The STAGES Podcast - World Pride Series - Drag Divas, Legends and Icons; Oh My! - VONNI BRIT WATKINS
It’s World Pride 2023 and the queer globe is converging on Sydney Australia to celebrate diversity, inclusion, community and fabulousness!
To mark this momentous event the STAGES podcast is saluting the cast of captivating drag divas and personalities who have been featured on the podcast during the past 5 seasons.
They are artists who have appeared on national and global stages; thrilling audiences, making a difference, healing community and expressing unique and wondrous talents.
We spotlight these episodes so you can savour a second listen - or so you can sample the delights of these entertainers for the very first time.
A Diva a day for each day of World Pride!
Vonni Brit Watkins’ first stage experience was in 1975 when she worked in a cabaret style burlesque club as a striptease artist in Adelaide.
In 1978 she joined the Melbourne touring show of Les Girls!, touring and performing throughout Australia and New Zealand, including outback Australia. She toured in a bus, working and performing in pubs and casinos, including Lasseters Casino in Alice Springs.
In 1983 she received an invitation from Carlotta to join the world-famous Sammy Lee's Les Girls in Kings Cross Sydney as their resident stripper.
In 1984 she appeared in a pop video clip for Stephen Cummings smash hit Another Kick In The Head. Which then, in 1995 lead her being asked to appear as ‘Lola the stripper’ in the Channel 9 TV mini-series Shout the story of Johnny O'Keefe.
In 1996 she left Sydney to live in Adelaide where she still lives. For 17 years she was the manager of Australia’s longest running strip club The Crazy Horse Revue.
Vonni also co-wrote 5 live shows that toured South Australia and in 2008 one of the shows The Girly Side of Butch went to Dublin and enjoyed a sell-out season at The Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival.
These days she works as a freelance performer hosting shows and running talent shows. She is also dabbling in the craft of the DJ.
In July, Vonni made her musical debut in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert at The Star Gold Coast, presented by Matt Ward Entertainment. She played the glamorous showgirl and matriarch, ‘Bernadette’. The show had her back working alongside her long-time friend and ex house mate, the legendary Carlotta; the inspiration for ‘Bernadette’.
Vonni’s enthusiasm and passion for performance is palpable. She is astute, big-hearted, and she employs the most wicked and delightful sense of humour. Hers is a life lived fully and a career that is fascinating and fabulous!
The STAGES podcast is available from Apple podcasts, Spotify and from where you find your favourite podcasts. Tune in daily for a history of drag in Sydney. Tell your friends, share the podcast, relish the stories and embrace your own sense of Pride.