Localized: Sequoia, Schade the Queen, Madazon Can-Can and Sarah Prollem
LGBTQ+
With Pride month well underway, we’ve got a special treat for this SLUG Localized event! Hosted by Salt Lake’s own Sequoia with Schade the Queen, Madazon Can-Can and Sarah Prollem, get ready for a drag show to remember. Mark your calendars for June 17 at 8 p.m. at Urban Lounge (tickets are $5), and don’t forget to bring cash to tip the performers! SLUG Localized is sponsored by Uinta Brewing and Riso Geist.
Sequoia
SLUG: How has your approach to drag changed/developed since your early days performing?
Sequoia: I think my drag has changed a lot since my early days in that I mostly had no vision for what I was doing. I didn’t know what it was I wanted to do or how I could do it! I just knew [that] I wanted to be a drag queen and perform for a living. Now that drag is my full-time career, I’ve really got the time to focus on and refine my craft into something I feel quite proud of.
SLUG: Can you please talk about one of your favorite looks you’ve done? What made it so special, and how do you feel like it represents your work as a whole?
Sequoia: One of my favorite looks I’ve ever actualized is this beautiful pair of pants I had custom made years back. They’re gorgeous, emerald green, crushed velvet pants with a huge flare at the bottom, and they’re so tailored to my legs that the pants touch the ground when I’m in four-inch heels!! They make my extra long legs look even longer, and I’m all about the legs! Plus, my gorgeous friend Lozzo made them for me, so I’m very proud of that collaboration.
SLUG: How do you feel like your work intersects with the larger drag community in Salt Lake City/Utah?
Sequoia: I feel like my work very much intersects with the larger SLC drag scene as I produce a lot of events on my own. I work with such a vast array of artists because there are SO many to work with and so many talented, fabulous drag artists here in town. I’m thankful to have the platform to provide to the members of my local community in an ever-expanding group of artists I get to book and work with.
Schade the Queen
SLUG: How has your approach to drag changed/developed since your early days performing?
Schade the Queen: My drag has developed in a way that I could have never predicted. Going into drag, I think people think they know what kind of drag persona they’re going embody, and my drag has grown entirely differently than I was expecting. It’s helped me love myself and my abilities more, and my makeup and stage presence has gotten substantially better.
SLUG: Can you please talk about one of your favorite looks you’ve done? What made it so special, and how do you feel like it represents your work as a whole?
Schade the Queen: One of my favorite looks I’ve done and I’m most proud of is my Klaus Nomi–inspired tuxedo bodysuit. It’s theatrical, whimsical, eye-catching and gives a nod to a queer artist that has inspired so many other queer artists. I love connecting the contemporary with history in so many areas of my life. Art inspires art, and I try to let that show through my drag. Plus, it’s just fun!
SLUG: How do you feel like your work intersects with the larger drag community in Salt Lake City/Utah?
Schade the Queen: My work intersects with the larger drag community in that it stands out as its own entity while (I hope) simultaneously uplifting my Utah drag family. Utah’s queer performance art community is small but houses some of the most incredible talent and strong-willed people I’ve ever met. I just hope that my drag helps expose that talent in a positive way so that drag is continuously sought after around the valley.
Madazon Can-Can
SLUG: Can you please talk about one of your favorite looks you’ve done? What made it so special, and how do you feel like it represents your work as a whole?
Madazon Can-Can: OH! My orange look that is on the label for Ogden’s Own Five Husbands Vodka this year is one of my first and favorite looks. It’s an orange Zoot suit with all the extras … It’s incredibly special to me because it is a combination of pieces of costumes from my travels and [pieces from] a friend that sold me my first boy shirts (vintage, of course) and taught me how to be a gentleman. … I often call myself “The Clown of the Flowers” because blooming takes time and attention, but the results affect the heart and bring beauty to the yes.
SLUG: How do you feel like your work intersects with the larger drag community in Salt Lake City/Utah?
Madazon Can-Can: Well, there weren’t a whole lotta Kings around before I began running my programs. Liam Manchesthair has also been a CRITICAL King to the scene here in SLC, but outside of the two of us, it was relatively quiet. I perform often with Quorum of the Queens now, JRC Events and at universities to continue pushing the art of drag into all the places and faces we can. Kings are a critical part of the queer community, and our representation is key to a more connected and thriving queer scene. Without Kings and Things … drag isn’t fully complete; we want the full rainbow, not just one side of it. I believe that my work as a performer, activist, educator and advocate is necessary to continue building the bridges among the entirety of the queer community here in SLC.
Sarah Prollem
SLUG: When did you first get into drag performance? How has your approach changed/developed since your early days?
Sarah Prollem: I started drag just over three years ago … I would say the thing I’ve learned most is to be okay with not being perfect. I think drag comes with this expectation to be 100% polished and put together, but the truth is, even the best of the best are still striving for perfection. I learn something new every single time I get in drag, and that really is the best part for me.
SLUG: Can you please talk about one of your favorite looks you’ve done? What made it so special, and how do you feel like it represents your work as a whole?
Sarah Prollem: My favorite look I have ever done would actually have to be the first ever custom outfit I designed. I call it “Real Housewife of the North Pole,” and it is a red velvet bodysuit with white fur trim that has a removable, high/low skirt to make it a dress. The skirt has a keyhole cut out in the groin and buttocks areas lined with fur trim. This look was super fun to create because it is out of the normal box and really shows my creative, edgy side.
SLUG: How do you feel like your work intersects with the larger drag community in Salt Lake City/Utah?
Sarah Prollem: I have been lucky enough to perform in all kinds of shows all over the state and beyond. I feel like my drag intersects with the larger community as a whole in that my drag is specifically tailored to the Utah scene. Here in SLC, we have a scene unlike any other and people love coming out to support us at our shows. We absolutely could not do what we do without the love and support of our SLC community.
Learn more about this month’s Localized performers:
Send in the Clowns: A Creature Feature with Madazon Can-Can
Marrlo Suzzanne & The Galaxy Band @ Metro Music Hall 04.30