In his early 20s, Henrique Beirao was at a gay bar in Wellington when a friend suddenly walked in wearing full drag with five other drag queens.
“Hello, darling. You know me as a boy but not as a girl!” his friend said to him.
That was the moment, Henrique says, when he caught “drag-itis” and eventually Rhubarb Rouge was born.
“Rhubarb Rouge has the glamour of Audrey Hepburn, the talent of Madonna, and the body shape and comedic talent of Urzila Carlson,” he says.
The 37-year-old is now the creator, producer and artistic director of the country’s largest drag show in a town no one would have expected (and a place he calls home) – Palmerston North.
Henrique was 13 when his family moved from Brazil to New Plymouth before settling in Palmerston North.
Palmy Drag Fest is a five-day event from October 2 to 6, with the main show at The Regent on Broadway bringing in more than 1300 fans from across Aotearoa and Australia.
This year’s show features RuPaul’s Drag Race UK vs The World’s Hannah Conda and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under champions Kita Mean and Spankie Jackzon.
Re: News journalist Vivien Beduya talks to Henrique about what it was like to build NZ’s biggest drag fest in Palmy.
Vivien: What inspired you to start Palmy Drag Fest in a regional and small town like Palmerston North?
Henrique: I was living in Melbourne for a while and I was doing drag there all the time. Then I moved here to Palmy and there was nothing.
There were one or two local queens and they didn’t have a lot of experience.
I thought we can bring all the queens from all over New Zealand and Australia so those queens can learn from them and we can grow.
We started with a small little show [in 2021] that sold out seven months [before the show] for 300 people.
Then we moved to the bigger theatre, which is The Regent, and we thought we’d be lucky if we’ll sell downstairs. Then we sold out downstairs five months before, then we sold out upstairs and the demand just kept growing.
It’s entertaining, not only [for] the queens but also the wider community can learn that drag is an art form.
It takes three hours to look like this and it’s nothing bad. It’s nothing sexual. It’s fun, it’s an art.
We put on a huge spectacle, it’s not just lip-syncing, it’s… everything you can imagine.
Vivien: What was it like moving to regional towns like New Plymouth and Palmy?
Henrique: It was quite a big cultural shock. Because in Brazil, I lived in a big city of 4 million people, bigger than Auckland. Then you move to somewhere like New Plymouth.
In Brazil, I used to go to a co-ed school which had no uniform and here, you have to wear that hideous grey uniform, the socks have to come up to the knee and you can’t wear pants because you’re not in 6th form. And I’m like… but I’m freezing.
It was quite a transformation because it was at that point I realised I was queer and I can’t be like that in the all-boys school. I have to “butch it up”.
But at the same time, I’m just being myself so there’s nothing wrong, but there’s always that feeling of hiding until I came out.
And I was like who cares, I’m not gonna hide myself and live on other people’s expectations, otherwise, I’m just going to be in pain, so I’m just gonna live love laugh.
Vivien: How was your coming out experience?
Henrique: When I was in Brazil, my sister came out [when she] was 19. She always had boyfriends, she was the pretty girl of the school and Miss Popular. Then suddenly she comes home and is like, “hey I got a girlfriend”.
So for my family, it was a huge shock. It was like, “Oh, we can’t let him think he can bring boys home. Let’s take him to soccer games and butch him up”.
I’m like cool, I’m just here to watch the men in short shorts, not really to watch the game.
But the funny thing is back then, I was 13, and I already knew it. But [because of] that shock with my sister… it was like, let’s hide it for a bit. Let’s not let it out just yet.
When I came out when I was 17, [in] the gayest way possible because my mum read my diary. She was like, “I’m worried. I want to have a chat”.
I turned around and was like, “Mother, I’m gay. I’m a faggot. I love cock, okay. Leave me alone.”
She [says], ”I know. I just want to know you’re okay. I love you no matter what.” It was like… Oh, okay.
She was like “It’s fine. I just wanted you to be good and safe.” She’s been my biggest supporter since I started doing drag.
Vivien: Have you ever found it difficult, or have you ever faced hostility, being outwardly queer in a regional city?
Henrique: Yes. Especially in high school, it was really hard going to an all-boys school and people having that small mind.
We still face it today with Drag Fest. Palmy has gone a long way and we have a lot of support, but there are still a lot of keyboard warriors or people who don’t get it.
One of the biggest reasons I do drag, and it’s a big part of our marketing, is educating.
There are so many people who don’t know what drag is, they don’t know I’ve been rehearsing for this number since May, and we take three hours to look like this.
It’s not something sexual. Some people might, but at least not for me and most of the performers.
It’s not very comfortable having something sexual with this much makeup on your face, a corset and everything else.
It’s educating them that it’s an art form, it’s okay and we should not hide it from children or from anyone else.
Just being open or being like okay, “It’s not your thing, Cool. I’ll move on.” You don’t have to be like, “I hate you and I just want to share that.” It just makes you look like a dick.
One of the events we’re doing this year is Drag Storytime Adults Edition and we put adult really big because we knew we were going to get people going “don’t do it for children”.
There was one guy who messaged me “How dare you do this for children. Why do you advertise this nonsense and perversity?”
He started getting personal saying I know where you work and [he] mentioned where and I was like that’s getting too much.
And then I said “if you don’t stop now, I’m going to call the police.”
But the good thing was the following day he [says], “I want to apologise. I was quite full on and I spoke to a friend who’s been to one of your shows and they tell me it’s just entertainment and silly fun.”
“I just overreacted because I’ve been to protests before and I just get too wound up with what’s in the media. I just want to protect my children”
I was like “Thank you. You woke up, but just remember sometimes protecting your children is opening them up to let them be who they are”.
Vivien: Why is it important to have pride in a region like this?
Henrique: We need to educate people that we are here, we queer, we here, get used to it.
We’re not going away, and the queer LGBTIQ+ community in those regions needs support and needs to feel validated so we don’t get any more depression, suicide or hate.
We need to make ourselves seen, we are just like any other people. We’re not freaks. We’re not a weird science experiment. We’re just human beings like everyone
By Vivien Beduya
