Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 300 – January 24, 2017

BY EILEEN SHAPIRO
CELEBRITY CORRESPONDENT
Photo by Matt Murphy
Alexis Michelle
New York City just can’t seem to
get enough of drag sensation, actor,
cabaret entertainer and host of
Therapy’s new show “Head Game”:
Alexis Michelle.
Going on her 14th year in drag, Alexis
graduated from The University of
Michigan’s musical theatre program
and has been entertaining in one
form or another since. She is funny,
philosophical and extremely well
spoken.
Beyond her new show, which will
debut on Thursday, January 26 at 11
p.m., Alexis also will be debuting at 54
Below on January 31.
Congrats on your new show at
Therapy Bar. What can we expect?
It’s going to be a really fun thing. We’re
launching the 26th of January. I guess in
a nutshell, it’s a sexy, new, Hell’s Kitchen
game show, with everything from dildo
races to suck n blow, cash prizes.
I wanna be in a dildo race.
Right! There will be lots of prizes, all
hosted by yours truly.
What’s the name of it?
Head Game.
Who came up with the idea?
It actually was something that they’ve
been dreaming up over at Therapy.
They approached me about hosting it,
and I don’t know if they knew it or not,
but they came to the right place for a
perverted game show. That’s very much
on brand for me.
What made you first decide to do
drag?
I come from a theatrical background,
and the baby stages of it were watching
all the musicals, and just wanting to be
those women, like Judy Garland,

Julie Andrews, Audrey Hepburn. I just
idolize them.
Are you a Broadway queen?
I’m such a show queen! I’m an old
show queen.
What’s the one moment that you
had that changed the trajectory of
your life?
There were two really. I always say that
Halloween is the gateway drug to drag.
That’s where everybody starts. That’s
the night of the year that men feel
that they have permission to express
themselves that way. I think that
probably nine out of 10 queens started
on Halloween. So that’s how it started
many years ago. This year it will be 14
years since my first paid gigs, which
were at Stonewall and The Monster.
The thing that I think really kicked
things in the high gear was more
recently. It was about three years ago.
I went through some big life changes,
and all of a sudden I had some spare
time on my hands and dove headfirst
into doing full-time drag.
I never met a queen that I didn’t like.
Oh, I have.
What kind of impression do you
think you have left thus far on the
world?
My goal was always to entertain. That’s
the #1 thing. I want people to have
fun. I want not just to distract them
from their real lives, but even embrace
it, take the bad with the good, and
make the most of it. I remember one
of my favorite quotes was when Hedda
Lettuce said, “If life hands you lemons,
make lemonade, and if you add a little
vodka to it, you’re all set.” Sometimes
it’s about just putting a different
outlook. I find myself having to do
that a lot. I had my first show after the
election, the very next night. I wasn’t
in the mood to do a show myself, but
I said, “I gotta do this. The people
need it.” It saved me that night, and
it saved everybody there. It was just
what the doctor ordered. Like I said,
I’m an entertainer. That’s the mark I
want to leave on people. I also want to
leave them, especially with the climate
today, leave them maybe a little more
thoughtful. I call myself a clown,
entertainer and activist, and it doesn’t
hurt that I look stunningly gorgeous.
(cont.)

Yes you do! You are also a very cute
boy. Who are your favorite queens
out there?
On the local level, Dusty Ray Bottoms
is my best friend and someone I am
so inspired by as a queen. Brita Filter
is really fantastic. Pixie Aventura is just
one of the best, the way she dances.
The way Brenda Dharling dances,
so inspirational. Nobody dances like
Brenda and Pixie. Nobody dresses like
Monet X Change. She’s just got the
greatest style. Brita and Dusty are my
sisters. There’s nothing like New York
drag. There’s just so much to offer and
so much variety. On the more national
level, I’ve always looked up to queens
like Chad Michaels, Alaska and of
course Bianca Del Rio.
Bianca is amazing.
And kind. For her level of success and
the amount of annoyance she must
get, she could be a real C U Next
Tuesday, but she’s really nice.
So what dreams have you been
sitting on?
I’ve had some great luck and some great
success here in New York locally, but
I aspire to reach a wider audience.
Getting to travel more is a dream of
mine, both in the U.S. and internationally.
I’d like to see that happen. What’s
interesting, my aspirations really started
working in the theatre, and it’s really
been drag that brought me back around.
This past year I’ve had three different
plays that incorporated my drag. So it
really brought me back to acting. With
all of my dreams, and there are many,
if drag somehow brought me back to
the theatre, on to a Broadway stage,
that would be the big moment, that
everything came full circle, everything
happened for a reason. This is how I was
suppose to do it.
I’m actually doing my 54 Below debut on
January 31, my solo cabaret debut. The
name of the show is “It Takes a Woman.”
The theme is really all about that. It took
dressing like a lady to take me to these
new places. I’m very excited. I’ve seen
a lot of shows there. I’ve done hair and
makeup for a lot of ladies there, and to
get gussied up and do my show there is
something I’ve been dreaming about for
a long time.
Alexis Michelle
Photo by Davide Laffe
How do you handle your mistakes
while performing?
Coming from the theatre, it’s a strength
of mine, because that is live theatre. Live
theatre is not perfect. It’s ever changing,
there are constantly mistakes, some so
small that the audience doesn’t notice,
and sometimes they are bigger. They
are more noticeable. Especially when
they are more noticeable, that’s the time
when you embrace them and not try to
apologize for them or even try to hide
them. Let them all hang out. Another
thing I’ve heard of in the past is that a lot
of people are afraid of drag queens. I like
to be as approachable as I can. I think
that when somebody sees that you make
a mistake, it only makes you more human
and more approachable.
Anything else that you’d like to say?
I’m just so thrilled joining the Therapy
family, a legendary spot in gay nightlife
here in New York City!

PUBLISHER
MIKE TODD
MIKE@GETOUTMAG.COM
(646) 761-3325
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AGOTA CORREA
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NATIONAL
ADVERTISNG
REPRESENTATIVE
RIVENDELL MEDIA
(908) 232-2021
CONTRIBUTORS
CELEBRITY CORRESPONDENT
EILEEN SHAPIRO
IAN-MICHAEL BERGERON
ISSUE 300 - JANUARY 25, 2017
Photo Credit: Rick Stockwell
Model: Mike Basilico
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BY EILEEN SHAPIRO
CELEBRITY CORRESPONDENT
Michael Musto
“I Got Ur Back”
I was stalking Facebook the
other night and couldn’t
help but notice a pair of
familiar eyeglasses and
a flamboyant bow tie,
accompanying a rather funny
post: “Oh, My Gay God!!!
I’m now officially a recording
artist, on Trax Records!!!”
Written and produced by Tyler Stone on Trax
Records, it’s a song that is hard to dismiss from
one’s consciousness. Once again, I defied
temptation and emailed Musto for an interview at
2 a.m., because the song said I could.
I felt immediately compelled
to listen to world-famous
journalist Michael Musto’s
brand-new single, “I Got
Ur Back.” To my sonically
particular, surprised palette,
I was completely obsessed
and in love with it, and
couldn’t resist playing it
again and again.
The highly charged, upbeat,
reggae-flavored, popinfused,
soulful, worldly tune
is quite identifiable to New
York’s nightlife Messiah, and
to those who know him,
as it makes reference to
deadlines, bicycles and late
hours. It’s also possibly the
first song ever to sing praise
to Ubers.
Photo by Erzen Krivca
Michael, so beyond
journalism you are
now a movie star
as well as a pop
recording artist?
I had a band in the
‘80s called The Must,
and we did Motown
cover songs, and I
used to sing in revues
called Downtown
Dukes and Divas at
the Limelight that
Gabriel Rotello put on.
It is in my background.
Even before that, at
Columbia College, I
joined the glee club,
because there was a
free trip to Mexico.
Somehow I got in.
I just love the song!
Isn’t it cute?
Photo by Kenny Kenny
Yes!
It’s got a little bit of a
reggae feeling to it.
Now you’re a rock
star, a movie star, a
writer…
Everything. I mean,
it’s all intertwined,
because it was on the
“Vampire” movie that
Screamin Rachael and
I were singing “I Love
the Nightlife.” It didn’t
make it into the move,
but Rachael said, “Oh,
you have a good voice.
I should do you as a
recording artist on
Trax Records.” So she
hooked me up with
Tyler Stone, and he
wrote and produced
the song based on an
idea that I had.

I heard that you were
the surprise star of that
movie.
I was a main star. It was
pretty much my movie.
That’s what I heard from
Eric, the writer/director.
I walked away with it.
But, everybody was
good. They were all very
good. I channeled Frank
N. Furter from “Rocky
Horror.” That was my
inspiration.
So what do you hope
will happen with your
new smash single?
I want that Grammy
Award. Or at least an
MTV VMA. I’ll take
anything.
How did the actual song
come to be created?
Tyler Stone asked what I
would like to do a song
about. One of my ideas
was something like,
“I’ve got your back,”
about being there for
somebody, sort of like
Rihanna’s “Umbrella”
song. He then took that
idea, and he totally wrote
it. He put a reggae flavor
to it. It’s kind of reggae,
pop, R&B, it’s everything
mixed together. There
was one line where he
wrote something about
a taxi, a bike and a train,
and I added Uber into
the ad-lib. This has to be
the first pop song that
has Uber in it. It’s really
time that somebody took
note of it. It’s a bizarre
phenomenon. It’s very
me, because in the song
they talk about deadlines,
my bicycle...it’s very
personalized. At first I
was thinking about doing
something where I dished
on New York nightlife,
but that would be too
cute and inside. It would
only appeal to some
people, whereas I wanted
to make something
broader in scope where it
was just like a pop song
that everybody could like.
This recording had to
take some time and
effort going into the
studio and all.
I did a single in the ‘80s
with Cindy Bullens, who
transitioned, and he’s
now Cidny, a Grammynominated
artist. Back
then she was Cindy, and
she wrote a song called
“Jimmy Give Me Your
Love.” In the ‘80s she
produced me and my
band singing that song,
and we did a video for
it. It wasn’t released as
a single; it was released
as a video. This is really
my first single. We were
asked to sing “I Love the
Nightlife” by the director
of the “Vampire” movie.
So we were together
on the beach at Coney
Island singing, and it
sounded really good.
When Rachael said I
should do a recording
on Trax Records, I told
her to hook me up with
Tyler Stone. I actually got
Tyler Stone his contract
for his band on Trax
Records when Rachael
was looking for artists.
I ended up in Tyler’s
Brooklyn apartment,
which became the
recording studio. I felt
very comfortable with
him, and I learned the
song right there on the
spot. I just sang bits
of it, background and
everything. Tyler loved it.
He kept playing it.
I put it on my playlist.
It’s so infectious.
It is, but I wish it were
longer. You kind of have
to keep playing it over
and over.
It should be longer.
I’m sure we’ll have an
extended play. Richard
Johnson from
“The Post” loved it.
Visit getoutmag.com to
read the full interview.
Photo by Brian Christopher Cummings

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