Ep. 56: Merendiando with Miss Velvetine
June 2, 2021
“A couple of years ago, we viewed opportunities as ‘they’re doing us a favour, you’re so kind to let us perform’. We’re now getting to this point where we’re like ‘hold on a minute, we’re the ones who fill your whole club.’ …Those spaces are for us, and that’s it. We are the party.” – Miss Velvetine
This week’s guest is Miss Velvetine, “the Purple Diamond”, a classic Mexican beauty with modern pop sensibilities who is here to rock your world and cumbia their way into your heart. She is a drag queen, singer, dancer, actor, comedian, and icon.
In this interview we talk about her experiences as a drag artist in Monterrey Nuevo León, how important it is to get paid for being the party, and how she created her new music genre, Dragteño!
Show Notes:
- Follow Miss Velvetine on Instagram, and subscribe to her amazing YouTube channel!
- La Más Draga, a drag reality competition show streamed on YouTube and based on the format of the show RuPaul’s Drag Race, adapted to Mexican pop culture.
- Aesthetic inspirations for Miss Velvetine: Marina and the Diamonds, Katy Perry, ‘old Hollywood’ classic Mexican actresses like Maria Felix and Lola Beltran.
- Me Hace Falta un Beso is Miss Velvetine’s latest song! Jair Alcalá from El Plan, “the fastest fingers in the West”, plays the accordion on it, and her brother Morenito de Fuego is the producer with their label Discos Fortuna.
All Merendiando episodes are in Spanglish, English, or Spanish. New episodes of Radio Aluna Theatre are released on Wednesdays. Follow and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and wherever else you get your podcasts.
Radio Aluna Teatro is produced by Aluna Theatre with support from the Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Department of Canadian Heritage, and the Metcalf Foundation.
Aluna Theatre is Beatriz Pizano & Trevor Schwellnus, with Sue Balint; Radio Aluna Theatre is produced by Monica Garrido and Camila Diaz-Varela.
For more about Aluna Theatre, visit us at alunatheatre.ca, follow @alunatheatre on twitter or instagram, or ‘like’ us on facebook.