Quyen Tran: Live Like a King
On Friday May 26, I Christmas’ Hot & Heavenly Cabaret returns to atac! If you were here in February, you know this is going to be packed. Get tickets ASAP and bring plenty of loose bills for tipping. This is a wild, fun, inclusive celebration you won’t want to miss. Among the evening’s featured performers is Jayden Jamison KA St James (Quyen Tran), who we had the pleasure of speaking with recently. Quyen is a force for good—a truly positive, inspirational artist we can’t wait to see on stage.
atac: Who are you?
Quyen Tran: Some say I make a debonair drag king.
atac: Coming in hot with the charm! Where are you from?
QT: I'm originally from Vietnam. I discovered drag in grad school, in Ohio.
atac: When did you come to the U.S. and what were your initial experiences like here?
QT: I came to the US in 1980 when I was three. Growing up as a Vietnamese refugee in a predominately white middle to upper class town in NJ was wild.
atac: I can imagine. Tell us the story of Quyen Tan discovering drag in Ohio.
QT: Drag saved Quyen. I was struggling with the fallout of my mother’s passing from cancer—in the last years of her life, I hid my homosexuality from her to save her that stress. I was the first one in my family of nine with a masters degree. This was a big deal for our immigrant family, especially for a daughter to do so through athletics, it was something I had to fight for. Throughout my childhood, my parents tried to get me to conform to the traditional Vietnamese subservient woman mold and couldn’t understand the value of athletics in my life, or the opportunities that came from it.
Early on, my parents tried to stop me from taking part in organized sports. I would go on to try out for the Rutgers University softball team. I would make the team, go on athletic scholarship, be voted team co-captain senior year, received post season honors, and end up being ranked nationally for stolen bases. My athletic accolades and involvement off the field with the NCAA would open the door for me to get my masters degree in sports management. I then scored an amazing job as an assistant athletic director/head softball coach at a college. This would all coincide with my mother’s passing.
I ended up in a very non-diverse place, racially and sexually. I was the token and I was dealing with a lot. I didn’t feel like I had much validity, that no one cared about what I had to say and I didn’t make a difference. Drag was the place where I could express these feelings safely disguised as my alter ego. The audience ended up resonating with what I was putting on stage, and that maybe meant I wasn’t so alone. So as Jayden got stronger, Quyen did too.
atac: Thank you for sharing all that, Quyen. What's a piece of advice you'd give to an aspiring king; someone looking to find their own Jayden.
QT: Study the artists you wish to emulate. Break down what it is that makes them special to you; look at the individual pieces. Work on those pieces before you attempt to pull your masterpiece together.
atac: Who have you studied, and what have you borrowed, adapted?
QT: In the beginning, there weren’t many resources for drag kings. Since my drag aesthetic is realism, I would study transition photos of transmen and pay attention to the point they would “pass”. Then I’d study the makeup applications of drag queens and adapt them to nail that “passing” detail in my male makeup. I would study the pretty male pageant boys in regards to their entertaining and costuming, that's what my drag was trying to pass me off as.
atac: Can you speak to the general history of drag kings? I remember All the King’s Men from the 2000s but am otherwise pretty uneducated here.
QT: The earliest drag king stars date back to the vaudeville times. Some early names were Vesta Tilley, Florence Hines, Ella Shields, and Annie Hindle. During the Stonewall Riots, standing alongside Marsha P. Johnson was a drag king by the name of Stormé DeLarverie. I myself came out of the troupe called the Royal Renegades. The predecessor to my troupe was H.I.S. Kings, who were creating the Columbus drag king scene while All the King's Men were doing the same thing in Boston. There were these pockets of king groups happening throughout the US. His Kings created the International Drag King Extravaganza, the yearly long weekend of performances—it ran for 10 years. After I came from Columbus to Boston, I started teaching my drag king class, giving rise to a whole new slew of kings and heavily influencing the scene. Now there are whispers of bringing back another drag king gathering here called KingCon.
atac: We’re ready to host KingCon events! What's the best live show you've seen?
QT: Embarrassingly, Taylor Swift. That woman puts on an amazing show. Visuals, dancing, creating moods and tempos, plus audience interaction.
atac: This is a safe space for Swifties. What about something smaller scale; scrappy. Dive bars, small clubs, etc?
QT: I attended a college show where Sponge played. Somehow I ended up on stage with them and that's where I think the ham in me was like, “I like the spotlight!” (laughs)
atac: What are your top "stuck on an island" records? The ones you could listen to forever.
QT: Celine Dion and Whitney Houston. Deep down I'm a melodramatic drag queen.
atac: Hah. OK and what's the roughest gig you've ever played?
QT: For an audience full of cis gay men, who just wanted to see drag queens. This was back before drag kings were more well known. But as a drag king, it's a chance to portray homosexuality on stage whereas heterosexuality has been the standard. Most drag shows were (are) taking place in gay venues with a large cisgender gay male clientele; I wanted to give that audience an opportunity to see themselves portrayed as the standard. It’s the chance to be portrayed as the star for once.
atac: What names do you most love here in the MetroWest / Greater Boston scene?
QT: Lucifer Christmas, Sherman, Rusty Hammer, Tequila Cowboy. I also miss the Oberon Theatre! We were family there. Even the Harvard-employed staff were active members in our performance circles.
atac: Is music your main creative output, or are you up to other things, too?
QT: Hiking, camping, waterfall chasing.
atac: Is there any relationship for you around the idea of being, outdoors and on stage?
QT: Between my work life and drag life, alot of it is front-facing, and ever since the pandemic, I’ve noticed that it takes a lot of effort into being “on” for the public. Being outdoors and unplugging from the “public life” ensures that I can keep showing up for my community.
atac: We think drag kings are great. What’s your take?
QT: Strong communities and strong drag kings scenes go hand in hand. When we provide opportunities and mentorship to AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals who've historically faced obstacles in getting involved, we are strengthening our communities. People gravitate to places where they feel safe, see themselves represented and supported. This typically bleeds into the queer and POC community. For communities to flourish and grow, it is essential that we have a diversity of thoughts and ideas. Strong communities allow for this growth.
Also, in the political climate where we are seeing hate being cloaked as drag bans and anti-trans legislation, it is important that us drag kings use our platforms to speak out against this. As AFAB individuals who systemically face more obstacles in our lives even before we step on stage, the greater numbers of kings we have speaking out, the greater visibility we have in helping others to gain their own voices. We need those numbers to fight the hate.
atac: Right on! What’s the vibe at Hot & Heavenly Cabaret going to be?
QT: Jayden brings the HOT for sure, but is he heavenly? Nope, he’s a devil.
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See Quyen perform as Jayden Jamison KA St James on Friday May 26 as part of Hot & Heavenly Cabaret. Tickets available here.
