Coming Soon: Distorted Hollywood
Amongst the most popular, sought-after, talented and beautiful New York and Fire Island queens is the fabulous Brenda Dharling. In addition to her 15 titles, she is a cast member of Distorted Diznee. She is a professional dancer with a great passion and love for drag, as well as being a super sweet person. Brenda took some time out of her extremely crazy schedule to chat with Get Out!
Brenda, what have you been doing since we last spoke?
Actually, I’m working on a new show. It is part of the Distorted series. It’s called Distorted Hollywood, and going up at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in two weeks. We’ve been doing Distorted Diznee there for almost four years. We like to keep it fresh and put new shows into rotation. Distorted Hollywood is like a spoof on movies. So I’ve been working on that, costuming and music editing.
Sounds exciting. You are a very busy girl! Do you still do your regular nights everywhere?
Yes, I’m at Boots on Tuesdays, The Monster on Wednesdays, Industry on Thursdays and Suite on Fridays.
Take a breath.
And before you know it I’ll be back on Fire Island on the weekends. I’ll be going back in May. It’s so crazy.
I know! If you could talk about anything in life, what would it be?
That’s a good question. It would probably be something not drag. Probably a movie, because I love going to the movies.
Is there a favorite movie?
There are so many different types of movies out. I try to go to the movies at least two or three times a month. I love it, because you get to just relax and be somewhere else for at least a couple of hours. And its always a different subject: comedy, drama …
Our publisher Mike Todd said he saw you at Boots and Saddle, and you did a three-hour show.
Usually my Tuesday show is from 10 p.m. to midnight, but it’s the last show of the evening, so if people are coming in I just keep on going. It ended up being a three-hour extravaganza.
How do you put on makeup day after day after day? I mean, I wear makeup every day, but it’s not nearly as dramatic as yours. So how do you do it; how do you invest all the time?
I love it. It was part of my interest in getting into drag in the first place. I was forever dancing with dance companies, and I was looking for the next transition. What can I learn? Oh, makeup! I started getting books, and taking a couple of classes and watching YouTube. I like the art of makeup, but what I don’t like is when you’re a makeup artist you’re not really performing. That’s how I kind of got into drag. I like doing my own makeup. I like trying out new things, but I like doing performances.
You just love performing.
Oh, I love it! It’s the best part. It really makes it so seamless to go into work, because it’s something I actually enjoy doing. I get to dance, wear whatever I want to wear. It’s the best job. You get to do whatever you want to do.
Is there any new music out there that you’re into, or new artists that inspire you?
There’s a couple of new artists. One song, it’s called “Love Yourself”; a song called “Hollow” that just came out …
Will we hear you doing those songs soon?
Oh yeah, I’ve already done them. The thing is that whenever I hear a song, I buy it, and I listen to it all day, and then I put it in every show somewhere. I feel like the more you’re attached to a song the better you’ll perform it.
What do you attribute your drag popularity to?
When I first moved to New York, the advice my parents gave me was just to take every opportunity, because you never know where it’s going to lead. Even now, and when I started out I was taking any guest spot, going to any show, every competition, just to get my name out there. That’s something I still do today. You still have to go out and do things that you don’t necessarily want to do, but in the long run it’s going to pay off. I feel like seizing every opportunity that you can possibly do, it’s all going to pay off in the end. Some people don’t realize that yet, but if you really want to, it will drive you to get out there.
How many titles do you hold?
Oh goodness, 15?
I’ll rephrase that: Who has more crowns, you or Honey?
Oh, no! I don’t know. She might have me beat. She had a really good year last year. Last year I didn’t really compete, because I was giving up a lot of titles. It’s hard to hold multiple titles in one year. You’re going out and doing performances and representing whichever organization it was, like Miss Hell’s Kitchen. They have a lot of fundraisers. So it gets to be a lot when you have multiple titles. So last year I didn’t really compete, but this year I’m getting back on the horse.
When you’re up performing on that stage, what do you like best?
I really like showcasing what my best talent is, and that is dancing. So sometimes it’s a big jazz dance, sometimes it’s a lyrical dance with a partner. It’s the thing I’ve been trained to do, and now I’m getting to show everyone what I’ve been doing since I was little. I started dancing when I was five. I love it, and it’s something I am extremely passionate about. If I couldn’t dance it would make me really sad.
So you’re a professional dancer?
Since I’m five I’ve been dancing. My sister started first, and my mother used to dance. It just came really easy, and growing up we did everything, swimming, tennis.
Where are you from?
Bristol, Connecticut. I got to come to New York and go to Boston all the time growing up, and I got to see dance all around me every day.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I hope to stay in New York. Actually, tomorrow will be my five-year anniversary in New York. I really just love it here, so I hope to still be here in 10 years. I would love possibly to get on the producing side of shows, and get more in the background, and I hope to still be doing some sort of a drag. I would like a show of my own and perhaps bring some New York shows on tour around the country. I always want bigger and better.
You will never be in the background! Now what would you like to promote for yourself?
My shows are Boots and Saddle at 10 p.m. Tuesdays, The Monster with Holly Dae on Wednesdays at 11:30, I’m at Industry Bar on Thursdays and on Fridays I do two shows: Distorted Diznee/Distorted Hollywood at The Laurie Beechman at 9:30 and then Black Out Friday at Suite Bar at midnight. You can find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
PHOTO BY: PRESTON BURFORD
