Features
Friday, 09 October 2009 07:10
Written by Helen Elfer

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Meet Venus, the absolutely fabulous star of a hot new cabaret show

So Venus, tell us more about The Bird Cage.
I decided to call the show The Bird Cage after La Cage Aux Folles (1978), the first French film that ever presented a drag queen’s way of living, working and loving that made people laugh everywhere. It started in France on stage, then on Broadway, then hit movie screens around the world. We decided to choose this name because it still rings bells for a lot of people. Besides, The Bird Cage is in fact the show within a show – I mean in the initial theater and movie; it’s the sequence where the drag queens, and in particular Zaza, the queen of the queens, perform on stage. Mine will be a solo performance and we plan on doing it on a monthly basis in Shanghai.

How are you finding Shanghai audiences?
Well, the first time I performed in Shanghai I remember I was so nervous, even scared, by how the audience might react. I came on stage dressed as Barbie, and I felt like I was waiting for the Final Judgment! But to my great pleasure and surprise, I received from the Chinese guests a very warm and enthusiastic welcome. I have toured almost all of China, and even performed in Duanmen, Beijing. I’ve been photographed and hugged millions of times! We always end these dance parties with a “jie long” (conga). Trust me, I’ve never seen so many people participating like that anywhere in the world!

What’s your favorite drag experience?
The costumes and make up. But I have one very funny experience: One night when I wasn’t working I came to the club to check if the dancers were doing the show correctly. I sat at the DJ station and at one of the tables was a Chinese businessman with some foreigners. When the show started, the Chinese guy, who had obviously already seen the show, said enthusiastically: “Oh this part is incredible, the one with the big dress…it’s a man not a woman!”  But that night my drag performance had been taken over by a female dancer. It was so funny watching the foreigners’ faces. They had their eyes wide open, watching a gorgeous girl, thinking: “Oh. My. God! Incredible!” But the Chinese man knew it was a real woman all along. That was a good joke.

And finally, what makes you mad?
Oh, people that put on a crap dress and crap make up and go on stage pretending they’re a performer! That’s not a show! Drag attitude is all that you present to people, so a queen should just go right over the top in everything!

The Bird Cage is on at Graffiti, 570 CHangle Lu throughout October. Venus also performs at the Cabaret Gai Paris at Ke Center, 613 Kaixuan Lu. Call 159 2166 2352 for more information.

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