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[title]The queen: Unconventional, uncompromising and much beloved, Pittsburgh-based “fag punk” Sharon Needles took home the crown (and $100,000) as the winner of the fourth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, thanks to her brainy, outsider persona and her spooky twist on traditional drag glamour.
The throne: Smith & Mills. This tiny restaurant and bar’s appropriately wee single-occupant commode features a cool space-saving flip-up sink and a gorgeously aged, steampunky aesthetic.
Time Out New York: Do you have any advice for the woman who is arguably the world’s most famous queen on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee?
Sharon Needles: Most famous queen? Honey, take the back seat. The only advice I could give is put some fucking makeup on. She wears less makeup than Milan.
Got any good bathroom stories from your adventures in nightlife?
My drag collective, the Haus of Haunt, is competitive against each other, and when we’re always trying to be more over-the-top than the previous performance. Usually it just goes seamless, but unfortunately, or fortunately,, for our food-themed show, it became a hot mess—literally a mess. It started with one performer dumping two gallons of milk onto her to Kelis’s song “Milkshake.” Well Sharon Needles is not one to be overtopped. Long story short, by the end of the night, the entire nightclub was literally spattered with Spam, cake, onion rings and an entire Thanksgiving turkey.
What are you proud of this June?
I’m proud to be in NYC this summer doing a photo shoot with the legendary transgressional transsexual artist Jayne County. I’m proud to be working with one of my drag idols, Peaches Christ, this summer at the legendary Castro Theatre in San Francisco, doing a parody play of The Silence of the Lambs, called The Silence of the Trans.
More Sharon Needles!
Needles is scheduled to be in NYC on June 20. Keep your eyes on sharonneedles.com for details.
The third season of RuPaul's Drag U premieres June 18 at 9pm on Logo. For more information, go to logotv.com.