BenDeLaCreme

BenDeLaCreme
BenDeLaCreme performing in 2014
Born Benjamin Putnam
(1981-09-24) September 24, 1981[1]
Occupation
Musical career
Origin Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Website bendelacreme.com

BenDeLaCreme is the stage persona of Benjamin Putnam,[2] an American drag queen, burlesque performer, and actor based in Seattle, Washington. She is known for being a contestant on the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race and the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. She is also known for her solo shows Terminally Delightful, Inferno A-Go-Go and Cosmos, and as co-creator and host of burlesque revues Freedom Fantasia and Homo for the Holidays.

Early life

Putnam grew up in Connecticut.[3] During his performance on Drag Race, Putnam revealed that he was bullied as a child for being overweight, "weird", and gay. His mother, who had been the positive voice to counteract this, died of cancer when he was 13 years old. Putnam was also open about his struggles with depression, revealing that his "terminally delightful" drag persona helped him overcome this.[4]

Artistry

Putnam's stage name is a play off the French term crème de la crème, which, translated, means "Cream of The Cream" or "The Very Best", as well as a play off of his given first name.[5] He commonly refers to himself as either "Ben" or "DeLa" to distinguish between the private, male persona (Ben) and public, female one (DeLa).[5] He is also sometimes referred to as "Bendela", a take on the name Vendela. In an interview with Artes Magazine, he explained "I consider BenDeLaCreme to be the very best of Ben which is the name of the gentleman that I share a body with. DeLa is how I refer to the lady part of me. If you say Ben you're talking to that guy. If you say DeLa you are talking to me."[4]

Putnam credits his interest in drag and burlesque to seeing Varla Jean Merman's Holiday Ham in Boston in 2001. He was inspired by Merman's theatrical, character-driven approach to drag performance.[3] DeLa considers drag to be "an inherently political act", an opportunity to encourage people to think about complex issues related to gender and sexuality through humor and theatre.[2] Her solo shows combine comedy, song, burlesque, dance, and video clips (often DeLa herself in other roles).[4] DeLa's costume style is reminiscent of iconic 1950s pin-up girls. She cites dancer and actress Ann Miller as an early influence.[6]

Career

BenDeLaCreme performing during RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season 3

Putnam's career began in Chicago in 2002, while he was pursuing a BFA degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Although his course of study focused on painting, he found himself more interested in performance art.[7][8]

Her first opportunities to perform came at drag revues at Chicago-area gay bars. Early on, she was exposed to a more explicitly feminist, message-driven side of drag culture by the Chicago Kings, a drag king troupe with which she frequently performed as the token "queen".[7] At the same time, DeLa made a conscious decision to present a more positive, cheerful persona during her shows, even when addressing serious subject matter such as prejudice, death, and depression.[4]

Since the mid-2000s, she has been based in Seattle, Washington. She is the hostess for The Atomic Bombshells burlesque troupe and teaches at Seattle's Academy of Burlesque.[9] DeLa has collaborated with many members of the Seattle burlesque community, including Drag Race Season 5 winner Jinkx Monsoon.[10] She runs the theatrical production company DeLouRue Presents, creating and performing in popular holiday revue shows Freedom Fantasia and Homo for the Holidays, with burlesque duo Kitten La Rue and Lou Henry Hoover, her friends and frequent collaborators.[6]

BenDeLaCreme's touring solo shows include Terminally Delightful, Cosmos, and Inferno A-Go-Go. She has also appeared in several films by filmmaker Wes Hurley including the documentary Waxie Moon, Waxie Moon in Fallen Jewel, and as a narrator of the series Capitol Hill.[11]

RuPaul's Drag Race

BenDeLaCreme appeared in the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, where after scoring a record-breaking fifth challenge win in episode 6 of the season, she chose to eliminate herself, claiming she had already proven herself and that she felt the other remaining contestants deserved the crown more than she wanted it. She placed 6th overall. DeLa is the only Drag Race contestant so far to win five challenges in a single season, as well as the first to win four episodes consecutively and the first to win the "Snatch Game" challenge on more than one season.

References

  1. ↑ @bendelacreme (15 March 2014). "haha! It's sept 24th!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. 1 2 "RuPaul tour serves up enter-taint-ment - The Gateway". The Gateway. The Gateway: The Official Student Newspaper of the University of Alberta. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  3. 1 2 "End Stage Happiness: BenDeLaCreme Makes Solo Provincetown Debut - Provincetown Magazine". Provincetown Magazine. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "The Newly Crowned Miss Congeniality BenDeLaCreme Takes Over NYC with 'Terminally Delightful' New Show". Drag Official. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  5. 1 2 "BenDeLaCreme: Going Solo in 'Terminally Delightful' - ARTES MAGAZINE". ARTES MAGAZINE. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  6. 1 2 "Q&A with Ben Delacreme from RuPaul's Drag Race". Sacramento Press. Archived from the original on 2015-10-18. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  7. 1 2 "Homo for the Holidays: An Interview With Ben DeLaCreme". The Stranger. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  8. ↑ Staff, Stranger. "The Lineup". The Stranger. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  9. ↑ "BenDeLaCreme Adds Performances to TERMINALLY DELIGHTFUL, 5/23-25". BroadwayWorld.com. Wisdom Digital Media. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  10. ↑ "Last Words With RuPaul's Drag Race's BenDeLaCreme | Advocate.com". www.advocate.com. 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2015-10-26.
  11. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wes-hurley/jinkx-monsoon-colby-kelle_b_7930328.html
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.