more. Keep it new, because Jessica Simpson isn’t going to be hot five years from now.

Wigs, makeup and the suburbs

M: What happens when it’s over? Where do drag queens go to die?

Mado: The suburbs, like everyone else! I don’t know. I wasn’t really close to the ones who came before me, but I know that a lot of them go into related careers. My wig stylist, for example, and I know of others who became costume designers and makeup artists.

M: What happened to your “New Drag” crew?

Mado: Madame Simone is still with me. She’s my business partner. Titi Galore has a career in Toronto; she’s doing well. Huguette Bonne Chance probably works on a potato farm in Prince Edward Island. I don’t know. She had some problems, that one. She ran away after stealing Titi’s television. I don’t know what happened to Mochasheena. She had a lot of big dreams, but I’m not sure Blaine’s even doing drag anymore.