Interview: Jane Don't of DON'T DOES AMERICA at Dynasty Typewriter
The diva speaks about the influences and inspiration for her solo tour
Jane Don’t views her crowd-pleasing turn on RuPaul’s Drag Race as a springboard that has allowed her to make the kind of drag she has always wanted to make. “When you’re trying to support yourself as a drag queen doing six shows every weekend, there’s not a lot of room for play or experimentation,” she explains. Since her lauded television appearance, Jane says her life has been crazy. “It’s been incredible. I’ve been working a lot, traveling a lot, and what’s been nice is— even though I’m really busy— I have a platform and access to more resources now. So there’s a level of experimentation for me and I’ve been expanding a lot as an artist. I’m getting to workshop these parts of my artistry that I didn’t have the bandwidth to examine before.”
Part of Jane’s experimentation has led to the creation of her solo show, Don’t Does America which will grace Los Angeles in September. “The show is really exciting. It lets me flex a lot of muscles. To my mind, this is the kind of drag that has always been attractive to me. Storytelling. Theatrical. I went to theatre school so I’m using my training a little bit here.” Citing the influence of queens like Coco Peru, Jackie Beat, and BenDeLaCreme, Jane was most excited to flesh out the world of Jane Don’t. “I didn’t want to just design a t-shirt to sell as merchandise. I wanted to ask, ‘what t-shirt lives in the world of Jane Don’t?’ and go from there.” She is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring audiences into the self-contained world she has dreamed up. “Jane comes from Nowheresville, America. She moves to the big city and she wants to be the ingenue so bad but really she’s more like Judy Greer or Sandra Bernhard.” Pulling from old school funny ladies like Joan Rivers and Carol Burnett, Jane describes her character, not as an alien, but as someone who is “always a quarter-turn off”.
“The cool thing about LA is it’s a working town. An industry town. Some people don’t like that, but I really do,” Jane shares. “There’s a level of ‘whatever’ casualness there because everyone works in entertainment. Everyone is so talented.” While she’s here, Jane plans to explore the East Side, citing nightlife and comedy spots she has enjoyed in the past. Ultimately, she can’t wait for fans of her work on television to see more of what she is capable of. “The thing I love about drag is it’s this multidisciplinary container for whatever you wanna do. You can pour whatever you want into it.” We can’t wait to see what Jane pours out for this solo tour!
|
E=MC² Einstein The Musical Kiki & David Gindler Performing Arts Center (7/03-7/26) |
|
Gershwin and the Golden Age Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts (The Soraya) (10/11-10/11) |
|
Roald Dahls: Matilda The Musical The Lewis Family Playhosue (7/18-7/26) |
|
Shrek the Musical Morgan-Wixson Theatre (6/28-7/26) |
|
DAVIS GAINES: LIVE AT CVREP Coachella Valley Repertory (7/30-7/30) |
|
Clue Ahmanson Theatre (9/08-9/12) |
|
Olafur Arnalds The Wiltern (11/13-11/12) |
|
July Cinballera Salon - Scenes from the Great Operas Villa Montezuma (7/13-7/13) |
|
Destiny of Desire Mark Taper Forum (11/11-12/20) |
|
The House on Mango Street LA Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts (12/02-12/02) |