The Girl from Oz - Caught in the (Courtney) Act

The bombshell from "Down Under" is honoring the numerous entertainers who hail from Australia with her new show called "The Girl From Oz." A singer, comedian and flawless drag queen, Courtney Act has raised the bar showcasing her talents on Australian Idol and "RuPaul's Drag Race." Act has also released several music videos showcasing the sparkle and wit of her skills. Gentlemen definitely prefer blondes as I spoke with Shane Jenek aka Courtney Act to highlight her upcoming March shows in San Diego at Martinis Above Fourth and in Los Angeles at Rockwell: Table and Stage.

Tell me a little bit about where you grew up?

I grew up in Australia in Brisbane, which is warm and tropical... it's a big-little city. Then, when I was eighteen, I moved to Sydney and call Sydney home.

I imagined a scenario when a young Aussie lad sees the film, "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" for the first time....

That's exactly how it happened.

No way! And it changes your life forever!

It does, it totally does! I remember it was 1994/1995 and I was on a touring Christmas show at the end of the year. All of the performers-there were about 40 people in the cast-would all do a "private show" for each other on the last night. My friend Scott and I dressed up in the girls' bikinis and did "I don't care if the sun don't shine, I get my loving in the evening time..."

That was just a thought in my head, I'm glad it was right on the money. (Laughter) Who are some of the entertainers who inspired you in your teenage years?

The Spice Girls, Fran Drescher in "The Nanny" -- I love her so much -- and the obvious: Cher and Bette Midler. I used to love watching them and that was before the internet was invented (laughs). I just remember buying magazines and cutting out posters and sticking them on the wall.

Was it a case of you going from"drama queen" to "drag queen?" Meaning, doing musical theatre in high school?

Yes, sort of. I went to this place called The Fame Talent Agency. It was a singing, dancing and acting school that I would go to after regular school.
There was definitely a lot of musical theatre and pantomime and stuff like that.

Please describe the persona of Courtney Act, for someone who had never seen or heard her perform.

Courtney Act is an extension of me, Shane, who I am. We're kind of both like two ends of the same stick. It's just an opportunity for me to put on fabulous hair and makeup and costumes and turn the volume up to eleven. I mentioned the Bette Midler's and the Cher's of that era, you know I'm totally inspired by them, with a modern twist to it. "The Girl From Oz" has lots
of fun costumes, lots of fun jokes and lots of great music. Big hits that were actually from Australians, who a lot of Americans don't know were Australians. People are like, "Oh my god, I didn't know AC/DC was Australian!" People leave the show with a new understanding of Australians.
I do "Arthur's Theme" from the movie "Arthur," and people are like, "That's not Australian." I'm like, "No, but it was written by Peter Allen, who was once mistakenly married to Liza Minnelli, whose mother introduced the two of them and was "Dorothy" from that other Oz.

There is a lot of great Australian music: Air Supply, Olivia Newton-John, Sia, Kylie Minogue, a lot of songs that people didn't know. I've even got roller skates! I've got a xylophone made out of Foster's beer cans! As I learned when I moved to America, "Foster's! It's Australian!"

Excellent. I Look forward to seeing your show.

Lovely.

Courtney Act is on stage at Martinis Above Fourth in San Diego on Thursday, March 16. She will also be at Rockwell Table & Stage in Los Angeles Monday and Tuesday, March 27 and 28. In April, she will be perform- ing at RuPaul's DragCon at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday and Sunday, April 29 and 30.

For tickets and more information, go to courtneyact.com/events