You might know Danny Beard from Drag Race UK season 4, where they won the whole thing. If you’re au fait with the drag scene in Cardiff, where Danny’s tour takes them this month, you might have even caught a pre-Drag Race performance or two. Rowan Davies had a most congenial chat with this on-the-go performer.
No one has to tell Drag Race UK winner Danny Beard they were born to be in front of an audience: the work ethic proves itself. Even at 9am they’re sat in traffic, preparing for a day of meetings and rehearsals galore for their tour, and fielding my phone call – answered with a warm “hello gorge!” Continues Danny, “I’m like a nana when it comes to phones and stuff!”
“Life is crazy fun, I’ve not stopped,” says Danny of their schedule. “I’ve had maybe a week off, not altogether, since Drag Race kicked off [in September 2022]. I’m just having the most amazing time and I get to work with the most amazing people.”
During the outroll and roaring success of Drag Race UK’s fourth series, life has done a complete 180 for its champion. The competition was the mirror, and either side exists in two different realms. “Pre-Drag Race I was able to work three to four nights a week and do what I want for the rest of it. Nowadays I’m doing brand deals, the next day I’m filming something, the next day I’m performing with my band at a festival. It’s crazy, but it’s also been 10 years in the making – I feel very lucky.”
Danny Beard is one deserving of both Drag Superstar and Miss Congeniality, determined to carry the torch beyond their victory. “Drag Race is a dream-making machine and my dreams feel like they’re really coming true. But the top of one mountain is the bottom of another. The hard work has only just begun…”
On that subject, a busy week lies ahead for Danny. Preparing for their first solo tour, stops in Bristol and Leeds precede their show in Cardiff’s Sherman Theatre on Fri 9 June. The ingredients of the show’s production create a balanced recipe of live music, spoken word, and audience interaction, and I am teased with the classic “expect the unexpected”.
“I poke fun at myself, the audience, a few celebs, and the band are incredible. We put some spins on some old songs and some new songs, and every version you hear isn’t like another.” Beneath the wig and glittery beard, though, lies a self-awareness that presents itself before any live performance. “I get nervous all the time,” Danny admits. “It can kick in 10 minutes before a show, or two minutes. I have this thing where I pace, and when I walk onto the stage everything just melts away.”
The success of Drag Race UK and its American predecessor has paved the way for an underground artform to be brought to the mainstream. In spite of its evolving popularity, drag as a transgressive act of joy faces threats of eradication, which understandably concerns Danny.
“I do worry because sometimes when America does something, the UK follows. Queer and LGBTQ+ people especially have always been a scapegoat – many minorities are as we all know – and it feels like it’s another wave of this current, vile transphobia that’s sweeping the world. Our trans siblings have always been there and always will. It’s a weird overhang of that, where it feels very much like the 80s and 90s repeating itself.”
Through their upcoming one-person show, Danny’s aim is simple; to abolish the damaging rhetoric that has been bestowed against the craft of queer people. “Don’t get me wrong, is all drag right for children? Absolutely not – I don’t think my show is right for children! But there is drag that’s suitable for children. Look at panto, look at drag queen story hour. This is drag that is accessible and suitable. It’s really that simple.”
A stop in Cardiff on the Drag Race UK tour in April has planted a seed of admiration for the city. “I. Fucking. Love. Cardiff!” exclaims Danny – who was in fact one of the first queens to christen the stage at Mary’s back when it opened in 2015. “I’ve gigged there for many years. Cardiffians love a singer – and I’ve always belted out showtunes, so I managed to win them over… Cardiff reminds me of being back home and being up north in Liverpool. No one takes themselves too seriously and they like to get on it and have a good night out.”
And a night out is never complete without a trip to a local takeaway, reflecting on previous visits to Cardiff Danny has since become one with Caroline Street. “That’s the reason I wanted to book a theatre in Cardiff, just so that I can go Chippy Alley afterwards. I pingpong between the different takeaways, but I do like gravy and curry on my chips… which is a bit weird. I’m a fat gal at heart,” they cackle.
As to whether this drag tour de force has other projects in store, alongside their podcast The Gossip Gays – running since 2019 – a TV show remains in the works for Danny. “I have my own show coming out – it’s like everything I’ve done before, but on steroids! Obviously, I love my live work, cabaret, and theatre, but I would love to get into more TV presenting.”
With their theatrical roots in mind, what would Danny’s dream onstage role be? “I would love to be Matron Mama Morton on the West End! Jinkx Monsoon did it on Broadway and I think I would absolutely smash it. It would show another side to me that people may not know or expect. Edna Turnblad in Hairspray would be up there for me – or even Madame Morrible from Wicked. That would be great cast as a drag queen.”
Ending our chat with a shoutout to their talented season four sisters, the power of drag is stronger than ever, and Danny Beard remains an exceptional example of talent and humility.
Danny Beard, Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Fri 9 June.
Tickets: £20-£35. Info: here.
words ROWAN DAVIES
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