Confessions of OUT Africa magazine's First Cover Girl

I am sure the Lesbians are not surprised OUT Africa's first Cover Girl is a Drag Artiste. Yes, Artiste, Cape Town has many Drag Queens, but very few Drag Artiste. I can with authority say that the Mother City is home to the most Drag Queens in Africa. Don't believe then attend in of the numerous Drag Queen pageants held all over the Western Cape every year. There's Miss Cape Town Pride, Miss Gay Western Cape, Miss Spring Queen, Miss Supermodel, Miss Gay World just to name a few. And it all mostly takes place in the Cape Flats and "Coloured" suburbs. I have to say the Queens of ole District Six would be proud. Their tradition has maintain and stood the test of time.

Indeed Drag Queen pageantry is the domain of Coloured Cape Town. So you better know how to "Sheila-Gayle", you better know how to "gooi" in Afrikaans a bit of that "From Aida to Zelda". Competition is FIERCE, in all definitions of the word. This is a complete and thorough social scene, with every township, suburb having its legions of past winners and present Queens and contestants. The Drag Beauty Pageant community of Cape Town is an industry. Tens of thousands is spent by organizers and participants in making these wildy popular events, pop!

I couple of years ago I was asked to host the annual Miss Spring Queen in Bonteheuwel in April(Our Autumn) 2010. The Bonteheuwel Community Hall was packed to the rafters. There were 19 contestants, excluding the 4 "cabaret" artists (Drag Queen who mime)there was a community dance troupe and two brilliant singers. The event began exactly on African time (2hours late) and finished just before 2am, and not before there was a thunderous Saloon style fight in the crowd. The contestants ranged from everything from "WTF made you think you could pull that off" "where the hell do they hide it" "OMG she could be on she could be a supermodel". Make no mistake the contestants were prepared as these things run the full gamut of a typical Beauty Pageant including Q & A. Major celebrities, business owners and former Legendary Queens attend and judge. So understand when I make the differenciation between Drag Queen and Drag Artiste, I am doing so with the deepest respect for Ladies are part of an industry, a community, a culture and a tradition that is one of the pillars of Kaapstad society.

I am a performing artist, a trained musical theatre actor who spends most of his time in men's clothing. I only go out in Drag when I am (most often) PAID to be ODIDIVA. ODIDiva is the creation of acclaimed "enfant terrible" of South African theatre, director Brett Bailey. Brett Bailey found out-of-work actor, Odidi Mfenyana, singing George Michael's FREEDOM at Bronx's infamous Monday Night Karaoke in 2001. After being mistaken for a dodgy pickup, he got my number and wrote me into his next play BIG DADA The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin. The script had a poem in the centre just before interval attributed to ODIDIVA "sung in the style of Shirley Bassey meets Grace Jones and Brenda Fassie"

BIG DADA opened in Amsterdam to a rousing standing ovation and went on to tour Grahamstown and Cape Town to critical acclaim. Odidi Mfenyana the actor never touched drag after the shows and the tour fearing being stereotyped. It actually made no difference as guest appearances in Penguin Film sitcoms Big Okes, Stokvel and a recurring role in two Seasons of Fishy Feshuns as a limp wristed moffie took care of that

. I even succeeded as an androgynous Afro-Glamourous singer, slam poet for self penned cabarets FAITH IN POISON and the the critically acclaimed RHYTHMS DOWN MY SPINE for several corporate events, Grahamstown Arts Festival and a popular run at the then super trendy STREGA restuarant (now HQ) at Heritage Square. In 2004 South Africa celebrated 10 years of democracy and Brett Bailey was invited to present a special performance piece in the Swiss capital of Berne in association with the Swiss and South African governments. Brett Bailey decided that a collaboration of his theatrical style with my Afro-Glam singer/slam poet shows put to house beats, with a live DJ, would be something Europeans expecting more UMOJA and AFRICAN FOOTPRINT, would lose their shit over. Thus HOUSE OF THE HOLY AFRO was born. The took Switzerland by storm. In 2005 both BIG DADA and HOUSE OF THE HOLY AFRO were commission for a 3 city tour to Brussels, Belgium, Vienna, Austria and Berlin, Germany. This would be Brett Bailey's theatre company Third World Bunfight's biggest tour to date. 2 shows, 2 casts with the character ODIDIVA in both. The success of HOUSE OF THE HOLY AFRO in the following 8 years to Australia (2006, 2008, 2009), Sweden (2007), Swizterland (2008), Austria (2009), Denmark (2010) and even to Harare, Zimbabwe in 2007.

Just before our shows in Harare as part of HIFA (Harare International Festival of the Arts, I had become increasingly aware of a dearth of camp in the Gay Village in Somerset Rd. Everyone was trying to be straight acting and wanted straight acting men. The camp Joie d vivre I had experienced as an insouciant teenage gay boy had disappeared with the the Drag Queens (Coco, Mitzy) behind the bar at Bronx, replaced by muscular "straight" men. Sheena, Mercedez, Cavalleri et al were no where to be seen. The gorgeous "Clora" glalmour girls were exclusive to Base model produced events. The Village had lost its Drag, its Camp heart. So I was toying with the idea when after finishing a politically risky and afro-glamourous performance as part of the Brett Bailey HIFA Opening Ceremony, I was accosted by several queens n moffies in the Green Room VIP tent. They demanded to know who, what and where. When I said Cape Town the one most Drag Queen gasped and insisted I return to Cape Town and perform at her friends new venue THE LOFT. So thanks to the encouragement, support and belief of Robert Mugabe's moffies, ODIDIVA began her solo career in June 2007 at the loft under the supervision of Evan Tsouralis, now Editor of OUT Africa magazine.

From there ODIDIVA became a sensation at another venue, FRIENDLY SOCIETY ( now Bubbles Bar).

In 2008 she moved to Russell Shapiro's ROSIES until BEEFCAKES opened her doors in September 2009.

With every venue Drag seemed to return to The Village. By the time my shows were selling out 4 weeks in advance at Beefcakes in the Summer of 2009/2010 the ole girls were back in full force at The Loft thanks again to Evan Tsouralis, some of the glamour girls of Base were now running solo all over the Mother City if not organizing pageants and events, winning them and inspiring a new generation.

At Beefcakes as a French singing Drag Artiste decided to settle in the Cape, an actor/comedian from P.E. took full note of ODIDIVA. By Summer 2010/2011 had re imagined herself as another live singing Drag Artiste. Now there are Drag Queens all over the Mother City! From professional dancers in Drag to Drag Groups in Straight Clubs, Drags in Fashion Shows, Corporate Events and hosting Radio shows.

It takes a match to ignite a fire but it takes many to keep the flame burning. Being on the First Cover Girl of OUT Africa magazine is not just huge honour, its a new chapter, a new opportunity for ALL Cape Town's DRAG DIVAS. A precedent shows that it can be done. A trailblazer makes the road easier for others to travel. A First means that there will be a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth.... "Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful"