Photo: AJ Jordan
Suzie Toot Taps into the Pilgrim House
by Steve Desroches
Often when a drag queen appears on RuPaul’s Drag Race she’ll use to her newfound exposure to explore all kinds of new opportunities and performance mediums, with many releasing a track of an original song or an inventive cover. And most stick to the realm of a dance track or comedic parody. There’s been “Purse First” by Bob the Drag Queen, “Mama Don’t Make Me Put on the Dress Again” by Trixie Mattel, and Sharon Needles’ “Call Me on the Ouija Board.” But season 17 stand-out Suzie Toot decided to keep it old school…old, old school. Deeply inspired by the culture and fashions of the 1930s, Toot recorded a cover of the 1932 Depression-era anthem, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” And her video of the song has had tens of thousands of views, bringing the song and Toot’s Busby Berkeley-esque and They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? drag to the masses.
“There’s something that really struck me about the song post Covid time,” says Toot. “It’s from almost 100 years ago, but when you listen to it feels so current.”
Since appearing on RuPaul’s Drag Race Toot’s reputation as a queen to watch has only grown as she makes the delicate parlay from reality competition contestant to using that exposure to grow as an artist and continue to create. For all the RuPaul’s Drag Race queens, the show is just a moment in time, albeit a significant one. But most want to avoid the trap of being stuck repeating tag lines from the show, talking about the tea and the shade on set, and performing the same numbers from the show over and over again. With a sharp and distinctive point of view, Toot’s performances and onstage persona have garnered legions of fans, especially those that love that element of good drag that studies history and gives it a modern spin.
While just a little boy growing up in Wellington, Florida, in metro Miami, Toot would watch old films, and would often focus on a nameless dancer in a large movie musical or find a way to see every role ever played by actresses like Ruby Keeler and Eleanor Powell, stars of the 1930s and 1940s who have now largely faded into obscurity. Toot trusts the intelligence of her audiences that even if they don’t necessarily understand every inspiration or interpretation in her show, they are the type to go and find out later.
“Something that I love about going on a deep dive is that while everyone might not get the reference, those that do really, really get into it,” says Toot. “I love to just go on Wikipedia and just keep reading for hours. It’s a great introduction into so many things.”
Toot just finished an American tour hitting 17 cities with her new show Suzie with a Z, which she’ll be bringing to Provincetown for a couple of weeks of late summer performances. She’s in Fort Lauderdale at the moment soon to head to the airport for a quick jag to San Francisco to perform in fellow drag star Lady Camden’s The Peach Pit Cabaret before she heads east to Provincetown. Touring the country throughout July gave Toot a perch on this country, seeing the need for the connection that live entertainment can provide, especially in our hyper virtual technological culture. Toot also saw the passionate need for LGBTQ representation and physical spaces where the community can feel celebrated and most importantly safe. Florida made headlines when it led a crackdown on drag performances, creating a climate of fear and worry. But drag persevered, as it always does. And the backlash against it actually created a counter wave of support, drawing people to go out and support their local drag shows, including in increasingly conservative Florida.
“The landscape has really changed,” says Toot. “Florida used to be a purple state, but now it feels more and more a red state. But Fort Lauderdale and Wilton Manors are this great bubble. Every red state I go to on tour has these wonderful oases. Things seem to be easing up in Florida lately. There are some really great people in Florida, activists who are organizing to combat whatever nonsense Ron DeSantis comes up with next.”
Governor DeSantis will be out of office this coming January due to term limits, and will hopefully fade away (though he will most likely run for president in 2028), but Toot is riding career heat so hot into the future it could come from a curling iron that gives her wigs those 1930s waves. She is focused on creating “weird and interesting art for weird and interesting people” and is eager to explore all that is now available in the ever-expanding universe of drag, despite recent attempts to squash it. Having made her Provincetown debut last summer with a sold-out run of her cabaret show, If You Knew Suzie, this second engagement in town is a continuation of a childhood dream of performing in Provincetown on the same strip as one of her all-time idols.
“For as long as I’ve been gay, I’ve been obsessed with Varla Jean Merman,” says Toot. “I was a total YouTube kid, always on it, and when I found Varla it also introduced me to Provincetown. And it became my goal to get there, to perform. Provincetown is my Broadway, truly.”
Suzie Toot performs Suzie with a Z on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday August 24 through September 3 at 9 p.m. at the Pilgrim House, 336 Commercial St. Tickets ($40/$50/$75) are available at the box office and online at pilgrimhouseptown.com. For more information call 508.487.6424.
