Brings the Camp, Laughs, Horror, and Gore
By Denny Patterson
A full-length movie extravaganza featuring zombies, drag queens, and queer celebration – what more could we ask for?
Big Easy Queens, the new glam horror film written by Robert Leleux and directed by Erynn Dalton, officially made its world premiere in August at the ninth annual Popcorn Frights Film Festival. Starring two of South Florida’s biggest personalities, Jennifer McClain and Eric Swanson, aka Miss Minnie Bouvèé, the duo play mortal enemies in a battle for territory.
In reality, Swanson and McClain are best friends and often perform together as the Boozy Belters.
“Because we are so well-known in South Florida, we wanted to give audiences something that they weren’t going to get for free every day on stage from us,” Swanson says. “We didn’t want to portray the Boozy Belters on film. That was one of the goals Jen and I agreed on. Why not give them something different for their eyes?”
Set in the steamy, spooky underworld of New Orleans, Big Easy Queens follows Bouvèé, Mob Queen of the Quarter, who has the crew of her arch-nemesis, Poodles Makenzie, brutally slaughtered. She braces for the blowback, but what she doesn’t expect is to be stalked by a creepy masked figure who leaves behind bouquets of gardenias and terrifying notes. Is this Makenzie’s revenge, or the work of Bouvèé’s estranged sister who stole her man years ago and has suddenly reappeared in her life?
According to Swanson, he hopes Big Easy Queens will help elevate Miss Bouvèé to a national and global platform.
“I would love to show everything that’s in my wheelhouse,” he explains. Whether it’s comedy, drama, or music, I wanted to showcase the multiple facets of Miss Bouvèé, but I also wanted to just have fun and work with amazing people like Jen.”
McClain, who has been entertaining South Florida audiences for over 15 years, agreed to be involved with Big Easy Queens as long as she played a character that was the complete opposite of herself.
“When Eric asked if I wanted to do this film, I was interested, but I wanted no resemblance to Jennifer McClain whatsoever,” she says. “I think we succeeded. Poodles is this caricature of a villain. I say it’s like Ursula meets Maleficent meets the Evil Queen. I wanted to be so far away from Jennifer McClain that I insisted on my own makeup artist, and I am hardly recognizable.”
In addition to Swanson and McClain, the other cast members of Big Easy Queens include drag icon Varla Jean Merman as herself, Jeffrey Roberson as Amos, Alexander Zenoz as Giuseppe, Matthew Darren and Jackson Truvè, Christopher Hamblin as Mittens Lafitte, and Benjamin Shaevitz as Mimi Bouvèé-Truve.
Shaevitz, who is known in the South Florida drag scene as Suzie Toot, jokingly calls his role a Lindsay Lohan character.
“Miss Bouvèé was originally supposed to play her twin sister as well,” he recalls. “They realized how much more work would be involved, and the character also sort of became its own thing. So, when they did a read through, Eric reached out and was like, hey, you’re a drag queen who acts. Come read for this role. And as I read it, I became obsessed with her. Mimi is like a Stepford wife. She’s dainty and super feminine, but she has an evil lurking beneath her that needs to come out. There was no guarantee that I would get the role, but it worked out, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
As for how Dalton came aboard as the film’s director, she says she was introduced to Swanson and the project by happenstance.
“I have a theater in South Florida, and I rent it to Ronnie Larsen, who is a playwright and director here in town,” she states. “He was helping Eric produce a production, and I had a show happening at the same time in the same space. Ronnie told me, let’s get you two together to talk schedules! When we met, there was an immediate connection. Eric is from Michigan, and I have a home in the same area in Michigan, and then movies were somehow brought up. I mentioned that I also direct movies, and Eric was like, really?! He mentioned Robert’s script, and I said if he needed help, advice, or whatever, just give me a call. The next day, Eric called and I immediately said, “Can I take you to dinner?” (Laughs).
“Before that meeting, Robert had an interview to write a movie for a television network, but he didn’t get it,” Swanson adds. “It was a Zoom interview, so when it was over, he sort of stomped out in a huff and poured himself a glass of wine. When I met Erynn the next day, I texted Robert being like, I just met with a film director. He responded – get her name and number! So, this movie is truly a byproduct of not getting another job. It’s what motivated Robert to do it. He was passionate about having a voice and finding his voice as a screenplay writer. He’s written many plays and articles, and he’s a published memoirist, but he was ready to go somewhere else and take Bouvèé somewhere else.”
Dalton is best known for being a horror director and has previously worked on projects such as The Gravedigger and American Cryptid.
“Horror is typically my wheelhouse,” she says. “When Eric and I met, the plot for Big Easy Queens was there, but the screenplay wasn’t totally written yet. I would ask to add some campy horror and gore, but we were all committed to keeping it as mainstream as possible because based on the premise, we felt everything could have a mainstream appeal. Everyone was so great at listening to each other, and this was such a great team to work with. It’s always fun to collaborate with amazing artists.”
Despite being set in New Orleans, Big Easy Queens was entirely shot in Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale. Several local businesses helped create an authentic New Orleans vibe, and the film showcases a mesmerizing use of vibrant color in its cinematography.
“Wilton people will recognize some places, but it could be any bar anywhere,” Swanson says.
Ultimately, Swanson hopes audiences take away inspiration from Big Easy Queens and will take note that it is simply a fun movie. It is not a queer film based on trauma or a coming out story.
McClain, Shaevitz, and Dalton agree.
“This movie is inherently queer, but it’s not in your face queer,” McClain says. “It’s got horror, comedy, and musical numbers, and I hope everyone loves it.”
“I am so delighted by this movie,” Shaevitz adds. “It’s not a drag movie like To Wong Foo. We’re all pretending and we’re having a good time, and that’s the queerest kind of movie. Not enough of that exists right now.”
“I just love how whimsy it is,” Dalton concludes. “I very much hope people walk away from it saying, you know, that was a film that had absolutely no agenda other than to make us laugh and have a great time. We live in a very politically charged time right now, where I’m sure some people in our country would look at this movie and have some not so nice things to say about it. I think if they watched it, they would have a good time. It’s not what they would say is an agenda film. It’s just fun, like The Birdcage and Rocky Horror. We set out to make a fun movie, and it shouldn’t matter what kind of costumes everybody wears.”
Swanson would also like to credit that Big Easy Queens was filmed during Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” era.
“The drag laws were coming into play,” he says. “They weren’t in effect yet, but ‘Don’t Say Gay’ was. There was actually a discussion about if Ben and I could do publicity in front of the theater in drag. We weren’t sure if that was allowed or not. Thankfully, it’s being overturned in court right now, but we don’t want to discredit that it was kind of scary to do this stuff, but we felt it was important. That’s why we expedited the process and we were committed to getting this edited and out because we felt like it was timely. We wanted to show amazing artistry that exists in the queer and drag world. These artists are living and breathing in South Florida, and they were oppressed. They were governed and restricted, and it was not an easy time to make a movie that was based in drag.”
Big Easy Queens is currently set to play at several upcoming film festivals, both nationally and internationally. For more information and to stay up-to-date, follow the film on Instagram @bigeasyqueens, or visit BigEasyQueens.com.
