Interview: Clair Voyance on Bringing BROADWAY DIVAS DRAG BRUNCH Back To Segerstrom

Miss Clair Voyance of Los Angeles can do a perfect Elphaba. She knows all the moves of “Cell Block Tango” And she can “Let It Go” with the best of them. 

Want to see for yourself? LA’s infamous drag queen (known when not in drag as Garrett Ingle) will be performing with her fellow “Broadway Divas”— along with a full dance ensemble — for the fifth installment of the popular Broadway Divas Drag Brunch at the Segerstrom Center for the Art’s Samueli Theater Aug. 18.  

Clair took time out of rehearsals to talk with BroadwayWorld about how she got into drag, her dream Broadway roles, and why the Segerstrom is her favorite place to perform. 

So nice to meet you. So should I call you Garrett or Clair? 

Either or. 

What do most people call you? 

It's funny — to people who know me in drag, I'm Clair, regardless of how I'm presenting. To people who knew me before I started drag, I'm, I'm always Garrett to them. And they fight for their life trying to call me Clair and be as respectful as they can when I'm in drag. But to people who got to know me once I started doing drag, I'm Clair, whether I'm in or out. 

When did you start doing drag? 

About six years ago. 

And if you don't mind me asking, how old are you now? 

I'm just about 28. 

OK, so give me the 30-second summary of how you got here. 

I got here because my parents let me run around as a child singing and dancing to “Hocus Pocus.” And then in college, I did a production of “La Cage Aux Folles,” and as soon as we got to tech and I put on drag for the first time, I said, “This is going to be a problem for me for the rest of my life. Wow.”

There's a joke in the drag world that it's a bug, and once you get bit, you don't recover from it. And you know, in a second, that it’s either something that you're going to do forever, or it's not for you. And that was my moment where I said, “This is really awakening something.”

Was that exciting? Or was it like, ‘Uh oh. This might be a challenge.’ 

It was so exciting. Because like I said, I was in college when that happened. I got my BFA in musical theater. And like all kids that get their degrees in musical theater, you just kind of get shot out into the world with everyone else. And it gave me something that allowed me to set myself apart from the rest of the crowd. 

So, I knew exactly how I wanted to use my skill set. I knew how I wanted to take what I had learned and reinvest those skills into building a new path forward for myself, setting some foundational blocks to build a future, and creating my own companies and all that jazz. 

Amazing. So do you ever perform as Garrett or is it always Clair? 

I perform as Garrett when the time's right. That's been the nice thing about drag and taking on my drag persona as Clair Voyance. I don't feel the hustle as hard as I used to, because I do follow auditions and I do watch things, so when something does come across where I go, “Oh, I really want to audition for that,” I get to audition for things that I want to audition for now. I get to walk into the room as Garrett knowing I get to be here and I'm excited to be here. 

I always say drag helped me fall in love with theater again. Even though doing drag kind of forced me to step away from that aspect of my life, it healed all those little wounds you get when you do theater for so long. 

So, at what point does Garrett become Clair? Is it when you put on the clothes, or is it just always there? 

It’s always there. I am a Virgo, tried and true. So I'm constantly, in my mind, the boss and trying to be in control— and that's where Clair flourishes. 

How does the audience at the Segerstrom respond to the Divas  

As a performer, the audiences that become accessible to you when you perform somewhere like the Segerstrom Center are completely different than the audiences that are accessible to you when you're performing at a club or a bar or a queer nightlife space. 

When I get to go to Segerstrom, and I'm doing a 20-minute “Hello Dolly” mix with 10 dancers and four drag queens playing Dolly, Irene, Minnie, and the whole bit — and I have 80 -year -old women in walkers coming up to me afterward with tears in their eyes saying, “This reminds me of when I saw Carol Channing do this on Broadway,” that’s when you go, this is more than just a drag show — because those people aren't going to seek drag out on a Saturday night. Right?

Because I have the reach of the center, I can extend my hand to this audience and bring them into my world. And vice versa, I get to go into theirs. And that's the most beautiful thing that has come out of the entire experience.  

So, how is your performance different at the Segerstrom compared to when you perform at a place like Hamburger Mary’s? 

Well, I think at a Hamburger Mary's, you're very aware that you have to spice it up a little. You might not be able to get away with doing the entire song as it is from the Broadway show. You'll have to mix in some more contemporary music to keep the audience more engaged. 

But to go back to ‘Hello Dolly,’ it's like I know I can do ‘Before the Parade Passes By’ and everyone's going to be right there with me.

I love that. 

It's one of those things where it's like, we all have these dream things we've always wished to perform, but we think “That'll never work. That'll never work.” But yes, those numbers will work here because we have an audience that is like, “Yes! I want to see Christine Daaé come out and sing, ‘Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. I want to see someone come out and sing ‘Memory’ from Cats. I want to see the Les Mis medley with all the drag queens.” 

Do you do Les Mis? 

We're working on it. That's a hard one. On top of Mamma Mia and everything, we get to throw these little gems in there that the real Broadway diehards are just in heaven over. 

And that's what makes me so happy because the room goes quiet and you can hear a pin drop and you know you have them. And they're just right there with you, and it's, it's electric. 

Don't you have also a cast of dancers as well? 

Yes, so every show has a cast of eight to ten dancers. We rehearse for about two months and every number is a production number. And we hire four to five choreographers. Everyone is wearing Broadway replica costumes. Everyone is done head to toe — it is a spectacle.  

This is the fifth time you’ve done the Broadway Brunch. What's new with this performance?  

Broadway Divas is always a fresh show. You're never going to see the same thing twice. This Broadway Divas, we're doing an abridged version of Chicago to open the show — we're doing 14 minutes of Chicago! You'll see all six queens doing ‘Cell Block Tango’ and some more fun stuff. And then we're ending the show with Shrek. 

Is it all lip-syncing or is any real singing happening? 

This one is going to be all lip-synced, I believe. But we do throw some singing in, and “La Cage” is on my list of things to do. 

But people shouldn't discount lip-syncing though, right?

No, not at all. It is a skill and it's been refined by every person that's up on that stage. And what makes it fun, too, is our dancers get into it as well. 

How long does it take you to get ready—to put on the makeup, the hair, everything? 

So I can paint in about an hour and 15 minutes and then I can get dressed in about 15 minutes. But I have to check in with every single person before I can do anything for myself. So I have to go around and physically make sure everyone is okay before I can sit down in my dressing room and go, “Okay, now I can put on my tights and my corset and put my earrings on.”

It's got to be pretty crazy backstage,  

Yeah, but it's also a party. It's a good time. We rehearse far enough in advance that the energy is a little chaotic just because there is so much happening in the show, but we also work with such good people that we can just have fun. And at the end of the day, if we're not having fun, then something's wrong. 

Random question, but if you were guaranteed any part on Broadway—past or present, what would be your dream role?

I'm an Elphaba girl. 

Does that mean Wicked is also your favorite Broadway show? 

Well, Wicked was my first Broadway show.  My parents took me to see Wicked in New York in 2005. I had the second cast. So I had Megan Hilty and Shoshana Bean. It was so amazing. All the wires in my brain just reconnected and rewired that night. 

I just want to say that I’m super excited to see the Broadway Divas! 

Well, it is a blast and it is such an honor to be a part of it. I have felt more at home and included and safe within the walls of Segerstrom than I have in a lot of spaces that cater directly to drag. And I can't emphasize how important that is — that is a space that is not built for us has welcomed us. And the community is unlike anything I have ever experienced. The audiences are super welcoming and accepting as well. 

Yeah, I will cry. I will sit and cry when I talk about the audiences we have. They are the most generous with their time and energy of anyone I've ever performed for. 

Why do you think that is?

I think we offer something they never expected. I think they go into our show not knowing what's going to happen. And they leave the show understanding a piece of our community they might not have ever thought they did. They leave with a little bit of themselves changed and a little bit of their minds changed. And I know it's, it's cliche, but to quote Kinky Boots: You can change the world if you change your mind. 

It just means the world to us. 

That's so great. Well, thank you so much!

Thank you! 

Broadway Divas Drag Brunch will play at the Samueli Theater at the Segerstrom Center at 11 a.m. on August 18. Every ticket includes a complimentary glass of champagne (21+), interactive party favors, and the opportunity to meet the queens after the show.

To buy tickets, go to: https://www.scfta.org 

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