“Worcester Speaks” is one of several standalone columns that comprise the Worcester Sucks Media Empire! Excited to announce that with today’s post, it comes under new ownership. Dani Killay is taking over the column from here on out and I think you’ll agree they’re off to a great start. Please consider helping us put out the most interesting and important local journalism in the game with a paid subscription or a one-time tip. —Bill
I sat down with Jay Gaudette a.k.a. Harley Queen to talk about Worcester’s drag scene and why they feel its heart beats, not in competition, but in community. A veteran drag artist who has watched the city’s queer scene evolve from a handful of performers to a full calendar of shows, Harley is the architect behind what they fondly call beautifully “stupid” chaos. This is the ethos of Funhouse, the open-stage drag show they developed, which is poised to celebrate its 4th anniversary on November 20th at Ralph’s Rock Diner, long known as a sanctuary for Worcester’s punk and counter-culture spirits.
“It’s gotten so stupid. And I say it every show,” Harley confesses, with a slight laugh that is both conspiratorial and proud. But this “stupidity” is a radical act. Conceived as an antidote to the barriers to entry that can make the drag world feel exclusive and out of reach to some newcomers. Funhouse is a “brave space”—their preferred term over “safe space”—where there are no auditions, no eliminations, and the only mandate is creative courage.
This philosophy has transformed the show into a vital incubator for Worcester’s talent. It is the fertile ground where artists like Gem Stoner first took root, a name now a fixture of the local scene. Worcester’s recent Draglesque Festival in August (the first of its kind in the city) became an inadvertent tribute to its influence, with a running joke that nearly every performer was introduced as a Funhouse alum. “I think it was very, very cute,” Harley notes, a quiet pride evident in their reflection.
Yet, beyond the glitter, the gags, and the satire lies a deeper resonance. In an era when queer identity is relentlessly politicized, from drag story times—a niche Harley has unexpectedly and prolifically filled (even illustrating the children’s book I Don’t Know by local author Kristy Kielbasinsky)—to broader societal fears, a space like Funhouse is inherently significant, especially as we look to the future of Worcester’s drag scene. Harley’s vision remains clear and deeply rooted. In a world often obsessed with scale and spectacle, Harley Queen is rebelling, proving that the most powerful revolutions are built not on competition, but on collective, courageous, and stupidly fun self-expression.
Dani: So, for any readers who maybe aren’t as familiar with Harley Queen, give yourself a little introduction.
Harley: Well, I’ve been doing drag in Worcester for, I want to say 10 years or at least almost 10 years. And yeah, I’ve kind of seen the entire drag scene grow from like pretty much just five or six performers to like just drag shows in every venue, well, it seems like every venue, but every queer friendly venue in the city pretty much has a drag show now. And like, it’s been crazy to see it grow as much as it has been. And then, yeah, I decided to take part in that and do the open stage show, Funhouse.
Yeah, Funhouse is coming up on its fourth anniversary, correct?
It is, yeah. Next month.
From conceiving the idea and partnering with Ralph’s to now, what have been some of your observations in the growth of the audience, the performers? How has the show come along from how you imagined it to now?
It’s gotten so stupid. And I say it every show. Just like the performances, the audience interactions. And like, that’s what I want. Is for it to be just a fun, stupid show. And that people can just kind of relax and not have to worry about it. And I’ve started calling it instead of a safe space, it’s a brave space. It’s like if you’re offended by anything, you know, you can just close your eyes or close your ears or, you know, leave. But yeah, because at the end of the day, all it is is just silly, stupid fun. And one of the things I love is I don’t really think any of the performers in the open stage care about the competition aspect, which is what I wanted. I wanted it more so for performers who don’t get booked. So they are looking for a stage. They want to perform. Because nowadays it is kind of hard to get booked because you have to know a person who knows a person. You have to be super buddy buddy with a producer.
That actually leads into another question that I had, which is, Worcester has other competition-formatted drag shows. What is it that makes Funhouse not the [Worcester Pride] Pageant and not [Worcester Drag] Gauntlet?
There’s no audition process. Funhouse is first and foremost for those people who watch the shows and go up and go to the performers and be like, I want to start doing this. Like, where do I go to start doing this? Because, you know, when you do the gauntlet, you could get eliminated and be done for the rest of the series. With Funhouse, I really wanted it to be more about those people who want to dip their toes into drag or burlesque or like really anything that they just give people a stage to do what they want to do.
So a big element of Funhouse, it sounds, is [that] it’s more experimental?
Oh, yeah. Because I tell my performers every time there is a theme. But like if you just want to get on stage and be gay and do whatever you want to do, like that’s fine. It’s an open stage. It’s people who sign up and don’t get paid. It’s a tip spot. So I’ve never felt right about telling people what they can and can’t do, if I’m not paying them.
Fair point. Where you have this more open and experimental aspect to the shows, do you see a lot of people joining in for a one off experience? Or do you see people mostly starting at Funhouse and continuing with their drag journey?
Oh, it’s been both. It’s not even people saying I want to try this once and be done, because usually they’ll come back for another round at some point. But drag takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of energy. So it really isn’t for everyone in the sense that like, it does take a lot of energy and a lot of people, especially nowadays, just don’t have the energy to keep up consistent appearances. But there have been a lot of performers, like Gem Stoner comes to mind, and there’s been a few other people who have kind of really made a name for themselves in Worcester that started at Funhouse.
And Gem has branched off to do some of her own regular shows.
She’s like the poster child of MB [The MB Lounge, Worcester’s oldest continuously operating gay bar]. But yeah, it really is like a toss up. You never know where someone’s gonna go with their drag journey after doing Funhouse. We have this new queen, Toni Tonic, who I’ve been seeing, they come to Funhouse and I was just like, she’s really polished for someone who is absolutely new. And I’m like, I think she’s gonna make a name for herself in Worcester as well. As well as like Brandy Rain, who everyone loves to see on stage because she’s so funny. Just these performers who love to do Funhouse and love to come back. And I would love to see them in more things out in Worcester.
You were saying with all of the effort and the energy that someone has to pour in just to start getting ready to do drag, I would imagine that there must be such a huge barrier to entry for people who don’t have an open stage in their area. Was there one operating in Central Mass before you started Funhouse, that you know of?
I think the closest open stages I remember were back in Boston. There was the open stage show on Monday nights at Machine. And I believe. I mean, there’s got to be open stages in Providence, but like there were none in Worcester. Like none so local that you didn’t have to drive more than an hour.
So I would imagine that, well, you’ve stated that you watched this scene grow over the last several years. It sounds pretty fair to say that you took a hand in helping it grow. I heard that was pretty evident in the lineup for Worcester’s first ever Draglesque Festival this summer.
I think the Draglesque Festival did a great job at, you know, repping Funhouse. Both Lady [LaRouge] and Joey March came up to me, because I had left after my performance, but they’re like, yeah, it became a bit that for every performer that came on, we would introduce them as, oh, they got their start at Harley’s Funhouse. And I’m like, wait, so it’s pretty much the entire Draglesque Festival lineup that got their start at Funhouse, which I think was very, very cute.
Were you involved in the planning of the Draglesque Festival, or did Lady and Joey approach you after it was already underway?
They approached me. So I didn’t help put it together or anything. I didn’t produce any of it. They just asked me, like, do you want to do the story time and then perform later in the day and I’m like, absolutely!
You did some artwork for the story time too. Tell me about that.
So it’s been a while. I used to do merchandise commissions for drag artists and burlesque artists and others. I’ve done wrestling merch and roller derby merch.
These are all touching universes.
Right, exactly. But yeah, I used to do all this artwork and it is something I am known for. And so I was asked like, do you want to do some art for the show? And just make coloring pages of some of the performers that are going to be there. And I’m like, absolutely, sure. And it was fun to take an afternoon and just go at it. And I always love drawing myself, so.
In addition to Funhouse and your other 21+ shows, you’ve become quite the prolific drag story time reader, as well. That was actually the first time I ever saw you. At Grafton Pride story time when my daughter first came out.
And I don’t know how it happened, because in my head I’m like, oh, I’m terrible with kids and I can’t read. So to have become one of the go-to’s for a drag story time, I would have never guessed that that’s where my career would lead. But I love doing it. I do get a little nervous because there’s an in-between age that I don’t know how to talk to because at some point, the Goo Goo Gaga speech, it doesn’t work for like that middle group. I’m like, okay, teenagers, I got you. Toddlers, I got you. This middle group, I’m sorry. I don’t know the words to use. I don’t know the tone or the cadence. They usually say whatever and you just roll with it. Like I usually just repeat what they say.
Honestly, a good kid tactic. With drag story times having been so politicized, is that something that you have found yourself being more involved in? Or do you think that it’s just anyone possessing a queer identity is just politicized no matter what?
I think Yeah, I think it is anyone who has a queer identity. And it’s mostly people who are visibly queer. But then there are issues that arise when people find out that someone that they didn’t think was queer is. I’m even dealing with something similar within the community, it’s not as threatening, but like people just want to get involved in other people’s romantic lives. They just want to know what’s going on and it’s none of anyone’s business.
The reality TV show of it all, kind of?
The reality TV show. Maybe that’s what it is because I’m not watching these reality TV shows. But I can imagine maybe, yeah, they’re turning the brain into mush and everyone needs to know what’s going on. And it’s just like, listen, if you’re not in the relationship, If you’re not looking to date the person, it’s none of your business. And that’s the way it is with the bigots trying to police the queer people. It’s like, listen, what we do on our own is our own thing, you know?
It’s just like if you’re thinking about it more than us, like maybe, maybe the call is come from inside the house. I don’t know. I don’t know what to tell them. Then there’s like the whole bathroom fear of “oh, I could be sharing a bathroom with a transgender.” It’s just like, yeah. And you probably wouldn’t know. You’re probably not going to know. I think the fear comes from sexual harassment in the bathroom. And I’m like, well, here’s the thing. Anyone can do that. It does not take a transgender person to walk into the bathroom and sexually harass someone.
You started Funhouse in 2021, so it was already a pretty fairly charged political climate. Do you feel like it lends itself to people who want to buck the system, express their frustration with what’s happening? I know it’s silly fun, but do you also see many political statements?
Oh, absolutely. There’s not many politically based performances that happen at Funhouse, but there are some that happen. Because next month for the anniversary, I’m not doing a theme, it’s like an open theme/do whatever you want, I’m sure we’ll probably see more politically based performances. For the most part, a lot of people like to stick to the theme. To have it be on theme and also political, sometimes it’s hard to come up with a concept. So I’m sure that if I didn’t do themes, we’d have a lot more political performances. But yeah, no, there have been quite a few political performances.
And Ralph’s has a history rooted in the punk rock community here in Worcester. Is that something that factored in? I feel like drag is very punk. Do you feel like that factored into choice of venue? Or making you natural partners?
Well, it’s actually so funny because I think the first time I went to Ralph’s was for my birthday and I went out in drag and I was just like, I want to go to this punk dive bar and I want to be in drag. And if anyone has a problem with it….because I didn’t know what the dynamic was going to be. I didn’t know if I was going to be met with like, oh my God, you’re so pretty. Or like, what the hell is this thing doing here? But I got there, and I was very welcomed. And I didn’t even go upstairs, but I looked around the venue and I was just like, yeah, if I ever have a show, I want to do it here. Cut to four years later and Bill Shaner calls me to ask if I would do a reoccurring show there. And I’m like, are you, are you kidding me? That’s what I wanted. This is the venue I wanted for a show. And I didn’t think that I would ever get that. And now you’re calling me to do a show here. It’s perfect. It was a match made in punk heaven.
So for next month’s anniversary show, you’re doing an open theme. Is there anything else that you’d like folks to know, since it is forthcoming?
I’m also doing a 50-50 raffle. Because I just found out what that means. I’m doing a little prize raffle for this month. So, I went up to a friend and I asked him, “does that mean it’s a 50-50 raffle?” And they’re like, no, a 50-50 raffle means that you get half the money and the winner gets half the money that is put in towards the raffle. I was like, oh, thank God I haven’t been promoting it as a 50-50 raffle. But now that I know what it is, I’m like, wait, why don’t I just do that for the anniversary show? So yeah, call me stupid. I’m doing a 50-50 raffle for the anniversary and I’m still trying to think of other special things that I want to do because I do like to throw out random surprises. For one of my shows, Let Them Eat Cake, I had a cake made for the performers. And then also like I had a store bought cake for the audience. And I like during my performance and just handed out slices of cake because, you can’t have that theme and not give the people, let them have cake, you know?
Would keep me engaged! Is this your first show that you’re producing? Harley’s Funhouse, or did you have production experience before this?
I’ve had production experience before, just not like solo. And oddly enough, I do find it easier to produce alone, but that could also just be related to producing styles. And if I found a co-producer that kind of matched my style, then it might be easier. But I’ve done Jailbreak at the Bull Mansion back when they were doing shows. And I had a co-producer on that. For a lack of better words, it just wasn’t well received by the community. And I thought it was about me. I was like, “Oh no, people don’t like me. They don’t want to come to my show.” But looking back, I’m like, “Oh no.” Cause when I first did Funhouse, the first night we had a packed house, I was just like, I was not expecting this. I was expecting it to be a complete failure. I was expecting no one to want to show up to my show because I’ve done this before. And yeah, no. It’s all about listening to the community and understanding what they want to see.
It’s been very successful. What would you say is kind of an unexpected challenge in this success? Have you run into things that you hadn’t expected?
Yeah, I mean. Thankfully, there hasn’t been a lot of drama amongst performers that do the show. But, and this is part of the bit that makes it work for this show, it does overwhelm me a little bit when I kind of lose control of everything. And I just sit on stage and I laugh because just like, what is going on? I don’t understand. But, it’s all in good fun. I think the main thing I have had some issues with is people wanting to get to know my personal life a little bit more. And I’m just like, listen, I’m on stage. That’s all you need to know about me. I’m here to entertain you. Um, and Yeah, my personal life is my personal life.
People kind of confusing Harley with Jay and Jay with Harley?
I don’t want to tell people, oh, we’re not friends because it can be funny. I was in a bad mood a couple of months ago and I went out with my best friend and I’m just like, you know what? I’m just going to be a bitch to everyone. Like forgetting that I have this, what’s the word? Forgetting that people like know who I am and my reputation. I have a reputation in the city. So, he’s hyping me up. He’s like, “yeah, you’re going to be straight up evil.” And then I turn around and this older trans woman comes up to me and just pours her heart out and says how happy she is that I’ve created a space that she can feel safe in and what I mean to her. And I instantly went into public figure mode and said how I’m happy she likes it and like you’re wonderful you’re great this and that. I turned back around to my best friend laughing like “oh I forgot you can’t you can’t be a bitch because of who you are” and I’m like yep yep. So no one’s gonna get bitch Harley I guess.
As someone who is producing for that audience, as someone producing entertainment and programming from the queer community to the queer community, where would you like to see things develop in the future?
I’m not sure. Honestly, I kind of just love how we are right now. I feel like there are people who want [Worcester] to be more like Boston and Providence, but I think we’ve lost the plot. Where we haven’t realized Worcester is its own entity. We might not have the huge shows and the huge audiences that Boston and Providence get, which to usual people, that equates success. It’s like, oh, huge audiences, huge shows, big names, but I pride myself on listening to the community and getting to know people. What we lack in big shows and big names, we have so much more in community. Everyone knows everyone. There’s a lot of support. A lot of people who I book from Boston or Province, that’s the one thing that they comment on: how close knit of a community and how supportive of a community Worcester is. Whereas like, it’s not so much like that in Providence. It’s a very “the grass is greener” kind of situation. In theory, I would love to have Worcester be this big drag city, akin to Boston and Providence. But on the other hand, it works so well being a close knit community and everyone just supporting everyone. So I don’t know. I don’t know what I would change or what I would like to see for the future of Worcester. Because I think, I don’t want to say we’re at our peak, but we’re certainly maybe going in the right direction. Yes, we’re going in the right direction.
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