By Denny Patterson
Older than dirt and filthy as sin, drag legend Lady Bunny will be making her way to South Florida for the Eagle’s Wilton’s Holiday Wonderland on Saturday, December 3, 2022.
Hosted by Dusty Moorehead, this holiday market and street fair will feature singers, dancers, vendors, delicious food and cocktails, carnival games, and of course, a sexy Mr. and Mrs. Claus. Additionally, Bunny will include her dazzling array of yuletide classics, complete with their own, naughty twist.
Representing the heart of what drag is all about, Bunny’s routines may be rooted in the gutter, but her quick-witted humor is authentic, smart, and topical. She is best known for creating Wigstock, NYC’s festival of love, peace, and hair grease, which became the subject of Samuel Goldwyn’s Wigstock The Movie (1995) and HBO’s Wig (2019).
Bunny took some time to answer some questions for OutClique.
Denny Patterson: Hi, Bunny! Thank you for taking some time to chat with me. What can we expect from your featured appearance at Wilton’s Holiday Wonderland?
Lady Bunny: Filth (laughs). Something that is not very open to children or Christian. So, you know, the usual!
DP: Do you come down to South Florida a lot to perform?
LB: I do, and I’m so excited for this block party at the Eagle. Of course, I’ll get to work with Dusty Moorehead again, who is a hoot. I know her from Boston and Provincetown, and her drag is fabulous. I actually think this is Dusty’s return. They have been dancing as a hunky go-go boy for the Eagle since they moved down there, and I’m glad she’s bringing me down to join her for this event!
DP: Is there anything in particular you look forward to the most when you visit South Florida?
LB: Coarse, Latino studs and nicer weather! I’m in New York, so I love any chance to go to South Florida, especially in December. New Yorkers have such a strong Miami-Fort Lauderdale connection, it’s our annual southward migration.
DP: You have become quite known for your holiday specials and parodies. Do you have any this year you would like to talk about?
LB: Hmm, let me think. I’m still in Halloween mode since I was involved with the Huluween Dragstravaganza. I do have something coming down the pipeline, and let’s just say it’s going to gag you. And the Eagle’s got an easy audience to gag!
DP: What do you enjoy the most about doing holiday productions?
LB: The money (laughs).
DP: Are you usually working during the holidays or do you ever take some downtime for yourself to visit family and friends?
LB: I am going to take some downtime this year. Although, please don’t make me go back to my family (laughs). I just left them in Chattanooga. I had such a good excuse during the three years of COVID because I didn’t have to go down there. Oh, no! I don’t want to have to come off a plane and kill my 86 year old parents, who I’m lucky to still have with me, but now that COVID is somewhat dissipating, I don’t have an excuse. My sister lives in Philly and we sometimes go and have Thanksgiving there, but my folks are now getting a little too old to drive long distances. In fact, it took my mom 25 minutes to park, and then she tried to go down a one way street the wrong way. I noticed it first and I don’t know how to drive!
DP: Do you have any cherished holiday memories?
LB: Getting Barbie dolls when I ask for them at age six. My parents later said they were afraid to give them to me because they thought it might make me gay. I said, honey, if I was asking for them, I was already gay!
DP: You mentioned the Huluween Dragstravaganza special earlier. How much fun was that?
LB: That was a lot of fun. That was more PG than my act, but I got to sing a duet with Jackie Beat, who is a comedic legend in the drag community and has written for Joan Rivers, Roseanne Barr, Elvira, Ross Mathews, and many, many more. She’s hilarious, and it was wonderful to perform something that she had written.
DP: What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your career and platform?
LB: I want to write a book, for sure. It will take some time to do because I’ve worked a lot since COVID permitted, so I need to catch up on everything from dentistry to writing that book to paying some taxes. The kind of stuff you can only do when you’re at home. So, I’m looking forward to doing that because when you’re always running on the road, you don’t get to take care of the little things. Like, what is this pain? What is this growth? I need to be in New York to go see my dermatologist! Like I say, who needs hashtags when you’ve got skin tags?
DP: Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you’d like to mention or plug?
LB: I do a podcast every week with Monét X Change called Ebony & Ivory that’s on Starburns Audio, and I’m also in a movie that will start hitting film festivals in the spring called Playland. It’s not going to be a major release, but it will appear in film festivals. It’s fairly artsy, and I play, imagine this, honey. This was so difficult. I had to play an old drag queen! I mean, that took every ounce of my acting chops! So, make sure to check out Playland, and come party with me and Dusty on December 3 at the Eagle!
Stay up-to-date and connect with Lady Bunny by following her on Twitter @LadyBunny77 and Instagram @Official_Lady_Bunny. For more information on Wilton’s Holiday Wonderland, visit EagleBarWM.com.
