RuPaul
Sept. 14
Menjo's Nightclub
928 W. McNichols Road, Detroit
313-863-3934
http://www.menjosdetroit.com
RuPaul knows that to reclaim fame, some desperate measures need to be taken. Like starring in a steamy sex tape. Or joining the reality show circus.
Sure, there have been offers up the wazoo. Nothing particularly dazzling to the do-it-all drag queen, who skyrocketed with "Supermodel (You Better Work)," then went on to tackle just about every medium aside from creating the next Mona Lisa. Now, though, media coverage is as miniscule as one of Ru's skirts.
She's not disgruntled about her waning star status. Not at all. The sincere, mostly-monotone performer knows that once an audience eats a celeb up, it can just as easily spit her out. Just ask Mariah Carey.
"I love a big, messy, clumsy idiot," RuPaul hoots from her hometown of New York City. "Love that! Love that about her!" As she gushes about the diva's wicked range – asking if we've heard the exclusive outtake from her "The Emancipation of Mimi" breakthrough album and a leaked pre-'90s demo – the most logical question to ask Ru is whether her shoe closet can compete with Carey's.
"No-no-no! I have a lot of clothes, but I don't really do drag unless I'm getting paid. I guess she doesn't either." She pauses and then backpedals: "No, no – she lives in drag."
With fresh, flashy costumes and new jams from her film "Starrbooty," Ru will revive her on-stage drag days (for cash, of course) in a stint at Menjo's Nightclub in Detroit on Sept. 14. Until recently, she vanished from the live drag circuit, dedicating ample time to working on the campy comedy's soundtrack and post-production.
It's also been a while since the performer sunk her pumps into Michigan soil. She recalls her last time: A personal invite from Aretha Franklin to perform at her birthday bash in Southfield.
"I still didn't get enough time to sort of eavesdrop and spy on the city. I'd love to spend some time there to just figure out where that magic is," she says. "I'm always intrigued by Detroit because it has such an incredible history and over the past 30 years, maybe, it's been in a sort of decline. It's seen better years."
She mentions the car craze, Motown and, of course, Detroit's reputation for being scarier than Anthony Hopkins in "Silence of the Lambs." "You're not packing a pistol?" Ru quips.
Nope. We can't all be Starrbooty.
Though the drag diva remained dormant for several years in the beginning of the decade – focusing on her personal growth, she says – Ru's been immersed in developing her latest flick. She plays Starrbooty, a tough agent who goes undercover as a hooker. A no-shit-taking sex worker, really.
"I love movies where bitches kick ass and are taking charge," Ru says. "But also, we're taking the piss out of – and making fun of – self-righteousness, which is rampant in these times we live in."
The headstrong hustler stars alongside plenty of penis and knockers, courtesy of porn stars like Michael Lucas and Owen Hawk (who turned-on Ru, an avid porn watcher, after Ru viewed him fingering himself while screwing a guy in a Chi Chi LaRue film).
"They're like heroes in this world we live, I think, because we're such a sexually-repressed culture that here are these people who are letting it all hang out and really pushing the envelope, (and) they should be put on a pedestal."
It gets pushed only so far in the un-politically correct "Starrbooty" – meaning Ru's raunchy romp, though it shows a removed clitoris, is visibly penetration-free. Still, our interest is piqued.
That's why when we express our giddiness to check out the flick, she teases, "Uh-huh, I know it. Any mention of vagina, you're there."
Ru's currently editing the extras for the DVD, due out in October. Next up: A gigglicious, more-humanistic chronicle of RuPaul's life. No – it won't be a rehash of the 1996 "Lettin' It All Hang Out: An Autobiography," which she says capitalized on Ru in drag.
"The last book had a lot of humanity in it, but there were a lot of giggles in it, too. Actually, as I'm saying this, I'm saying (to myself), 'Why wouldn't you want to put more giggles in the next book?' And it would have that."
Living in the frenzied Big Apple allows Ru to focus on work, leaving little time for a social life, for grooving to country gals (like faves Tanya Tucker and Pam Tillis), splurging on used CDs and indulging in a cherished pastime of hers: bicycling.
It keeps her fit. And when her long legs seem almost as vital to a drag performer as a porn star's private parts are to their career, Ru's not much of a slacker. It shows.
Since she paraded onto the scene, she's managed to age better than Cher – and, remarkably, without turning herself into a Barbie doll. Call it good genes. Or a talented make-up artist.
How long, though, can Ru go on looking like she's taking some magical anti-aging potion? Until she's 50? 60? 70? She howls with a conniving laugh and quips, "Well, how do you know I'm not 60 or 70 right now?"
Uh, Wikipedia.
But even if she's sporting a sequined walking cane, Ru will age with the care of plastic surgery – much like Joan Rivers, she says – and she'll look the same as she did five years ago. Hell, 15 years ago. First for Ru: A facelift.
"I'm obsessed with plastic surgery," she says. "I haven't had any, but I think about it all the time. Constantly."
Who the hell is Starrbooty?
Yep, that's RuPaul playing an undercover sex worker in the film of the same name. But where do her ass-kickin' ways come from? And could she put the smack down on Edna Turnblad's butt?
Who's her role model? "It would probably be – with her self-righteous ass – it would probably be Martin Luther or John F. Kennedy. Or probably Jane Fonda."
Who's her favorite diva? Millie Jackson
Which spy does she idolize? James Bond
What does she have in common with RuPaul? "We both love to put our all into everything we do, to really get into it in an obsessive type of way."
Starrbooty is a rough woman. So, what is she like in bed? "Starrbooty is a take-charge type of gal who is open to anything. In fact, in the movie, she goes undercover as a prostitute and goes a little too far undercover – under deep cover."
Could Starrbooty take Edna Turnblad in "Hairspray"? "Oh, so totally. So totally! Honestly, Starrbooty can take anybody. Even James Bond."
