Join The Ding Dong Girls revolution

THE DING DONG GIRLS INTRODUCTION
The Ding Dong Girls is a hilarious new drag musical with songs by Tony-winner Lisa Lambert and written by Christopher Richards and Gordon Bowness. Inspired by real-life, the musical tells the story of Marni MacDonald, a cross-dressing misfit who enlists his friends to form a madcap, politically motivated drag troupe in early 1990s Toronto. The producers raised more than $4,000 in first stage of this GoFundMe campaign — all of which went to help make the ambitious 2018 Fringe production such a success. We are now working to revise our full-length script with an eye to best pursue development opportunities. To that end, we are holding a workshop with the cast in January 2019. Please give. Every dollar raised during this stage of the campaign will go into the workshop and other development costs. Join The Ding Dong Girls revolution.

YOU LOVE US, YOU REALLY LOVE US
A recap of press clippings from our Toronto Fringe 2018 production.

TANGLED TRIANGLE. Marni MacDonald (Graham Conway) finds herself in the middle of best friend Mindy Melons (Oscar Moreno, left) and ex-boyfriend Missy (Nic Mencia). Photography by David Hawe.

LUNACY
What does every drag musical need? A presiding lunar deity, of course. Meet Rita-Dina Wedlock, the narrator of The Ding Dong Girls.

MAMA IS A SHY ONE
But her adoring fans know how to coax her out of her shell.

MARNI'S MATERIALISM
Let's go shopping with Marni MacDonald

DANCING UP FROM HELL
Devil Missy, the hottest showgirl in Hell, has a date with The Ding Dong Girls

THESE GIRLS CAN SING
Grab a sneak listen.

PUT A LID ON IT
Mindy Melons' wig.

REACH FOR THE SKY
Marni MacDonald's wig

RIDE THE PONY
Moni Luv's ponytail
MAMA GETS WHAT MAMA WANTS
Her wig is big.

MEET CAST MEMBER GRAHAM CONWAY
The Dora-winning actor playing Ding Dong ringleader Marni MacDonald talks about his career, artistic inspiration and our upcoming production.
Tell us about your regular TV gig.
Massive Monster Mayhem (on Nickelodeon/The Family Channel) is an international, intergalactic smack-down sensation between real live Earth-kids and menacing alien opponents! Sort of like American Ninja Warrior meets Uh Oh! meets The Hunger Games. And it features a devastatingly handsome co-host ;-)

What gets you most excited about The Ding Dong Girls?
Everything about The Ding Dong Girls so far feels like each one of my gay dreams is coming true: Playing with makeup! Prancing in heels! Singing in harmony! Oscar Moreno!!!!

What do you find most interesting about your character?
I am in awe of Marni’s imagination and creativity. She is a true artist whose unequivocal devotion to beauty is both inspiring and heartbreaking.

Name a favourite gender rebel.
I think all my favourite humans are gender rebels: RuPaul, Madonna, Peaches, Boy George, Annie Lennox, Jake Shears, James St James, Perfume Genius, SSION, Christine and the Queens, Leigh Bowery, Lady Bunny, Donnarama, Regina the Gentlelady, Divine, Bowie, Prince!

What is the most surprising discovery you’ve made about drag?
Alaska Thunderfuck described it best during a makeup tutorial video: “There’s a spooky magical moment that happens somewhere in the transformation where you look in the mirror and see her looking back at you... where all of a sudden somebody else is in the driver’s seat.”

Favourite hangouts near the Factory Theatre (125 Bathurst St) where The Ding Dong Girls perform Fri, Jul 6 to 14?
Tequila Bookworm (512 Queen St W) and the Wheat Sheaf Tavern (667 KingSt W) for the wings.

Favourite colour?
The jet-black ink of a five star review, darling!

Favourite stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race?
In no particular order: Bob, Alaska, Alyssa, Bianca, Adore, Trixie,Katya, Sasha, Violet, Jinkx, DeLa, Kim Chi, Eureka and Aquaria.

Your personal fave music diva?
I will be a Little Monster Lady Gaga disciple until my dying breath. My jaw has been on the floor and my heart has been in her meat purse from the moment I first watched the music video for Bad Romance in 2009. My first musical divas, however, will always be The Spice Girls. My love for them is perhaps what has most fuelled my excitement for The Ding Dong Girls and our own wannabe band of queens: Slutty, Fishy, Twitchy, Softy and Psycho.

Favourite musicals?
Cabaret, Chicago, Les Mis, anything Disney, anything Sondheim, Next to Normal, Kinky Boots, Spring Awakening, Wicked, The Rocky Horror Show and Shock Treatment.

Hidden talents?
Ask my boyfriend.
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MEET CAST MEMBER JOEL SCHAEFER
Spend a moment with Joel Schaefer, the Geneva-born Calgarian who plays ingénue Mama Dominatrix in The Ding Dong Girls.
Tell us something unusual about your gig as Eddie Prince in the 2016 Alberta Theatre Projects’ production of Slipper: A Distinctly Calgarian Cinderella Story.
Part of the show was a talent contest, and we would bring up one kid and one adult to help me judge. It was so much fun to just play with those people while they were in the hot seat with me. But there was one guy who we brought up who was wearing so much cologne that, even though he wasn’t sitting next to me onstage, and even after I had changed clothes three times, and it had been a full three hours since the show, when I came home my mother asked me if I was wearing cologne. I guess it was not consensual.

What gets you most excited by The Ding Dong Girls?
Telling this true-ish story about the amazing people who we actually get to work with and create with, and, hopefully, honour all the crazy crazy happenings of their younger lives.

What do you like about your character, Mama Dominatrix?
He is the quiet one who everyone brushes off at the beginning because he doesn’t look like a typical queen. But when Mama walks onstage, she’s the absolute star, and everyone loves her. I love how no one wants to give her a chance, but she takes the chance and just runs with it as fast as she can… in pumps.

Name a favourite gender rebel.
I think right now the person I’m super into is Alex Newell, who was on Glee a while ago, but is absolutely destroying Broadway right now as Asaka in Once on this Island. The fact he wasn’t nominated for a Tony is an actual tragedy.

What is the most surprising discovery you’ve made about drag?
I wasn’t really aware until I started diving into it the breadth of drag that there is. Especially since this is a period piece, the type of drag that we’re exploring is very different, but also so deeply connected to the type of drag that say my co-star Miss Fiercalicious does when she’s out slaying the scene on a regular basis. Just the differences are interesting, but also the deep, inextricable connections, especially how they relate to drag being, and always being, a form of liberation and rebellion.

Favourite hangout near the Factory Theatre (125 Bathurst St) where The Ding Dong Girls perform Fri, Jul 6 to 14?
Nando’s (741 Queen St W) because it instantly transports me back to bonnie Scotland, and sometimes you just need that hard dose of nostalgia.

Favourite colour?
Blue. Without a doubt, blue. Which works very nicely for what I’m wearing in the show.

Favourite star of Rupaul’s Drag Race?
Either Trixie Mattel or Katya.

Your personal fave music diva?
Easy. Shania Twain. Full stop. Amazing voice. Amazing songs. Amazing cross-over. Amazing looks. Also leopard print. I feel I need say no more. Shania Twain.

Favourite musicals?
That’s way too difficult a question. There’s a billion, and I would love to just list 10 and have that be it. But I think it always boils down to Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party. It’s just so good. SO GOOD.

Hidden talent?
I was a gymnast when I was young, so I can tumble and do handsprings, but no one has yet harnessed that, so we'll see if that ever comes up.
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MEET CAST MEMBER MAMA DOMINATRIX
Mama Dominatrix, who plays a dizzy lunar deity called Rita-Dina Wedlock in The Ding Dong Girls, is a legendary queen from the halcyon days of early 1990s drag in Toronto. She is the inspiration behind the fictional Mama in our musical (played by Joel Schaefer). Talk about meta!?! Below, Mama Sr discusses the evolution of drag, how the gender rebellion still burns and idol Ethel Merman.
How long did you work the bars as a professional drag queen?
I never thought we were “professional drag queens.” I always thought we were more like Fabergé eggs given to our adoring fans on special occasions: Pride Day, Easter, Halloween, politically significant dates, holidays…. We didn’t have regular sets or weekly, even monthly, shows. But when we did a show it was just us, no openers, no closers, just us. A typical show would last just 30 minutes, the place would be jam-packed, and we were very well paid and even given a production budget. But we worked the room for a good two or three hours pre-show. We mingled and weaved our way through and interacted. We once paid $6 per feather for these elaborate headdresses: five feathers per head times seven or eight queens, which equaled $250 in 1980s money. We never turned a profit really. Profit wasn’t the point; performance and statement was the point. We worked from the early 1980s to the mid-’90s

Tell us about one of your weirdest gigs.
I occasionally did benefit shows with other queens and special appearances. We opened for the band Spirit of the West for Ryerson’s Frosh Week on Centre Island. I had to get ready BEFORE getting on the ferry. So I rode up front like Fanny Brice in Funny Girl as tourists looked on in horror, shielding their children lest they catch THE GAYNESS. But the crew loved it.

What’s the biggest difference between drag now and drag in the 1990s?
In the ’90s we still had icons, movie stars and strong female characters that we could use as a base to develop our own characters or, imitate, emulate. But along the way, we lost so many of the great ones. When we did drag, being gay was still a taboo and we had few rights. We had an edge, a statement to make — just by dressing up in drag we were making a statement. Now, we have equal rights, thankfully. But with equality there often comes an degree of apathy. Drag took a hit in the late-’90s and early millennium but it’s bounced back and redefines itself every day. The ’80s and ’90s were the last decades where people dressed up to go to a bar — that was reflected in what they saw on stage. I think it might be harder for queens these days because part of a generation was wiped out and because all the stars and divas are going or are gone. But it still has that ability to instantly and viscerally engage an audience. But that only works for 30 seconds unless, of course, you have a gimmick or a character. Then you can interact, break barriers, find common ground, and have a laugh or make a point.

What gets you most excited by The Ding Dong Girls?
Showing the audience that it’s more than just wearing makeup and a dress. It is Art. And Art can be revolutionary, threatening, and is instantly thought provoking — INSTANTLY. The Mona Lisa was groundbreaking in its day. Now she hangs in the Louvre behind bullet proof glass in her own nitrogen-rich atmosphere and people don’t even know why she’ so great. She’s just that priceless DaVinci painting with the nice smile. A horrible fate. The Ding Dong Girls gets rid of the glass, the rarefied atmosphere, plus a good quarter century of faded memories and apathy. Our fight isn’t over, by any means. Our new premier may be a no-show at this year’s Pride Parade because he’s not cool with the whole gay thing. Revolution still calls. Will we still answer?

What do you find most interesting about you younger colleagues on the cast?
I don’t know yet. They’re on the rollercoaster, chain clanking, just starting to be pulled up to the top of that first peak. But it’s in them to do this now, just as it was in us to do it then. That much I know. After my first show as Mama, I wrote a hastily scribbled note to the rest of the troupe. I was on cloud nine. It was heartfelt and honest. I hope they get a taste of that.

Name a favourite gender rebel.
Klaus Nomi. I watched him performing on Saturday Night Live with David Bowie and I was transfixed.

What is the most surprising discovery you’ve made about drag?
How much more money women have to pay for just about everything. There’s no such thing as women’s rights — it’s all human rights. I never gave it much thought until I was talking to a Drag King one night and realized I got paid more for being a man dressed as a woman, than she did as a woman dressing up as a man.

Favourite hangout near the Factory Theatre (where The Ding Dong Girls perform Fri, Jul 6 to 14)?
Anywhere that makes me, a gay man in his late 40s, look desirable to a similar gentleman. Next question please... no follow-ups and don’t start doing the math.

Favourite colour?
Flesh tones. Eye colours.

Favourite RuPaul’s Drag Race star?
Whichever one makes me think twice or catches me off guard.

Who is your personal fave music diva?
Ethel Merman. She was a powerhouse of Broadway musicals. A legend and a perfectionist. My idol. Towards the end of her life she did three things that always stuck in my mind. In 1977 she did The Muppet Show and was terrific. Everyone loved it. She should have left them wanting more but... in 1978 she did A Sesame Street Christmas. Bad choice, bad dialogue. She famously, now infamously, read her lines and said, “Imogene (Coca) what’s the matter? You look like an idiot!” Then she planted herself on stage and told them the secret to getting over someone terrible: “Ya gotta do what Ethel does: outlast them!” Then she broke into “Tomorrow” from Annie. The whole thing was dreadful. At the time, I thought she looked like Burt Lahr as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. Tragic. In 1979 she released the Disco Ethel album. She sang her show-stoppers with a disco beat added afterwards. Camp. Sad. She died in early 1984. I still get asked to bring Mama back but I put her to rest years ago, never to take to the stage again. I did what I always wished Ethel had done. Always leave them wanting more.

Favourite musical?
All of Sweeney Todd but just the first act of Fiddler on the Roof.

Hidden talent?
Brevity... and my natural ability to suck the bolts off a submarine’s hull.
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MEET CAST MEMBER NIC MENCIA
Arden, Sondheim, RuPaul, Whitney... newbie Torontonian Nic Mencia, who plays Missy in The Ding Dong Girls, dishes about his career and influences.
Tell us about originating the role of Transvestite in the 2017 Randolph Academy world premiere production of Moll by Leslie Arden.
Moll was an incredible experience. When you are a part of a school production, you know, no matter what, you are going get a role. Big whoop. But Moll was a new show. We didn’t know much about it, except the songs they sent us and the book it is based on (Moll Flanders). So everything else was up to us to create. As an actor, I can’t think of anything better than getting to originate a role! To bring it to life! To find yourself in someone new! Moll gave me that. And working with music by Leslie Arden was incredible. Also it was my first time in a pair of heels on stage, and I found a side of myself I didn’t know about. I forgot about what anyone else would think, and just became my role. It’s a beautiful gift! And now I get to experience it again with this wonderful show!

What gets you most excited by The Ding Dong Girls?
Like I said before, working on an original show is a gift. Being able to bring to life something that has never existed on stage before, that’s a gift. And this time it’s based on real people. Plus the creative team is a dream for someone who is just starting like I am. And the cast, well, they are outstanding! How could I not be excited and blessed to be a part of this project?

What do you find most interesting about your character, Missy?
Her unapologetic way of being!

Name a favourite gender rebel.
RuPaul.

What is the most surprising discovery you’ve made about drag?
Honestly, the talent that goes into it. To me, it is it own art form. Queens are talented beyond belief. They aren’t just funny! Drag can also reach many people, in many ways.

Favourite hangout near the Factory Theatre (where The Ding Dong Girls perform Fri, Jul 6 to 14)?
I don’t have a clue. I am really bad at being a Torontian (is that a word?). I moved here in 2015, and I have not explored the city enough!! But I’m single, so please, take me out!

Favourite colour?
Purple.

Favourite RuPaul’s Drag Race star?
Bianca Del Rio .

Tell us about your personal most important music diva.
I can’t say much, or I’ll cry... also we would be here all day. But if there is one artist, singer, musician, who has shaped my career, the way I hear and perform music, and even the way I speak and express myself, that would be Whitney Houston. Let’s not talk about the obvious; her voice was perfect! It could reach into my soul, the way no one else has ever been able to yet. But even the way she carried herself. She was sure of herself. She didn’t need your approval. She had what she wanted. Sure she was flawed. And life can break us. And so can the wrong people. But as far as an artist goes, she was the best. Also watch any interview of her; she was a class act. And sassy, can’t forget that... oh, Whitney was sassy!

Favourite musical?
I have two, and I can’t choose between them. Both different. Both wonderful. Into the Woods. Stephen Sondheim is my favourite composer; he has magic in those fingers. And the theme of the show... I learn so much still from watching it. Next to Normal. Wow, what a show. I cry every time I listen to the music, or watch an illegal version of it on YouTube. It’s just incredible.

Hidden talent?
Whistling. 
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