Glamorous Female Impersonator – Miss Sugar – The Singing Sensation with a Touch of Vegas
Glamorous Female Impersonator – Miss Sugar – The Singing Sensation with a Touch of Vegas
MISS SUGAR – BEHIND THE MAKE UP
I was inspired to persue a career as a female impersonator after winning a competition on Boxing Day 10 years ago in a local club.
At the event i was approached by someone that worked in the industry and told me i should seriously consider taking this up as a profession.
Miss Sugar was born soon after and has evolved as a top class act entertaining audiences at corparate and charity events, from weddings,family functions,pubs and clubs through out the united kingdom and internationally in the gran canaria.
Unlike many drag artists Miss Sugar sings LIVE belting out classic hits from abba,
cher and dusty springfield and many more
to the present day that will WoW and Amaze you.
Lancashire Evening Telegraph (14th July 2007)
Darwen’s answer to Danny La Rue. Is the town ready for a man in a dress?
We spoke to Ian Brindle, aka Miss Sugar.
But when night falls, off come his trendy jeans and T-shirt, and on go the sequins, feathers and make-up.
For Ian also works as a female impersonator, performing live classics from divas of every era as the fabulous Miss Sugar.
“I first started dressing in drag after winning a fancy dress drag competition held in a pub on Boxing Day about seven years ago,” said Ian, of Radfield Avenue, Darwen.
“It was the first time I’d dressed up properly and I only did it for a laugh, but someone who worked in the drag industry was there and afterwards he came up to me and said You look really good. Why don’t you do it professionally?’ So I decided to give it a go. I started off DJing and then eventually I got into performing.”
Ian takes his live show, in which he belts out classic songs by Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Abba, Tina Turner and Cher, around pubs, working men’s clubs and theatres.
He makes three costume changes per show, each outfit more elaborate than the last.
“It takes me about an hour-and-a-half to get ready,” said Ian. “Over time I’ve got quicker and got better at applying make-up. It’s just like doing a painting really.
“My costumes have improved from when I started out. I’ve always taken it seriously, though. I never looked like I’d borrowed a dress off my sister. But after seven years in the business my spare room is full of dresses, wigs, shoes and head dresses.”
Ian buys many of his outfits from Thailand, where the industry is booming.
“We went to Thailand on holiday 18 months ago and I was like a kid in a sweet shop. All the dresses are individually made and every sequin is sewn on by hand. The outfits cost a fraction of the price they would in the UK, too. We had to buy three more suitcases to fit all the dresses in.”
Expertly-applied make-up is another big part of his transformation and Ian is such a regular customer at Boots in Darwen that the make-up girls know him by name.
“I’ll nip in for some false eyelashes and lipstick and they’ll shout across the shop You’ve not been in for a while, our mascara stocks are piling up,'” he laughed.
“Nobody bats an eyelid now when they see me buying my make-up in Darwen. They all know me.”
Although he claims never to have received a bad reaction, Ian admits some people, particularly men of a certain age, sometimes don’t understand his act.
“Drag is still a bit taboo in Lancashire,” he said.
“I get most of my gigs in Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester.
“Women seem to understand the act a bit more. They’ll come up to me and ask Where did you get your shoes from?’ and ask if they can try my wig on.
“Fellas sometimes thing there’s something sinister going on, that I get kicks out of dressing up. It’s not like that. It’s just about the glamour and the theatrical aspect of it.
“Sometimes people ask how I manage dressing like this every day. They actually think I go round Asda dressed like this. I tell them that my job is no different to being a policeman in that respect – I’m just putting a uniform on.”
Those who may be put off going to Ian’s show for fear of being picked on can rest assured – he’s not your usual raucous drag act.
“I’m a female impersonator, not a drag act, and there is a difference,” said Ian.
“I’m not like Lily Savage. I’m more like Danny La Rue.
“There’s nothing offensive in my act. People say to me, ‘I saw someone doing what you do in Ibiza on holiday’ and I think ‘I bet you didn’t’.
“I don’t go round picking on the audience or relying on blue humour.
“It’s more like the old variety style of act. It’s a bit of cheeky banter and clean humour suitable for all the family.
“And there’s no lip synching, it’s all completely live.”
Outside his unusual job, Ian is just a regular guy but when he dons his glitter and wig the personality of Miss Sugar takes over.
“I’m definitely more confident as Miss Sugar,” he said.
“At home I’m just a normal, quite quiet lad who doesn’t do anything to draw attention to himself.
“But as Miss Sugar I can stand in front of thousands of people and it doesn’t faze me at all. As myself I wouldn’t be able to do that.
“I think the costume and make-up has a mask-like effect.
“It’s like I’m being somebody else for that night and it gives me a big thrill that all these people have come out to watch me sing.
“When I come back home I shower and get changed back into my normal clothes and I’m me again.”
http://www.misssugar.co.uk/index.html
