Press
Time Out New York
September 2, 1999
Hair Em Scare Em
By: Linda Simpson
Bid Adieu to the Summer of Love
Wigstock founder Lady “I’ve got a festival to run” Bunny previews the 15th annual fete.
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| GET WIGGY WITH IT Examples of Wigstock's princes and princesses. You don't have to be a drag queen to sport a fake 'do! photos: Haim Ariav |
Linda Simpson: Are you excited for this year's Wigstock?
Lady Bunny: I'm very exited, unless that's another hot flash I'm having. Do you have any Midol? We're featuring more performers than ever before some new acts like porn mogul Chi Chi LaRue, Lady Chablis from Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Richard Move as Martha Graham and the cast of the upcoming Broadway musical Saturday Night Fever. And of course lots of old ones like Mona Foot, Girlina, Jackie Beat, Lypsinka and you, Linda- the oldest of them all.
LS: Bunny, you bitch! I've only been performing at Wigstock for the last eight years.
TLB: Well, anytime you want to take a break, hon, go ahead.
LS: How come RuPaul doesn't perform anymore?
TLB: Do you want to hear "Supermodel" again? Actually we're having a Cher-athon, and Ru used to do a mean if "I Could Turn Back Time," so I asked her to do it, but she'll be in L.A.
LS: Not all the performers at Wigstock are drag queens, correct?
TLB: That's right, Linda, I am what's known as a transsexual. I had the vagina installed first, and now I'm going to start taking hormones, getting electrolysis, and letting my hair grow out.
LS: The one in your nostils have certainly grown out nicely
TLB: You're very observant for an old gal with cataracts. Anyway, there are plenty of nondrag performers, including some fantastic dance artists this year, like Ultra Nate, Barbara Tucker, Michelle Weeks, Club 69's Suzanne Palmer, Duane Harden, legendary disco diva Fonda Rae, and Charlotte, who's song "Skin" is one of the hottest records of this year.
LS: Speaking of skin, what kind of foundation do you use?
TLB: Cheese whiz with baby powder on top.
LS: You must have some wonderful memories of the first Wigstock in Tompkins Square Park?
TLB: I heard it was great, but I was so drunk that I don't remember (Belch.) There were lots more rock bands and a much smaller crowd like the event I've grown in size. If I put on any more weight we're going to have to change the name to "Livestock"!
LS: There was a documentary made in 1995 called Wigstock: The Movie.
TLB: Yes, it was OK, but I was crushed they couldn't include the footage of you drunk out of your mind, wig askew, a moustache made out of false eyelashes, crusing the Porta Potties
LS: Really? I don't recall....Of all your joyous Wigstock memories, which stands out the most?
TLB: The year you cancelled.
LS: And what was your Wigstock low point?
TLB: The year you started. Also in 1996, when Wigstock didn't take place because of lack of sponsors and a good location. So we threw together a half-assed benefit called "Wig-not" at The Palladium. The shady stab-your-mama-in-the-back-for-your-next-snort-of-cocaine-atmosphere of a nightclub didn't exactly radiate joy.
LS: How do you respond to critics who say Wigstock used to be more fun back in the good old days?
TLB: I say to them, "So were you." Listen, I've got a festival to run, and as long as it's still entertaining, I can't worry about which year may have been more "fun." Some people frown on the fact that now we have banners from sponsors, and they say that we've gone corporate, but the fact is we have to have an expensive sound systerm to accomodate 10,000 people. If someone wants to anonymously donate the tens of thousands of dollars that costs, I'll take the banners down myself. People also gripe about the cover charge and yeah, I wish it could be free too but people also complained the year we didn't have Wigstock, so I say "Put your money where your mouth is and pay the piper a measly 20 bucks for an eight-hour show."
LS: There must be lots of competition among drag queens to get a slot at Wigstock. How do you decide who performs?
TLB: Basically, I try to reflect what's going on in the New York drag scene. I also like to mix in some out-of-towners, but there aren't that many slots because there are just a ton of queens in New York City Jackie Beat herself accounts for one ton. And then there are some acts that only appear at Wigstock, like houswife/comedian Barbara Patterson Lloyd and Frieda, The Living Doll.
LS: Besides preparing for Wigstock, how else have you been keeping yourself busy?
TLB: I'm getting ready to shoot a "Laugh-In" style segment in L.A. for an upcoming PETA special for VH1, in which Joanne Worley, Pamela Anderson, Elvira, Anne Heche and I will be cracking jokes. I don't know I feel about Pamela Anderson she did steal my look, after all. And I hope Anne Heche can keep her paws off of me.
LS: I don't think you have a thing to worry about. What if during this year's Wigstock, Pier 54 suddenly sinks to the bottom of the Hudson?
TLB: I'm not worried; fish can swim.
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