RPDR Alum Shangela, Bob The Drag Queen, And Eureka O'Hara Change Lives On HBO's We're Here
The drag make-over series is more than just about putting on a show.
April 23, 2020 1:11pm
Can I get an amen for the latest HBO series starring RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Shangela, Bob The Drag Queen, and Eureka O’Hara? These Queens will change the lives of small town inhabitants with their new show, “We’re Here.”
How did the show get its title?
We’re Here’s title is derived from the LGBTQ activist organization Queer Nation’s famous chant from the 1990s HIV/AIDS protests: “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.” Ru’s chosen girls travel to a different part of small-town America for each episode. They partner with one of the locals, get to know them and their families, and provide a crash course in drag.
Who is We’re Here’s target audience?
Co-creator Stephen Warren explained, “It extends to anyone who doesn’t feel seen. Anyone who feels like their voices aren’t being heard in the mainstream,” said Warren. Fellow co-creator Johnnie Ingram added , “We’re coming into your town and we’re putting on a drag show, and we’re going to bring you into our world and we’re going to tell your story to your community through this counterculture.”
What to expect:
According to Yahoo! Entertainment, “Yes, the show does put people in drag and have them perform a number with three fan-favorite ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ alums. And, okay, yes, one participant in the first episode does express interest in pursuing a career in drag. But the wigs and the heels and the makeup are not the point, the show’s stars and producers say. The person who exists beneath all that, and the life they go back to when they step off the stage, that’s the point.”
“’We’re Here’ does not dwell on scenes of the fledgling queens doing things like tucking for the first time or learning to walk in heels. In fact, the majority of the show sees the queens out of costume, spending time with their drag daughters and getting to now them person-to-person. Whether that’s a young queer man feeling trapped in his hometown or a mother hoping to reconnect with the daughter she had a falling out with or a straight father looking to challenge his own ideas of masculinity,” continued the report from Yahoo! Entertainment.
The star’s origin stories:
Shangela, Bob the Drag Queen and Eureka O’Hara all grew up in small towns, and each said they can relate to the experience of feeling out of place in their hometowns, as featured on the show.
Shangela:
“Looking around, I never saw anyone that I thought was like me,” explained the fan favorite who grew up in the 25,000-person city of Paris, Texas. “I was a small, gay black kid in a very rural community. Even in television and film, I didn’t see anyone that was out and flamboyant, a little boy doing Beyonce choreography.”
Bob the Drag Queen:
“The majority of my life is not competing on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race,’ so if anything, that was unusual,” Bob detailed. “This is just interacting with people as a human, which is what I’ve been doing for 33 years now. So it didn’t seem weird at all.”
Eureka O’Hara:
“’At first, I was a little worried,’ noted Eureka. ‘I do like to give advice — I’m better at giving it than taking it — but I was nervous at first. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m not a psychologist, I’m gonna try to help these people and end up f—ing them up’ … but I kind of live and thrive off my interactions with people; it’s kind of what I was built for. And I didn’t realize it until I started doing the show.”
“We’re Here” premieres Thursday, April 23 at 9 p.m. on HBO.
Need more of RuPaul and her girls?
Check out the Alright Mary podcast. The hosts Colin and Johnny hilariously break down each RPDR episode and keep listeners up-to-date with Dragula and the wonderful world of drag. Here is the most recent episode!
Which RPDR alumni are you most excited to see on We’re Here? Drop names in the comments!
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