Minnie Bouvèé, RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Suzie Toot, and American Idol’s Matthew Darren let the good times roll
By Savannah Whaley
Winner of Best Feature at the Queer Fear Film Festival in North Carolina and Best LGBTQ Feature at the Orlando Independent Film Festival, Big Easy Queens is now streaming its campy glam horror with a twist on Hulu. .
Written by Robert Leleux and set in the steamy, spooky underworld of New Orleans, Big Easy Queens is 80 minutes of pure queer horror with original musical numbers, voodoo, zombies, drag queens, and campy neo-giallo delight soaked in blood, gristle, and glitter, oh my. In this righteous “glam horror” extravaganza, Big Easy Queens follows Minnie Bouvèé, Mob Queen of the Quarter, and her rivalry with her arch-nemesis, Poodles Makenzie. After Minnie Bouvèé has Poodles Makenzie’s crew brutally slaughtered, she braces for the blowback; what she doesn’t expect, however, is to be stalked by a creepy masked figure who leaves behind bouquets of gardenias and terrifying notes. Is this Poodles’ revenge, or the work of Minnie’s estranged sister who stole her man years ago and has suddenly reappeared in her life?
The film stars Suzie Toot, also known as Benjamin Shaevitz, the actor and drag performer who appeared on Season 17 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and won the Lip Sync LaLaPaRuZa Smackdown. Mathew Darren, a contestant on Season 10 of American Idol and a past performer with Postmodern Jukebox, is featured and served as music producer for the film’s original songs and score. Composed by Geoffrey Short and Adam Tilford, the score was awarded Best Soundtrack at the Venice Independent Film Festival and the recording produced by D-Rock Productions is available on all major music streaming services.
Big Easy Queens marks the screen debut of Eric Swanson’s popular singing drag persona, Minnie Bouvèé, and garnered Swanson the Best Actor award at the Berlin Indie Film Festival. As Bouvèé, Swanson has starred in numerous theatrical productions and collaborated with major cruise lines. Her voice rose to national media attention when Out/Advocate magazine reported her struggle to work full time as a drag performer in Florida.
Swanson spoke about letting the good times roll in this rare LGBTQA+ and horror mashup saying, “We really haven’t seen much in this avenue since Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you watch the film, you’ll see the little nods to Mommie Dearest and Die, Mommie, Die! and, if you are that kind of a cult classic film watcher, you’ll catch all of these little Easter eggs in the movie. We completely know where we came from, and we’re just trying to move things forward.”
Also featured in the cast are South Florida stage veteran Jennifer McClain (Best Actress Hong Kong Indie Film Festival), Cuban American crooner Alexander Zenoz and drag celebrity Varla Jean Merman.
Having founded Infinite Abyss Productions in Miami, Florida in 2010, director Erynn Dalton shot the film entirely in the state of Florida during the infamous SB1438 drag ban. Big Easy Queens is Dalton’s sophomore effort following The Gravedigger (2019). Her latest, American Cryptids, is set to premiere at Miami’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival where Big Easy Queens won the Audience Award in 2023.
“Despite the paranoia gripping the state, we felt incredibly supported by the Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale communities where we filmed and nearly all our producers are based in Wilton Manors, Florida,” Dalton shared in her director’s statement. “I’m so grateful for the outpouring of support for our film during a particularly volatile time for gay rights. With that said, Big Easy Queens is a film with no ‘agenda’….never in the film do we address the fact that most of the actors are in drag, and I love that all of the characters are portrayed as powerful forces to be reckoned with. Gay, straight, in drag, or out, all characters in the story are strong and formidable. It’s a film that portrays gay in a fun, positive and powerful light (with plenty of blood and glitter).”
The film’s additional awards include Best Cinematography from Depth of Field International Film Festival for Laszlo Thomas Nador and Best Makeup from the Toronto Independent Film Festival of CIFT recognizing special makeup effects artist Jakal Blackwell, makeup department head Mike Maloney and makeup artist Libby Zyndal.
While it has not had a theatrical release, Big Easy Queens was an official selection at the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival (AGLIFF), Outshine Film Festival, Fort Lauderdale Independent Film Festival (FLIFF), Fresno Reel Pride, Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Melbourne Independent Film Festival and Key West Film Festival.
Big Easy Queens was executive produced by Ray Thivierge and Matthew Darren. Additional film producers include Terry Hardacre, Swanson, Steven Evans, Rodney Tiedt, Rodney Turner, Kevin and Geric Frost, Don D’Arminio, and Marc Martorana. For more information, visit BigEasyQueens.com.
