Sisters are doing it for themselves – every Sunday
Image: Sydney Drag Royalty - Sunday Night Live! @dragroyaltyau
鈥淲ell… simply, we鈥檙e unemployed.鈥�
It鈥檚 a phrase that echoes down deserted streets and in empty venues throughout the country. This time it鈥檚 being uttered by Nathan Powter, aka, Charisma Belle, who runs Sydney Drag Royalty, a booking agency for prestige drag queens.
鈥淏asically in a 24 hr period we kind of lost all of our bookings. I was hoping we鈥檇 keep the smaller bookings, the hen鈥檚 parties and all that kind of stuff,鈥� says Powter, describing the instant and complete effect of the COVID-19 shutdowns.
鈥淲e were kind of hoping that at least with small groups that they might just move to a private function鈥ut not even that鈥檚 happening.鈥�
In one fell swoop, the livelihoods of nine people were thrown into doubt – but adversity is mere grist for the mill for this tough bunch of dames.
鈥淪omething that drag queens have done all throughout history – and I hear a lot of the older drag queens talk about it in terms of the HIV crisis – is that we kind of come to the forefront and do our best not to stop entertaining,鈥� says Powter.
The girls decided to embrace the challenge. Powter invested in some high-grade equipment including two studio lights, an HD camera, and sound gear. On Sunday March 22nd, Charisma Belle (Powter), Carmen Geddit, Coco Jumbo, Pomara Fifth and Sia Tequila went live on Instagram for their first Sunday Night Live!
They broadcast from Powter鈥檚 home for roughly an hour and a half, chatting, laughing, singing and reading comments from the many punters who had tuned in.
鈥淚nstagram is the easiest format for us to go live instantly. It鈥檚 kind of more popular than any of the other social networking sites at the moment,鈥� says Powter, explaining why they chose that platform. They wanted to go live to try and re-create a venue show.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think videos have that same kind of closeness and experience. And also with Instagram people can comment at home, so we were able to connect with everyone watching by reading the comments,鈥� says Powter.
There鈥檚 no paywall, but they have included a PayPal link for tips.
Powter sees the show evolving and is brainstorming ideas with the other girls.
鈥淥bviously it鈥檚 limiting because we can鈥檛 go out into the world to create our content, it all has to be within your four walls.鈥�
Every one of the Sydney Drag Royalty girls is keen to be involved, and they鈥檒l do shows on rotation. For the time being, everyone is positive and excited.
鈥淭o be honest, I think a lot of us are in a bit of denial. I think it鈥檚 gonna take a little bit to really get our heads around how big this is going to be and how long it鈥檚 going to take,鈥� says Powter, offering this advice as a final word:
鈥淭ry to stay positive, put your work out there and we鈥檒l all be out there watching because鈥here鈥檚 nothing else for us to do.鈥�
Follow Sydney Drag Royalty on Instagram @dragroyaltyau
Get event updates on their page.
