COVID-19 reestablished the way Phoenix drag queens perform drag due to local bars and entertainment venues facing state-enforced shutdowns and restrictions.
Richard Stevens, also recognized as well-known Phoenix Drag Queen Barbra Seville, said COVID-19 changed and re-energized the way she and others performed drag by bringing out the true performer and entertainer within her that likely wouldn’t have been displayed in the traditional, pre-pandemic setting.
“We all had to find different ways to provide content,” Seville said. “Whether it was learning how to use Zoom, learning to stream or producing videos with effects and editing.”
Once bars and entertainment venues began to shut down due to the pandemic in March 2020, Seville made the decision to transition her performances to live streams on YouTube, a system that she believed worked best.
After her first few weeks of streaming alone using her phone, a friend reached out who had quality production equipment for help, Seville said. After that, they were able to bring in other performers to be a part of the show with them.
“It helped me understand my role as an artist, leader and community member in a way that maybe I didn’t fully appreciate,” Seville said.
To Seville, continuing her performances online meant providing normalcy and community regardless of the amount of money she was making.
“I was kind of uncomfortable even asking for money at first because it was so new and plus there was part of me that was doing it because I missed doing it … We had nothing else to do, none of us were working, and if you were working you were working from home,” Seville said.
After some time, Seville said, people became more inclined to ask where they could send performers money directly. There were a couple of months where it was normal to make a couple hundred dollars a night, but over time, the appreciation dwindled.
Despite the learning opportunities she was able to make from the transition to performing online, she’s happy to return to in-person performances.
“It makes me emotional to even think about it,” Seville said. “The first time we went back to in-person shows I could just hear people coming into the room and I could hear them happy to see each other, I could hear them happy to be there. It was really nice.”
Seville has now returned to perform at Bliss ReBAR, a restaurant known for its Drag Brunch, which takes place every third or fourth Sunday of the month.
Despite the COVID-19 restrictions being lifted for private businesses in an executive order by Gov. Doug Ducey, Bliss ReBAR does not operate the same way it did before the pandemic.
“We reduced hours of most staff, reduced hours of operation and brought capacity down to 28%,” General Manager of Bliss ReBAR Mark Mazzi said. “We have very strict social distancing and sanitation protocols. Some staff were temporarily laid off or quit.”
Mazzie said the Drag Brunch was briefly paused due to the pandemic, but now operates with capacity reduced by 50%.
“Traffic is different. We’ve been in business for 11 years, we fortunately have a great following and generous regulars,” Mazzie said. “After Covid, a lot of our familiar faces chose to stay home. Understandably so.”
The restaurant temporarily closed on March 17, 2020, but was able to open back up for business by May 15, with the enforcement of strict safety guidelines to protect employees, Mazzie said.
“Now that vaccines are becoming more readily available, we’re seeing a lot of familiar faces coming back,” Mazzie said. “We’ve got a new crowd coming in more because of how safe they felt while other bars were shut down or seeing what other bars were not enforcing. I’m proud to say that we did the absolute best we could with protecting our staff and customers and it shows from the feedback.”
Contact the reporter at saiden@asu.edu.
