Let’s face it: The UK and US are incredibly lucky with the amount of drag we are exposed to. There is plenty of local talent, we can go to our local gay club to watch them and we have countless Rugirl tours where we can see and meet our favourite queens. The tours cover all the big cities (and still some people will complain). Since one half of our team isn’t from the UK and has to catch a flight every time she wants to see a show, we’ve decided to branch out and show you all some of the very talented queens that slay on a daily basis outside the UK.
So be prepared to meet our very first German drag queen on the site, the wonderful Vivienne Villan. We talk to her about the state of the German drag scene, her aesthetics and future goals.
DragAdventures: Can you tell us more about when and how Vivienne Villain came to life?
Vivienne Villain: I started doing drag (experimenting with drag make-up and going out in drag) when I was 16 or 17 on Halloween, so a very long, long, long time ago. I started doing drag under the name Vivienne Villain around the same time, when I started performing as well, about five years ago.
Obviously, I named myself Vivienne Villain, because movie villains are one of my biggest inspirations for my drag aesthetics.
Besides that I would describe my style as a mix of your typical RuPaul style glamourpuss but a little more gothic and edgy and silicone diva (meaning I’m padded for the gods, always wearing a breastplate and ALWAYS cinched to serve you that oversized hourglass figure).
DA: Who’s your favourite villain (e.g. movie/comic/Disney/fellow queen) and why?
VV: Μy favourite villain’s gotta be Jessica Rabbit from the movie “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”. She is and was also one of my strongest inspirations. Her surrealistic appearance and extreme hourglass body shape is exactly the look I’m going for with Vivienne. Worse than a straight guy’s kinkiest sex fantasy. Such an over the top exaggeration of the female appearance, it’s actually a joke.
DA: You perform in Munich. Can you give us some recommendations for venues and queens to check out? Where do you see Drag in Germany, in general?
VV: Munich is dragwise nearly non-existent. There are very few queens and there is no drag scene whatsoever. Lately, more and more younger queens start to go out, obviously due to RPDR, but there are very few clubs and/or event managers who are willing to book drag queens for shows or hosting gigs. I guess in general in Germany drag is just starting to get into the focus of German gay culture again.
But as I use to say the good thing in Munich is we have just about one queen in every genre of drag, if at all. So we don’t have many competitors to fight whatsoever and every one of us can build themselves a reputation of their own. On the negative side, we don’t have much of a bond to one another since our styles of drag are all very different. There’s one or two fishy queens, a few club kids, my drag daughter Patty McVillain is one of the few big girls, and I’m actually the only queen in Munich who does body and more of a pageantlike eleganza extravaganza.
Club-wise I can recommend Garry Klein, which is an awesome weekly gay party on Wednesday nights at Harry Klein Club, my home club.
Besides this, there is the NY Club, in fact, the only gay-only club and some gay events on a monthly bases, for example, Herrensauna at Rote Sonne, which I host.
DA: Can you recommend some local German queens we should watch out for?
VV: I would definitely have to recommend Katy Bähm from Berlin who is already an internationally well-known drag Djane and runs her own wig company and besides this my favourite sassy/fishy queen in Germany and Laila Liçious, a magnificent hair and makeup artist, she does such huge big hair wigs, even Ru would be jealous and I’m living for her over the top drag make up.
DA: You describe yourself as Munich’s “most glamorous drag queen“. What are three things must-haves for Vivienne when doing drag?
VV: My three must-haves to be a glamorous queen definitely have to be first a very exquisite and expensive perfume that get’s you into the diva mood (I’m using Ambre Eccentrico by Giorgio Armani Privé), second glittery or rhinestoned nails, or at least Gloves (because if you’re not wearing nails… well you know the rest) and third a ridiculous amount of jewelry.
DA: First performance memories or any other unforgettable moment while doing drag?
VV: One night after a show of mine a twink came up to me and told me how inspiring seeing me perform was for him and that he’d wish to once have the self-confidence and the self-respect that I eradiated (he also told me he was banned from his family) That really moved me to tears and I gave him a big hug and some love.
DA: Have you ever had a fangirl moment when working alongside another queen?
VV: I’ve once met Sharon Needles when she was touring with RuPaulBots in Berlin and she immediately got my inspiration for the red dress I was wearing that night, which was Lady Gaga as the Countess in American Horror Story Hotel. This experience gave me life for about a year or so and still is, whenever I think about it.
DA: Thoughts on Rupaul’s Drag Race? Would you ever do a TV show similar to Drag Race if there was a German version? Which challenges you would like to see on such a show?
VV: I’d be glad to go on a show like RPDR, but before that, I should take about half a year to work on those jump splits and take some dance classes.
I would love to do snatch game and I would absolutely excel in the sewing challenges.
DA: If money and time weren’t an issue, which kind of performance/show would you put on and why?
VV: I’ve always dreamed of singing live, but I would need to buy a good in-ear voice monitor + a wireless microphone since none of the clubs supply these here. Especially I’d love to do arias and musicals in falsetto, with a back up by a male choir of mouth-watering shirtless jocks.
Besides this, I’d love to work on the most expensive and glamorous ball gowns, with lots of details, lace applications, and rhinestones. Sewing really is such a calming and satisfying hobby to me and normally I’m accompanied by my daughter like Bianca used to say #stitchingandbitching.
DA: Where can we see you perform?
VV: I’m performing at Garry Klein a gay edition of the famous Munich nightclub Harry Klein Club. I’m also hosting Garry Klein’s annual Lipsync Battle called the “Queen of the Night Contest”. Besides that, I’m hosting variable gay parties in Munich and I’m quite regularly booked for private events like birthday parties and weddings.
Usually, I’m performing to songs by Madonna, Britney, Lady Gaga, etc.
Lately, I’m very into empowering songs of the 80ies and 90ies by artists like Chaka Khan, Gloria Gaynor and Jermaine Jackson.
DA: Any future-related goals or projects (i.e. performances, appearances …) for Vivienne you’d like to share?
VV: I’m going to publish a series of German drag makeup tutorials, starting this fall. Also this fall I will be the center of a whole fashion collection for the final exam for an upcoming designer.
Keep up to date with all things Vivienne Villain on the following Social Medias:
Facebook: viviennevillain
Official website: www.viviennevillain.com
Instagram: @viviennevillaincovergirl
