Just a month after winning “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” drag queen Onya Nurve is headed to Central Arkansas for a performance at Club Sway (412 S. Louisiana St.) on May 14. Ahead of her Little Rock appearance, the Arkansas Times spoke with Faux L’Beau, a Fayetteville-based drag queen who played a key role in designing several outfits for Nurve’s victorious run on “Drag Race,” including her Freaknik-inspired “Nailed It!” runway look and her Doechii Grammy tribute. L’Beaux met with us in her “drag room,” the creative space where many of Nurve’s iconic ensembles were created, to discuss Arkansas drag culture and what this experience taught her.
I’m so interested in how this partnership between you and Onya Nurve came to be. Who reached out first? What were the vibes? What happened?
It was very serendipitous that this all happened. I actually went to a conference in Philadelphia where vendors from across the country [meet] — whether it be inflatable providers, live entertainment, magicians, etc. — and there was this company called King’s Queens Entertainment that manages post-“Drag Race” queens. And so, of course, as a drag queen myself, I went up to them and was chatting about being a designer and drag queen. They were like, “Man, there’s this one queen in Cleveland that’s just a star. I would be surprised if they didn’t get on ‘Drag Race’ soon,” and I gave them my business card. Sure enough, two months later, I got a random email from a queen who was interested in getting outfits very quickly. And the rest was history.
How did you and Onya dream up her “Drag Race” looks?
I have this massive jacket [that I made] and that was one of the things Onya had seen and said, “I see you can do big things.” I know people will wear anything for drag, and I know myself as someone who does big drag — things that are hard to store, hard to ship and even harder to wear, which was definitely something she was drawn to. For the ‘Nailed It!’ look, the giant skirt was originally going to be a jacket, but we were worried that she wouldn’t be able to take it off with her nails. Instead, we decided to do the longest cape ever. I also don’t think anybody would try to recreate the Doechii look in the time that I had, so that’s something I think people can look at and know it’s me; only [Faux] could do that.
What do you think is special about drag in Arkansas specifically?
I’ve lived all up and down the Midwest. I started drag in Kansas and moved [to Fayetteville] about 4 years into doing it. In every location around the country, there are different types of drag. In Minnesota there’s a really wide array of drag, which is a really cool scene. But when you think about Arkansas, I don’t think a lot of people immediately think of drag. It’s not as big as New York or Chicago, but there is definitely a bustling scene down here. You just got to look for it.
When I moved to Arkansas, I was warned that it was pageant country down here. The first ever Miss Gay America started here 50 years ago and it has been a staple. You see queens around the country come to Arkansas for this pageant. I think Arkansas drag is really known for its pristine, coiffed hair, big jewels and gowns, but when you dig a little deeper, I think you can find any type of drag here. I think nearly every big/medium city in Arkansas has some kind of queer space or drag bar. Depending on where you’re at, you can find many different types of drag.
What are your hopes for the future of the Arkansas drag scene?
At this point in time, I want to make sure it survives. I would say I am more of a behind-the-scenes person. I don’t do regular shows or performances or anything like that, but I would love for it to survive knowing the climate of Arkansas.
I would love for more people to recognize the art of drag. There are phenomenal creators in Arkansas. There’s a person in Little Rock, Athena Sinclair, who did about 13 wigs for Season 17. More artists from Arkansas deserve that level of recognition. There’s so much stuff here, and I think most people just look at what’s on TV or who’s wearing the items. But when you really look at it, there’s at least 10 different people behind every look that you see and I think it’s really cool to say that a lot of that comes from Arkansas.
You mentioned that you played a role in Onya’s costume for her upcoming Little Rock show. Can you detail your part in that outfit?
When Onya came to the University of Arkansas drag show in April, she had an extra outfit that she wanted to get touched up [for her tour]. I didn’t create this look, she just dropped it off with me to adjust for her new padding she recently bought. She knows that I can work on things for her since I already knew her measurements from creating her “Drag Race” looks, so we have that kind of relationship now — if she ever needs anything she can just hit me up.
You can tickets for Onya Nurve’s show at Club Sway here.
