manila luzon
photo credit // manilaluzon.com
Manila Luzon prepares for her appearance at Spin during Chicago’s famed Market Days
On a brief break from her summer appearance tour, the season-three, self-titled "Asian Glamasaurus" of RuPaul's Drag Race, Manila Luzon, is at home in New York City. During this time, it's unlikely she'll be dragging it up as the weather doesn't seem conducive to the makeup required of female impersonation. "It's as hot as a New York City pizza oven," she comments. However, she'll be back in "the race" soon enough, as her runner-up title on Logo has afforded her opportunities that will take her across the country and to Canada throughout the summer of 2011.
A Midwest girl at heart, originating from Minneapolis, Minn., Luzon says she always wanted to be a drag queen. Her childhood fascination with female impersonation has been so longstanding that she can't say for sure when she even saw her first man in drag (but Luzon believes it may have been on PBS). She began amateur performing on the stage of The Gay 90s club in Minneapolis prior to relocating to New York.
"It was an easy transition," Luzon says of going from boy at home to girl on stage, where she identified her drag persona as a mix between a pageant queen and club kid. "I've always loved Halloween and theatrics, and loved men in women's clothes." Yet she found herself in a new drag atmosphere following her high school graduation and move to NYC. "New York City is different," she says. "There's no [drag] shows, not a lot of opportunities to perform … It takes a lot of money and a lot of creative energy … it [became] very difficult to maintain a life from it, to pay the rent with it. And it was very exhausting." So instead, she took to drag as something of a hobby where she'd get "dressed up" for parties, becoming a "party personality" arriving in what she refers to as, "iconic and crazy looks; showing up in fabulous costumes with the club goers." That was "a lot of fun too," she recounts.
Luzon's intentions on her being cast on the third season of Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race may have only been to further explore her drag hobby, and to continue where her longtime boyfriend/girlfriend, season-two contestant Sahara Davenport, left off.
"The show looked fun, and it was actually a lot of fun for me too," Luzon recalls of her roll on Drag Race. "It was like summer camp for queens; there were arts and crafts and activities ... the show was a great opportunity for me too because it pushed me into pop culture. It was like a giant billboard in Times Square advertising me."
In kind with Luzon's billboard-like bonanza, Logo is sponsoring a summer-appearance promo tour, headed by Luzon, for the network's programming. Currently running as of press time, and planned to continue throughout September, the tour lands Luzon in Chicago for the city's famed annual Market Days weekend, August 13-14, 2011. This stop is of particular fondness for Luzon, where she'll be performing on the Spin Nightclub stage, as the Windy City reminds her of her Midwest roots. "It's close to home," she says.
While she's not entirely sure of what kind of show she'll be putting on for Chicago, she anticipates the summer heat and jokes that maybe she'll design a dress with a window-unit air conditioner in the hips. Yet regardless of what she wears, she promises the overall experience will be "gorgeous, Darling." Her full summer tour schedule is posted to her website, www.manilaluzon.com.
Luzon can also be seen throughout the summer as a professor on Logo's RuPaul's Drag U. After which, she hopes, in jest, to take part in 3D film production based on her life, co-starring Justin Beiber.
A Midwest girl at heart, originating from Minneapolis, Minn., Luzon says she always wanted to be a drag queen. Her childhood fascination with female impersonation has been so longstanding that she can't say for sure when she even saw her first man in drag (but Luzon believes it may have been on PBS). She began amateur performing on the stage of The Gay 90s club in Minneapolis prior to relocating to New York.
"It was an easy transition," Luzon says of going from boy at home to girl on stage, where she identified her drag persona as a mix between a pageant queen and club kid. "I've always loved Halloween and theatrics, and loved men in women's clothes." Yet she found herself in a new drag atmosphere following her high school graduation and move to NYC. "New York City is different," she says. "There's no [drag] shows, not a lot of opportunities to perform … It takes a lot of money and a lot of creative energy … it [became] very difficult to maintain a life from it, to pay the rent with it. And it was very exhausting." So instead, she took to drag as something of a hobby where she'd get "dressed up" for parties, becoming a "party personality" arriving in what she refers to as, "iconic and crazy looks; showing up in fabulous costumes with the club goers." That was "a lot of fun too," she recounts.
Luzon's intentions on her being cast on the third season of Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race may have only been to further explore her drag hobby, and to continue where her longtime boyfriend/girlfriend, season-two contestant Sahara Davenport, left off.
"The show looked fun, and it was actually a lot of fun for me too," Luzon recalls of her roll on Drag Race. "It was like summer camp for queens; there were arts and crafts and activities ... the show was a great opportunity for me too because it pushed me into pop culture. It was like a giant billboard in Times Square advertising me."
In kind with Luzon's billboard-like bonanza, Logo is sponsoring a summer-appearance promo tour, headed by Luzon, for the network's programming. Currently running as of press time, and planned to continue throughout September, the tour lands Luzon in Chicago for the city's famed annual Market Days weekend, August 13-14, 2011. This stop is of particular fondness for Luzon, where she'll be performing on the Spin Nightclub stage, as the Windy City reminds her of her Midwest roots. "It's close to home," she says.
While she's not entirely sure of what kind of show she'll be putting on for Chicago, she anticipates the summer heat and jokes that maybe she'll design a dress with a window-unit air conditioner in the hips. Yet regardless of what she wears, she promises the overall experience will be "gorgeous, Darling." Her full summer tour schedule is posted to her website, www.manilaluzon.com.
Luzon can also be seen throughout the summer as a professor on Logo's RuPaul's Drag U. After which, she hopes, in jest, to take part in 3D film production based on her life, co-starring Justin Beiber.
