Interview: Ian Stroughair On ICONIC: A BRIEF HISTORY OF DRAG

Actor, singer, choreographer and writer Ian Stroughair has given up his one day off this year to speak to BWW about his new show Iconic: A Brief History of Drag ahead of its world premiere at St James Theatre on 4 November.

Tell us a little about your career so far

I went to a performing arts school in Blackpool called Phil Winston's Theatre Works. When I left there a couple of years later I did my first couple of jobs on cruise ships, one round the Med when I was 18 and one round the Caribbean when I was 19. Then I booked my first show, which was Cats, and I went into the UK tour of that and then straight into the West End with Fame.

I did various shows, one called What A Feeling, which was really fun, and Santa Clause The Musical, which was definitely a highlight of my career. Then I went into Chicago and while I was in that show I was learning how to act and sing as a woman, because I was the understudy for Mary Sunshine. I had to learn how to be not necessarily a believable but a convincing woman. I finished that contract and then they asked me back again for a week to play the role with Jerry Springer, who was brilliant.

At that time I had been understudying a lot of roles, but in order to make a breakthrough and move up to principal roles you need to take a break from auditioning for ensemble and start getting out there and doing rep plays and doing things for free or films to get enough on your CV for principal roles.

So I started doing cabaret in drag, for a laugh really, for my friends and family to laugh at me. It turns out people bought tickets for it and laughed with me and it became a thing. Since then I dip in and out of it. This new show Iconic is something that I've written; other times I work on the burlesque scene. I had a residency at the Hippodrome for two years, which was amazing.

Every now and then I get asked to do stuff in theatre because I've made my name outside of theatre. So, for example, when Rent came up it was quite easy for me get in. I had one audition and got it and that was a dream role. Then also EastEnders - they asked me to come on and be myself for an episode in the Queen Vic, which was as camp as tits. I did a show last year called Night of the Lotus, playing me again, and also did the music video for Lucy Rose's "Nebraska" alongside Danny Dyer. It's lovely, I get to kind of choose things more rather than being at a cattle call and hoping for the best.

Why did you decide to write Iconic: A Brief History of Drag?

Well, how it came about was, because I'd done so many things in drag and have such a loyal following of fans that like me doing cabaret in drag, but who also liked me in Rent in drag and whatever else - through that I always get asked to sing the songs. If I ever put out on Twitter for people to suggest songs they want to hear, they'll say "Oh god sing 'I Am What I Am'" or just something really obvious that's the sort of song you think of when you think of drag. I like to be kind of different, so I've purposely never done them because it's just too obvious, but it's getting to a point where if that's what people want to hear, let them hear it.

It took me about six months to have the balls to do it, but I thought why not just whack everything into a monster drag revue and almost rip a bandaid off and do it in one fell swoop. I was in Africa at the beginning of the year and had nothing to do apart from eat my body weight so I decided to sit and write it - within a day it was done!

In a nutshell, it's all the most iconic moments. Not just in music but in musicals, in films and in popular culture. It's not just songs, there's anecdotes and there's stories. It's all the well-known songs but in ways you've never really heard them, before like we'll take a really really uptempo drag rock song and make it a tender ballad and the opposite way around.

What kind of stories feature?

There's a big myth, well it is and it isn't a myth, but there's confusion over how the riots started in New York during the gay liberation movement. The facts are that the gay community were getting attacked daily - they'd be in a gay bar, which had to be very underground, and the police would just turn up and raid it. Usually around that time there would be a tip-off, so somebody would call the bar and say "They're coming", mainly so that the gay people could get money ready so that when the police turned up they could just give them money to go away. Horrible.

One time, that didn't happen - there was no tip-off and there was an attack. The police arrived at Stonewall, which is obviously what the Stonewall charity is founded by, and the legend is that there was a drag queen, a very, very tall black man in a wig and heels who was like "HELLL NO" - he took off his shoe and smacked the policeman over the head, thus creating the riots.

Now Stonewall, which you can read about on Google, it's really unclear what the facts are. I'm hopefully going to go to New York next month to find out because the old bartenders who worked there are still there. This show, I don't really want to give it away, but this show will deal with that and how we'll never really know the truth, but that it has to be the most important, iconic moment of drag of all time.

Who do you think should come and see the show?

Everyone. Everyone in the world. And their Nanna. And their whippet.

No really, that's a hard one. About 99.9% of my bookings are not on the gay scene, so a lot of my following is straight people and couples. I would like someone of every race and creed to come. Like Noah's ark.

Drag is interesting - most people enjoy drag regardless of religious beliefs or beliefs about gay people. I've gone to all four corners of the world and done gigs where I think "This is not going to end well", and then I've had Maasai warriors dancing for me. There's something that appeals to everyone about a man dressing up as a woman. Like even the toughest of straight blokes, they're my most enjoyable audience.

What else are you working on?

There's a pub in Greenwich called the Pelton Arms. It's quite a famous gig pub - fabulous place. People like The Stone Roses would just rock up and get onstage, and then you've got your old men sitting at the bar - I love it. That was my local last year and they asked me if I would consider doing a cabaret night there. They also own one in Charlton and one in Bromley, so I do a monthly cabaret at each one.

I'm also doing a new musical, which we've done two workshops for, called Grand Central. It has an incredible cast. The first reading we did we had Caroline O'Connor, who was the Roxanne girl in Moulin Rouge!. We're on the third section of that now, which is a two-week rehearsal process with concerts at the end, so that the writers can get it in front of more producers. In that I'm playing - and I'm really going to have to dig deep for this one - an English actor who is funny with a high tenor voice who moonlights as a drag queen. I don't know how I'm going to do that, but I'll do some research...

In November obviously we have Iconic at the St James Theatre. Then in December I'm in panto, which I've only done as a dancer when I was in my early twenties. But I'm in Cinderella is Stoke-On-Trent and I'm playing Dandini. I'm not in drag, although the director does want it quite camp and my subplot is that I'm going to be in love with the prince. So that should be fun. And then in January I am going on holiday, because apart from today talking to you - I don't have a day off!

See ICONIC: A Brief History of Drag at St James Theatre on 4-5 November

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