♪ I realized that these people aren't just protesting "Story Hour."

They're protesting my existence.

♪ Hi, welcome to "Famous Cast Words."

I'm Lynne Marie Rosenberg.

I am here today with Miz Jade, aka Davon Chance.

You might know Miz Jade as a dancer, teacher, event host, reader with "Drag Story Hour," or legend of the New York Drag Scene.

You might not know her as a backup dancer for Randy Jones of the Village People, or as we all know him, the cowboy.

Amazing.

[ Laughs ] Yes.

Where did the persona of Miz Jade come from and when did you start doing drag?

I, uh, was a part of an LGBTQ youth group called Center Lane in Westchester, and the youth director had a talent show, a coffee house that they put on monthly.

And he literally pointed to me and three other queer babes and was like, you four, you're all going to do drag, and you're all doing "Lady Marmalade."

And then, he gave us all our own names, and he said, "I'm giving you Jade, because you're shady."

And then, he turns the lights on and off.

And I was like, "Uh, what's shade?"

I was like, all of 16 years old.

I was like, "What's shade?

What is that?

I don't know what that is."

[ Laughs ] So, it's interesting that this person just decided you were going to do drag.

I mean, it's a very particular skill set.

It's a very particular thing to want to do, but it seems to have worked out for you.

Yeah.

I never thought I would ever do drag.

I was, like, raised pretty religious in a Pentecostal household.

Yeah.

Um, I would never, ever fathom, you know, like getting in front of people, performing in makeup, wigs, heels.

But I did it that one time and had a blast and then, picked it back up in college and never stopped.

What sort of performances might we see Miz Jade perform at?

I'm a very versatile queen, so you'll find me everywhere.

Um, I-I host a drag bingo where I perform, have some really awesome prizes.

I perform at a lot of, um, dark, dingy Brooklyn bars.

I perform at outdoor sports bars in Williamsburg, and yesterday I performed at a high school.

Cool.

So, you can find me anywhere and everywhere.

She's versatile.

She switches it up.

Yeah.

Give me a stage.

Give me.

Give me some sound and we're good to go.

Yeah.

[ Singing ] God, I'm a dancer, a dancer dances.

[ Laughter ] Yes.

♪ "RuPaul's Drag Race."

Who?

[ Laughs ] Just kidding.

No, no, no, I love that, because I was going to say, "RuPaul's Drag Race" has brought drag into sort of a commercialized public scene, right?

And with visibility can come backlash.

How have you seen this incredible popularity of "RuPaul's Drag Race" shift the drag scene in New York, and then, in broadly in the United States?

I think what's cool is that it's made...

It's brought drag into peoples' homes.

Like, now we're seeing a lot more advertising and marketing with drag performers, which I think is awesome.

Um, and it's also kind of made us a little bit more of a target as well.

So, definitely, um, roses and thorns, I'll say.

Yeah, have you felt yourself targeted, or in the New York market, do you feel like there's a little more safety here?

I would say there is a little more safety here.

However, I don't want to pretend like -- like, we're safe.

We're not safe, you know?

Like...

Even if I took a cab, it's not always safe.

Right.

[ Jazz music plays ] What does drag mean to you?

Oh.

Drag is an art form.

So, for me, art is a way that I can express myself, um, the range of emotions that I'm feeling.

And, um, it's definitely an outlet, and it can be very, very emotional and spiritual.

And for a lot of people, they figure out who they are, like, what they want to do in their life, like, even their gender, their gender expression.

And for a lot of people, like for me, it allowed me to come to terms with the duality of my masculinity and femininity and to give myself permission to play both in and out of drag with my gender expression.

♪ I want to tell you a story.

You are a reader with "Drag Story Hour."

I am.

One of my favorite I wonder if you could tell us what it is for anyone who doesn't know.

Yeah, we are readers, storytellers, who go into schools and libraries.

We go anywhere, actually.

I've read in parks.

I've read in churches, shelters, schools, and we read awesome books, sing songs, dance.

And we are just, like, unabashedly queer and incredible role models.

And I always open it to questions from the youth and the families.

And that's always an option, too.

So, they get to know me as well.

Yeah.

Um... Yeah, I think, I did a "Story Hour" in Brooklyn, and one of the kids asked, "Why are you here?"

You know, kids, kids will just say whatever they want.

That's a big question.

I love it, and the first thing out of my mouth was, "I think it's important for people like me to take up as much space as possible."

Oh, I love that.

"And I came Bam!

Because it's true.

It's the first thing that came to my head, cause I didn't grow up with any kind of queer representation whatsoever.

So, for me, I always felt very alone.

Yeah.

Um, and I know a lot of parents, um, they might also just love drag, but they also want to show their -- their kids that there's so many different kinds of people.

Yeah.

And that we should and we should make space for them, and we should, like, get to know them.

In case anyone is under a rock and doesn't know.

Can you tell us what's been going on with "Drag Story Hour" in the last like year or 2 years or so and the protests that have been popping up?

I think, uh, because drag is becoming a lot more popularized and "Drag Story Hour" is, um, really blown up.

It's just obvious that a lot of people don't want us to exist... We're here to protect and save the kids!

...or to be reading books to children.

So, we're having a lot of protesters, a lot of bullying, a lot of, um, harassment online.

I know for myself, I was doing "Story Hour" virtually, um, during lockdown.

And I was also at the same time offering donation-based dance classes and allowing anyone to just join them.

And people were seeing the "Story Hours" that I was performing at or reading at and following me, and then, going into my Instagram live during my classes and saying really transphobic, homophobic, and racist things.

Um, meanwhile, this is my safe space that I'm curating for my students.

I'm just like...

I don't think people understand that we're actually, what my goal is to do is to create a safe space where people can like, question, explore, where I can exist without, where everyone can exist without shame.

And instead, um, when we were virtual, we had to change things a bit, but it was very easy for people to come into those safe spaces and pollute them.

Our mutual friend -- Queen Cholula Lemon.

I saw her do one when it first came to New York.

I mean, years and years ago, and I was there and just thought "Everyone should be attending, not even just kids.

Everyone should be attending a 'Drag Story Hour.'"

I agree, I agree, and although the books are very much sometimes center those kinds of people, that's not like the main thing about the book.

I think it really humanizes the characters and makes them relatable.

Like, yes, this person might be Black, trans, and neurodivergent, but that's not the end-all, be-all of the book.

It's about like maybe how the family can show up and support, and how seeing the people around you is important, and expressing your needs and wants and desires is important.

And showing up, being a good friend, being a good community member, it's so interesting.

Like, all, like, people will use kind of religious rhetoric as well, on like why what we're doing is bad, but we're actually teaching the good word honey.

Like, we're literally talking about, like, community, love, friendship.

Yeah, it's all like beautiful morals that we -- that are found in all children's books.

That's right.

Are there any moments with "Drag Story Hour" where you're working with these kids that really stick out to you as a particularly lovely or surprising moment from that experience?

Yeah, I, um...

When the youth are enjoying themselves, but also when the adults are like, really in it.

I think a really intense moment for me was at one of the "Story Hours" that I did that was protested.

And, um, again, I realized, like I had to walk through that.

But so did these families, and we can't pretend like we didn't all just go through that experience.

So, for me, I started that "Story Hour" with, like, a breathing, a co-regulating exercise.

So that we can all just, like, I brought attention.

I was like, "That was intense outside, right?

All right.

I feel some kind of way about it.

Let's all stand up.

Let's breathe through this together, because we're going to be here for an hour.

And I want to make sure that we feel good in the space."

Um, so I did that, did the reading, did my songs, felt really good.

And, um, a mom was there with her two sons, and they were very, very into the books and answering my questions, and it was just so sweet.

And at the end, she came up to me and just told me that she's just so happy that we're here and how important it is for her sons to, like, experience this.

And then, she started crying, and I was just like, "Okay, here we go.

Hold it, hold it together, girl."

Because it's...

I don't know why she cried.

She was just happy that we were there, but also like...

I never know what people are experiencing in their day-to-day life, like, what they're questioning, the spaces that they're trying to hold for themselves or their kids.

And even just like outside what we had to walk through, that's traumatic.

Yeah.

So, it could have just been like heavy energy like that.

But she thanked me for being there.

We had like a little cry moment and hugged each other.

And she's just happy that, um, her sons get to experience something like this, and she's just so grateful the space that I curated for them, and that was just really beautiful and nice.

Um, specifically because during that reading, I realized that these people aren't just protesting "Story Hour," they're protesting my existence.

And for me, that was really heavy, and I couldn't drop that.

So, for someone to see me, see what we're doing and be appreciative and joyful that we're there, and for it to move them like that, it really moved me as well.

[ Singing ] The heels on the drag queen go click, click, click all through the town.

So, now we'll look at some language from breakdowns.

Now, Miz Jade, I would hope a queen such as yourself does not have to subject herself to breakdowns.

So, for anyone who doesn't know, as a reminder, a breakdown is a little bit of text from film, television, commercials, or theater that helps in the process of casting.

Now, Miz Jade, I thought today I would look for what sort of language pops up for drag roles, gender fluid roles, and Black femme roles.

Okay.

Apparently, according to some content makers, having actual professional experience with the art form of drag is a plus but not a must.

Ideally looking for someone that has drag experience.

Ideally an actively performing drag queen.

And some of them don't seem entirely clear on who exactly they're looking for.

Like this language for all the same character.

Femme-presenting.

Men comfortable in drag.

Transgender men.

Any gender.

Tell -- Tell me you don't know what you're talking about without telling me you don't know what you're talking about.

It's like if you're a person that's a person that's not a person that might be an alien, but might be a person.

[ Laughs ] Person.

The descriptions of personalities for drag roles may not be surprising.

Big personality.

Volatile.

Over-the-top.

Oh, okay.

But I discovered repeatedly that the same exact language recurs for femme gender fluid roles as well.

A lot of sass.

Sarcastic.

Blunt.

Simmering, sometimes explosive anger.

[ Laughs ] Okay.

Oh, wow.

Monolith.

Just a monolith of a person.

I feel called out.

[ Laughter ] But that is only when the gender fluid roles are allowed to speak.

Because mostly the words gender fluid or gender queer show up here.

Ensemble.

Core ensemble.

Dance ensemble.

We want you.

We just don't want you up front.

Oh, my God.

[ Chuckles ] Get into the back.

That's right.

When I searched for the words "Black femme" in the New York market, I got a handful of really well-written roles.

But when I searched those words in the LA market, I got this.

There are no breakdowns matching your search.

Mm.

Which suggests to me that Hollywood has a long way to go, to put it in the words of one of those well-written New York roles, Black femme and gender fluid characters are... Overqualified but unseen.

She is over being invisible.

Okay.

That's right, over it.

Over it, honey, it's like these are just gross.

If you're looking for a drag performer for a role, get a drag performer.

Someone can sit in a chair and be put into a look.

Totally.

Right.

But, like, you won't get the essence of a drag performer.

That's right.

Yeah.

And the ones for gender fluid.

You know, to me, if it were just one role that you were describing as simmering with anger or whatever it is, then fine.

But where it's over and over again that, you know, that gender fluid roles are always going to be these same monolith people.

It's so frustrating to me.

Yeah.

Yeah, I guess we know what they think of us now.

That's right.

Yeah, exactly.

Very angry.

Very sassy.

Ready to explode.

Yeah.

It's like, you know, a gender fluid person could be quiet and introverted as well.

And, you know, but that's not what the trope that we're showing on television over and over again or, you know, film, whatever, yeah.

Very that.

Very that.

Very that.

[ Laughter ] There is a docuseries that you're in called "Queens of Kings," and there's a whole episode about you, and in it, um, a white drag performer mentions how they feel, perhaps, they got a leg up, because of racial bias in the drag world.

Is that something you've experienced and that you face?

Totally and, um... Yeah, I think, um...

If we think about these bars and these establishments that we work for, they're often being ran by white people, sometimes queer, sometimes straight, and, um...

I definitely think there is... um, a lot of racism within the queer community.

And often, you would see, not so much anymore, because people will call it out, but you'll see an all-white cast of performers, like there'll be 8 performers, and there won't be 1 person of color.

People pointed it out, people were like, "Wait, where are the brown and Black people?"

And like, why for a fundraiser, one of my friends, one of my friends, like, told me and was like, "I felt really embarrassed."

But I was talking to this patron who was like mad that we didn't have more POC in the cast, like, for this fundraiser."

And I'm like, "Okay, rightfully so."

And then, instead of, like, hearing them out, hearing the patron out and being, like, "Oh, you're right.

We should be doing better."

Their response was, "Well, there's not that many of them out there anyway."

And I was like, "Girl, Miss Girl."

It does sound like casting.

This is exactly what I've been fighting for the last 10 years.

Yeah.

And she said, like, as soon as I said that, I really just like, I knew I, like, kicked myself.

And I was like, "Yeah, because there are so many of us, but you just might not see us or you might not frequent the spaces that we're at, or you might just book us to be that closing number in this cast of white artists, white drag performers.

That seems to be like something I see a lot is that when people do cast a "token" Black drag queen, they're closing the number.

They're not allowed to be on the mic.

Um, they are expected to be the, like, the dancing Black queen that brings down the house.

Maybe they're doing a high upbeat Beyoncé number, and that's what they're -- that's what they're for.

They're used to, like, spice up the night.

They're used to, like, um, allow, um, the -- the white performers to kind of like phone it in or do something funny or experiment, explore.

You know, it's interesting.

Yeah, there's definitely some racism, some favoritism, and microaggressions within the community.

Yeah.

For sure.

We all have a long way to go.

Mm-hm.

Mm-hm.

Mm-hm.

And it's even worse when it comes from inside the community.

The call is coming from inside the house.

♪ During the pandemic, you were involved with a campaign called The Real Ms. Information.

Yes.

Can you tell us what that was and what your role was with it?

That was a campaign with Gay Men's Health Crisis and FCB Health.

Uh, to get more people, specifically, queer people and queer people of color, to get vaccinated and kind of push away all the misinformation that's going around on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and shut it down and bring some light to the truth.

So instead of being Miz Jade, I was The Real Ms. Information.

The only thing spreading faster than COVID is misinformation about the vaccine.

Get the facts about the vax.

They noticed that a lot of, uh, queer people, specifically in the Black community, just were very, very hesitant to the vaccine, and rightfully so, um, in my opinion.

So we had all of those things.

We also had town hall meetings where we talked with therapists, journalists, doctors about the vaccine.

We just wanted people to be informed, um, kind of, uh, shoot down the misinformation that was going on on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and speak the truth about what's going on and the vaccine itself.

Yeah.

Yeah.

For anyone who doesn't know, could you please tell us why people might be resistant to a vaccine.

For many, many reasons.

The medical field literally would experiment on Black bodies, you know, and expose Black people, Black communities to diseases just to see what would happen, just to explore, for tests, you know.

Um, and the same with queer people.

And we can't pretend that when the, um, AIDS and HIV epidemic surfaced, the medical world, the government didn't really protect and make moves to assure that, um, the communities would go on living.

So, there's definitely some resentment and hesitation from -- from the Black and queer community, uh, with the medical world.

Yeah.

For sure.

All right, Miz Jade, I think we have sat still long enough.

I think it is time to get up and move.

We're going to leave this couch and head off for some "Special Skills."

All right.

Get ready.

Here we go.

[ Laughter ] We have arrived at "Special Skills."

As a reminder, at the bottom of every actor's resume, there is a section called "Special Skills," and that's where their talents and other interests appear.

Miz Jade, what special skill will we be looking at today?

We are going to be dancing, so, you're going to be learning some choreography.

I cannot wait.

Listen, I was in a dance group in college called The Fly People, thank you very much.

Okay.

[ Laughter ] It's been a while since I danced.

We're going to see what happens.

Don't break me.

I am 42 years old.

Gotcha.

You'll be okay.

You'll survive.

I promise.

Okay.

All right.

Should we warm up a little bit?

Let's do a little bit of a warm-up.

♪ I do realize that I often do very strange things with my mouth when I dance.

Oh, I can't wait to see that.

♪ Costume change.

Oh, yeah.

So, you're feeling a little warm now?

I'm warm.

Yes.

We're gonna start low.

I do teach children, so I like to use a lot of dance imagery.

Great.

So, we are going to reach for our feet and put on our socks.

Reach for our feet, socks.

Reach for our feet, sneakers.

Reach for our feet, sneakers.

And the action is going to be up, up, up.

We're going to jump our legs open.

Boom.

But when we do that, we're going to roll our wrists up to the ceiling at the same time.

So that jump and the wrists are going to happen at the same time.

Boom.

Nice.

Great.

Let's reverse those arms all the way down.

Boom.

Right shoulder is going to pull, pull, pull.

Yes, okay.

[ Laughs ] All right, okay.

Come on, fly person.

So, after that seven, eight, we're going to jump.

And we're going to squeeze our right leg over our left.

Boom.

I'm kind of cheating this a little bit.

I'm going to think about squeezing my legs together.

My right toe is lifted.

My left heel is lifted.

And I'm going to squeeze and turn over my left shoulder.

We're going to close our legs to married men.

Boom.

To married men.

[ Laughter ] Keep going?

Okay.

Great.

The right arm is going to be on your chest.

The left arm is going to be to your side.

And we're doing this.

But we're going to bring back that isolation that we did earlier with the chest.

So, we're just going to go chest, chest.

Hey, there you go.

But when we do that, the hands are going to kind of pulse a little bit or tense.

So, then, go, open, open at the same time.

Oh, okay.

Right after that we are facing this diagonal.

But we're going to do what you probably already know from your fly people.

From my days.

Your days as a fly person.

We're going to do two kick ball changes.

A kick ball change is three steps.

So, we're going to kick our right leg out, kick, together.

Left leg is going to touch to the side.

And now, this left leg is free.

So that leg is going to kick to the front.

Same thing, together, side.

Let's keep doing that, kick, together, side, I almost fell.

Kick, together, side.

Kick ball change, kick ball change, kick ball change.

This comes from your musical theater background.

♪ Mm-hm.

Mm-hm.

Mm-hm.

Sorry, mom.

How are we feeling, do we want to do that one more time without music, or we want to go right for music?

Let's try music.

Throw it out.

Groove it.

We're gonna do it.

Keep it buoyant.

Keep it buoyant.

Five.

Six.

Seven.

Eight.

♪ Here I am, catch me if you can ♪ ♪ Oh, you keep on running ♪ If you want somebody to love ♪ You better keep it real ♪ Here I am, catch me if you can, if you want my lovin' ♪ ♪ Cause I don't want nothing ♪ If you ain't got nothin' to feel ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, you want to ♪ ♪ Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh ♪ You want to see my eyes?

♪ Hypnotize, get in line ♪ Baby, you are fine enough ♪ Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh Let me give you one of these.

Okay, let's go for it.

♪ You want to bring it on That's the drag.

♪ Do you think you're strong, strong enough?

♪ ♪ So smooth ♪ So smooth You have been prom queen multiple years for queer prom that happens during Pride.

Can you tell us about that event?

That event is hosted by Hot Rabbit.

They host really incredible queer parties in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and they thought it would be super cool to do a queer prom annually.

And they do it every year during Pride Month.

Um, it's awesome, I love it, it's fun.

To me, traditional proms, I think, are often places where queer kids or kids with gender expansive identities can feel excluded.

And so, I wonder, how important does Queer Prom feel to you?

Not just as a fun event, but sort of as a more meaningful thing?

I feel like having a queer prom for queer people feels very safe.

You feel very seen, you know, like, I know so many people who were not able to bring a date of their choice that they really -- that -- that really aligned with their orientation.

Um, so having a queer prom, a gay prom just allows us the space to connect with the people that we want to, like, you know, maybe, like, love up on or dance up on the people that we want to be loving up and dancing on without any, like, side-eye or any shame any, like, you know, fingers waving, wagging at us, you know, like, so, that's, I think, that's really awesome that we've had -- we've had that so many times.

Also at Center Lane, that LGBTQ center I used to go to, we had gay prom every year, yeah.

Oh, that's great.

Well, Miz Jade, I see you.

We've talked a lot about being seen.

I saw you back in 2017, and you have not left my heart since.

So thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you for watching.

Take care of each other and be professional.

♪ ♪