Photolog
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Miss Coco Peru
Clinton Leupp (MISS COCO PERU, Writer, Storyteller, Monologist) wrote, produced, directed, and starred in his first show, MISS COCO PERU in My Goddamn Cabaret in 1991, which quickly developed a following and ran for two years in New York at Rose’s Turn. He also wrote and performed Miss Coco Peru: A Legend in Progress, which won a 1992 Manhattan Association of Cabaret (MAC) Award and a Backstage Bistro Award. Having performed in many of New York’s cabaret clubs, including Eighty Eights and The Russian Tea Room, Miss Coco eventually moved onto the stage at the Westbeth Theater Center, performing the show Miss Coco Peru, for which he received a 1995 Mac nomination. He also performed parts of that show at Central Park’s Summerstage.
An avid traveler, Leupp’s Miss Coco has also appeared twice in London at the Battersea Arts Center and Freedom Theater; in Lisbon, Portugal, for the Associacao Cultural Saldanha; and in Cancun and Manzanillo, Mexico, at Club Med. He also performed in Phoenix at the Little Theater and enjoyed a critically acclaimed 3 month run with director Charles Randolph-Wright at Masquers Cabaret in Los Angeles (1997 Backstage West Award). Also in Los Angeles, he appeared in Blair Fell’s The Tragic and Horrible Life of the Singing Nun (Dramalogue Award) at the Coast Playhouse. Leupp and Wright completed a successful run once again in New York at the Westbeth Theater Center with Miss Coco Peru’s Liquid Universe (1998 GLAAD Media Award Nomination). This past October, Miss Coco performed her show in Sag Harbor, NY, at the Bay Street Theater. Miss Peru was seen in director Jim Fall’s film Trick and appeared as Nurse Kitty in Fall’s Off Broadway extravaganza Blood Orgy of the Carnival Queens. Along with Trick, Miss Coco is featured in the films To Wong Foo, Nick and Jane, and has appeared on TV in New York Undercover and Showtime’s Rude Awakening (as a boy!).
Since moving to Los Angeles, Miss Coco has also appeared in the Aid for Aids benefit Quest for the Crown as a fashion commentator, as well as her two appearances in actress Elaine Hendrix’s variety Peep Show. Most recently, Miss Coco Peru’s Universe was nominated for 1999 Los Angeles GLAAD Media Award. She lost.
Well, well, well. Miss Coco, you and I have a lot to catch up on. I met you seven years ago on Fire Island when you performed your hilarious and semi-autobiographical show Miss Coco Peru in the Ice Palace. In a nutshell, give us a brief synopsis of the past seven years.
Lots of benefits. Also, I moved from NYC to L.A. I had been raised and living in the New York area all my life and I was looking for somewhere quieter and warmer. At that time, trick was in a lot of film festivals and I was fortunate to travel to many of them including Sundance, Berlin, London, Toronto, San Francisco, and San Diego. I knew that the film was opening the L.A. Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, and because I had been getting some nice attention at the other festivals, I thought it might be a good idea for me to open my show in L.A. around that time. It was a good decision. I received some nice reviews and attention and a whole new audience. I then realized that L.A. was quieter and warmer.
Your famous flip of red hair and perfect makeup transcends the old notions of drag queens looking like a replica of Cher or Barbra. How did you find your look and where do you find yourself in the world as a drag queen with a Bronx accent?
What do you mean how did I find that look? I was born that way. As for being a drag queen in the world with a Bronx accent, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Well maybe a rich drag queen with a Bronx accent.
You starred in To Wong Foo: Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar with Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo. I watched the movie with ferver and poked my friends’ shoulders during your scene. What was it like to be part of that movie?
To Wong Foo was a wonderful experience for me because it really was my introduction to the many diverse queens in N.Y.C. I not only went to see them perform, I got to know them personally. Sitting around with them I got to hear so many different life stories and I realized how different we all were and yet we all had a calling to do drag.
Oh, and getting a residual check in the mail every now and then is fun too!
Before To Wong Foo you starred in an episode of New York Undercover on Fox television. A fabulous performance, and your death scene demanded an Emmy. How did you transition from television to film? What were the lessons learned from television that bettered and prepared you for film?
I haven’t really done enough of either to answer that question seriously. Although, in film and T.V. I can’t make the facial expressions I’m used to making on the stage. Even though I tried to pull back in Trick, I’m still over the top.
All right, you’ve been quoted by more of my friends than Jenna Bush has drink tickets. I’m speaking of course about your monologue opposite Christian Campbell in the movie Trick. What was that scene like for you? What did you draw from to make yourself so captivating?
I had a great time making Trick. We had tried to get that movie made for five years, so just getting it made was exciting. The fact that it was so successful was just a big fat dessert. And I ate it up. By the way, I didn’t draw from anything to make myself so captivating. I just am.
Now you’re about to debut your new show “Miss Coco Peru’s Glorious Wounds…she’s damaged” in L.A. on September 7, running to September 22. What can you tell us about your new show?
My new show “Miss Coco Peru’s Glorious Wounds…she’s damaged” is about those moments in my life that are mortifying, horrifying, and still very funny to me. It’s a darker show.
Jim Fall is the director of your new show “Miss Coco Peru’s Glorious Wounds…she’s damaged”, who made his name known with his directorial debut of Trick. How did you two meet, and what is like to work him?
Jim and I met years ago in N.Y.C. because his boyfriend at the time was my lighting designer. Therefore, Jim was at my show every week tormenting me and we became fast friends. He is a good and loyal friend and he tries to work me into every project that comes his way. Whether it’s appropriate or not, he at least wonders for a moment, “How can I work Coco into this?”
You are a New York native who was raised in the Bronx; now your stardom has been found in Los Angeles with all five boroughs missing your humor and elegance. Any future plans to grace us with your presence again on the East Coast?
Yes, I look forward to returning to N.Y.C. with my new show. There is nothing like a N.Y. audience. I am so grateful for all those friends and fans that kept coming every month to get their Coco fix. It really was a great time and full of good moments. Oh, I also think it’s official that I now have the best looking audience on both coasts.