
âBattleâ tested: Sherry Vine, left, and Jackie Beat share the stage and, temporarily, an apartment. (Photo by JiHef photo)
Those bawdy besties in dresses and breasties, Jackie Beat and Sherry Vine, are capitalizing on their long friendship and formidable on-stage chemistry, by converting the fruits of projects, currently running, into a production company with real legs. We recently quizzed the dynamic drag queens, starting with recent NYC-to-LA transplant, Vine.Â
Los Angeles Blade: When did you move to LA, Sherry?
Vine: Last Monday. It was not spontaneous at all. I really labored over the decision. Itâs something Iâve been talking about for about five years. Ever since we started doing âThe Golden Girlzâ out here, Iâve been coming back and forth to LA more and more frequently, to work with Jackie â and we started planting some seeds to start a production company, to build on our work together. I loved my life in New York. It was great, but it was also kind of routine. This was such a big decision, I went to a therapist. And he said to me, âWhy do you have to make changes only when things are bad?â And once I made the decision, to do this, and put it out to the universe, all these little things started to fall into place, these little signs, where it kind of just reinforces your decision.Â
Blade: Youâre living with Jackie Beat, through the end of next month. Whatâs that like, Sherry?
Vine: There are times when I go to my room and leave her alone, or sheâs like, âOh, I think Sherry needs a run from Starbucks.â We know each other that well. We call ourselves âThe Cycle Sisters.â
Blade: Jackie, whatâs it like living with Sherry?
Beat: It really is like a mash-up of âLaverne & Shirleyâ and âThe Golden Girls!â When I first moved to New York City, back in the mid-â90s, I slept on Sherryâs couch for over a year without paying rent, so I really do owe her. We get along great and Sherry is, like me, very neat and organized. There was one morning, probably after a few shows the night before and not enough sleep, when we were in the kitchen together. I was having my coffee and Sherry was eating granola â crunching it VERY loudly. I slowly turned to her and, in my best Bea Arthur, said, âStop crunching!â I still regret that. Not the fact that I said that, the fact that I didnât also haul off and slap her! But then Iâd have been arrested for elder abuse.
Blade: Talk about the production company youâre forming with Jackie.
Vine: The working name is Count Jay.
Blade: Where does that come from?
Vine: Sheâd call me âc*nt,â Iâd call her âhag,â and Siri was always autocorrecting it to âCount Jay.â It has not been formalized in the legal way. Thatâs our task when [this current run of] âThe Golden Girlzâ ends. Weâll focus on the business part. We have to do all this paperwork, to make this a legit corporation. Itâs really time-consuming and tedious, but it needs to be done.
Blade: Jackie, what are your hopes for the production company?
Beat: We have so many ideas, that we both have lists longer than a CVS receipt. Our goal is to share these brilliantly twisted ideas with the rest of the world â and make some f*cking money. Weâre also going to be working with a lot of everyoneâs âDrag Raceâ favorites. And a few that no one likes. Kidding! I hate them all.
Blade: Sherry, what are your goals for this new business?
Vine: To create as many different arms of a production company, where we have âThe Golden Girlzâ and other live theater shows. And I want to write some other stuff for us â a variety show, a podcast, get a development deal or get one of our shows on some new platforms. Then I really want to do a short film this year, and more videos. Weâre also starting to write queen shows for other people, that maybe we direct. Some of that is already in the works.
Blade: Sherry, how did your âBattle of the Bitchesâ tour with Jackie begin?
Vine: It started a few years ago, when we were both kind of concerned that no one wanted to book us, because they only want RuPaul girls. So we thought, we should team up and sell an act together. Youâre getting these two legends, and we just âwork.â We pull topics out of a hat the audience has âprepared.â Because weâve already picked the topics. We might pull something out, like, âBig Dick,â and we do one of our song parodies [about that topic]. We also do a couple of duets together, and itâs really, really fun. Itâs been touring all over the states. At the end of March, are touring the “Battle” show in Dublin, Reykjavik, and Oslo.
Blade: Jackie, whatâs it like to work with Sherry?
Beat: When we do âBattle of the Bitches,â we can really be ourselves: Two aging drag queens shamelessly competing for the spotlight and the hottest busboy at the venue. Sherry and I have been friends AND working together for almost 30 years now, so the chemistry is undeniable. We really round each other out. Sheâs pretty, Iâm not. I hit the notes while singing, she doesnât. Yin and yang, you know? The New York Times once called us âthe Laurel and Hardy of drag.â All you kids can Google that.Anyway, when we are on stage together, itâs just effortless. We always remind each other that we essentially get paid to have fun. My improv comedy teacher at Second City once told me â a million years ago when I was just starting out â âYour job is to have so much fun onstage that everyone in the audience is thinking, âI wish I was up there!â â
âThe Golden Girlz Live: Girl Powerâ (with special guest Alec Mapa as Aunt Angela) plays the Cavern Club Celebrity Theater at Casita del Campo (1920 Hyperion Ave., Silverlake), through Jan. 20. For tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com. For artist info, including âBattle of the Bitchesâ tour dates (among them, Jan. 25 in Palm Springs and Jan. 30 in Santa Ana), visit sherryvine.com and missjackiebeat.com.