VELMA CELLI is the alter-ego of IAN STROUGHAIR. Velma has had a two-year-long residency at The Hippodrome, London and sold out shows at 54 Below, NYC, and London’s Charing Cross Theatre. She recently returned from sell-out performances across Australia and is now at the Edinburgh Fringe for Iconic – A Brief History of Drag which features music from Queen, Bowie, Boy George, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Tina Turner and more.
Stroughair’s stage credits include Cats, Fame, Chicago and Rent, where he received critical acclaim for his portrayal as Angel. He recently appeared on EastEnders and in Lucy Rose’s music video Nebraska opposite Danny Dyer in addition to filming a guest spot on the new American series Piss off, I Love You.
Velma Celli/Ian Stroughair is in conversation with Tal Fox.
Talk us through your career timeline up to Velma?
I did my first show when I was 14, it was a musical called Kes which was the musical adaptation of the novel, A Kestrel for a Knave. I’d never done anything before but they wanted a Yorkshire kid for the ensemble so I went along and got it. Then I went to ballet school from 16 to 18 in Blackpool and did my first musical after that which was Cats. I spent about ten years in and out of musicals, including Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago to name a few, and then while doing that I started doing Velma and cabaret on the side from about 26 until now. In between all of that I’ve been doing things like short films, I was in Nebraska opposite Danny Dyer and again with him in EastEnders.
How did Velma Celli come to be?
So traditionally when you’re in a West End show, the guys go out on a Wednesday night and you’d just get a text around during the day. Different shows would take it in turn to decide where we’d go out and what the theme would be and when La Cage Aux Folles was in the West End, it was their turn to decide that week so they decided that we would all go out in drag.
We got a message in the afternoon saying: “Go out and buy a dress and some make up.” We finished our show, got dressed up and went to Madame Jojo’s. Whilst in there, I can’t remember this because I was quite drunk, apparently I dropped into the splits and started singing Queen and was asked back on a weekly basis, starting with the following week. I was finishing my contract with Chicago that week and had nothing coming up so thought, why not? That was ten years ago next year.
So you actually fell into it?
Literally fell into it. Well first of all I fell into the splits and then I fell into it.
Why did you decide to write this show?
I had gone back into musical theatre to play Angel in Rent on their 20th anniversary tour and I got a bit of a following from that because it’s got a die-hard fanbase. Whilst taking a break, I was in Africa on holiday, I sent a tweet out saying: “What do you want me to do next?” “What songs do you want me to sing?” A lot of the responses were the obvious songs you’d think of when you think drag queen, so things like ‘I Am What I am’ or ‘Sweet Transvestite’, all those kinds of traditional numbers. But I’d made a name for myself by not doing them, doing something a bit different. However, the demand was there, so I thought I’d go back to them and do one gig and I would put all of those songs in it.
While organising that, I wrote out all the names of the songs on my desk and as I started putting it altogether I realised there’s a lot more to it than just singing a few drag songs and then realised that there was a whole show in it. I began researching moments in drag history and popular culture and things that people in theatre might not think of when they think of drag or all the different genres drag is in.
Then I had this big gaping show on my desk that I thought needed to be written, so when I say it’s a history of drag, it’s those moments in drag that people think of but it’s also, for example, a lot of people don’t know that the Stonewall riots in The Village were actually started in a bar called Stonewall and the fight started between the police and a drag queen who hit one of them over the head with a stiletto. It’s full of moments of history that are important in our LGBT history, but it’s also fun as well.
Picture: Scott Rylander
What is the set-up of the show?
It’s performed as a songbook cabaret but each number has its place for a reason and I talk about them. It’s underscored, each number has a reason to be there and a story for why it is there. Part of it is how I got into drag and the evolution of my character, how that came about and where it’s gone and what I’ve been doing with that.
How do you choose what songs to include?
Usually for an hour long show you might have 10 to 14 numbers, depending on how long they are, 14 being when there’s no speaking, 12 is your average but there were just too many. I just narrowed it down to the ones that I personally love for now and we will probably do a sequel next year with the rest of the material. I picked the ones that jumped out at me and connect with me so there’s a lot of Bowie in there and Freddie Mercury and those kinds of people.
Was it important to have a mix of genres?
Yes, I think it’s important. I love when I go to a show and I hear a song that I’ve never heard before. However, you don’t want to alienate an audience, there’s a fanbase for musical theatre and there’s a fanbase for drag as an art form so I wanted to make sure that every one is covered. There’s a lot of musical theatre in there but there’s a lot of pop and rock, which is my style of singing. The reason I put David Bowie in the show is because he was this kind of androgynous, crossdressing, straight man at a time when that really didn’t happen. In him doing that, he challenged perceptions and dared to be different at a time that Freddie [Mercury] and Elton [John] were still in the closet, he brought the drag queen out without even realising it.
Also Queen happen to be my favourite band of all time and my first memory of drag is the Queen video for ‘I Want to Break Free’ and it’s Freddie, Roger and Brian in drag in a Coronation Street style pastiche, so I had to get that in and was thrilled that it was such an obvious choice. It’s different with my musical arrangement in the show, we’ve turned them all on their heads, so we’ve made it into a ballad. So everything is mixed around in ways that people won’t necessarily have heard before.
On top of all of this, you also do impressions.
I do do impressions. My last time at the Fringe was four years ago and I was in a double header with Christina Bianco called Divalution in which we explored divas. Her job was to impersonate the divas because she’s probably the world’s best vocal impressionist. I didn’t want to do that in the show next to her because she’s the best so my job was to talk about the behaviour of divas. We wanted a bitching finale so I did learn some impressions for that show and I developed a love for it, so I do a few. They’re meant to be fun, I think I sound like them. The way it’s presented in Iconic is that drag queens generally lip sync to famous female divas like Britney, Shakira and Tina Turner so in homage to that, I do a megamix of the best divas, the most obvious divas, but I do them live.
Who would be your dream person to duet with?
Oh gosh, that’s hard. I’ve been really fortunate over the years to be able to duet with some fabulous people, mainly West End and Broadway people. All my favourite ones are dead but I would have to say Annie Lennox, she’s fabulous and not dead.
How was you tour in Australia?
It was fabulous, it was amazing! The audiences there were fabulous, especially in Perth, they have such great cabaret and variety there and it’s a big part of Australian culture, more so than over here. When something is good, they really get behind it. We had a guy who came on the first night and then came on the second night with a friend and then the third night with another, it was hilarious. By the end of the run, I think he’d seen about 40 shows there and he had 40 friends in.
Do you find different countries respond to drag artists differently?
Absolutely! I’ve performed in Tanzania, on the beach, with Maasai warriors as my security, which was hilarious and also very, very scary. They were very lovely people but I was thinking this could go one of two ways but actually it went a great way. Generally people who haven’t experienced it before or have little experience, a lot of the time just stand there with their mouths wide open thinking: “What on earth am I watching?” When they realise it’s fun and it’s meant to be camp, it’s not supposed to be seen as an impersonation, it’s an extended version of that, they get right behind it.
When I was in Tanzania a few years ago, when we ran off the stage toward our apartment to get changed, the Maasai were running toward me and my guest singer and I was thinking: “Good God, what’s going to happen?” Actually, the guy wanted a picture with my wig on so I took it off and put it on this Maasai warrior. It’s an awesome picture, it’s the most fabulous thing really. They come into town a couple of months a year and most of the time they do security, they’re respected land folk that nobody mess with because they’re really tough, but they’re also lovely so it was weirdly brilliant that he wanted to try my wig on.
Picture: Scott Rylander
Are you hoping to redefine the way drag acts are perceived with this show?
Not redefine, just celebrate it really, there’s all different types. My favourites are Lily Savage and Dame Edna Everage, they’re both comedy but they couldn’t be more different in humour, they’re untouchable. All the legendary queens, they’ve all got something special. At the moment I find that Ru Paul’s Drag Race has gentrified what drag is, it’s almost like a beauty contest and the talent is second and I don’t really touch on that so much, I touch on Ru as an artist but not on the show because it’s not my cup of tea.
What’s the best audience reaction you’ve had so far?
It was during my recent debut at 54 Below in New York. It was amazing because I don’t really know many people there. You don’t really get much better than 54 Below in terms of cabaret. However, I wasn’t sure there was going to be anyone there because I know about four people, but it was packed and the audience loved it and they reacted how I wanted them to. They have a very different humour to our humour here, we’re a lot drier, but everything landed well and actually more so because they love an English accent.
What can audiences expect from your show?
It’s a fun show, it’s heartfelt and I hope they learn a little bit about drag, not necessarily historical or factual but more about the different types of drag and there are so many different versions. Just have a really good time and hopefully hear some songs that they haven’t heard before. I have put some songs in there that aren’t well known for that reason. Have a good time, laugh a bit, cry a bit, hopefully not heckle.
Who is the show for?
The show is for everybody! Anyone who has got a passion for musical theatre and drag as an art form. We’ve also got a great band and backing singers as well so it’s not just me, it’s great live music cabaret. The venue is fabulous and we’ve got a bar so even if you think I’m awful, you can drink straight through it.
* Velma Celli’s Iconic – A Brief History of Drag Venue continues at Assembly Checkpoint until 26 August 2018.
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