HOvanna Crown grew up in the heart of Jimboomba. At school, she was bullied for being different but she never let that stop her from being in the limelight.
HOvanna and I go way back. We met at university over half a decade ago and let me tell you she’s come a long way.
Using drama as a means of self-expression, HOvanna said her drag journey started in kindergarten.
She said she was always the little boy searching for the gowns and jewellery in the dress-up box.
“I knew I was destined to be a man in a frock and a wig right from when I was in preschool,” she said.
“I used to fight every kindergartener for the Snow White costume in the costume box.”
But even before then, HOvanna began singing lessons. Those lessons later extended to dance and drama.
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HOvanna never considered drag
HOvanna said despite growing up in theatre, the idea to take up drag had never really crossed her mind.
“It’s funny because I never really considered drag up until I was in my 20s,” HOvanna said.
“Which is weird considering I loved playing the biggest female characters in my drama classes.
“Often I would play the evil queen or ugly sister and I always just enjoyed putting on a show and making people laugh.
“That’s why for a lot of my drag I impersonate the evil characters a lot of us know from our childhood.”
That statement couldn’t ring truer for HOvanna who dressed as the Red Queen for her debut as a drag queen.
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Being a character queen
So far, HOvanna has impersonated a number of characters people might recognise from their screens.
We’ve seen the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil, Matilda’s Miss Trunchball and even Miranda Hart.
But HOvanna said dressing up as recognisable characters isn’t just about drag.
She said she does it for the audience and strives to put on a show they can all relate to.
“A lot of my inspiration stems from the idea of nostalgia,” she said.
“It’s about creating a really funny performance of characters who people remember from their childhood.
“I just enjoy doing really silly, stupid stuff to make the audience laugh.”
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HOvanna has recently picked up a residency at The Stand’s Sunday Gatho.
She performs alongside some of Brisbane’s biggest names; queens like Tina Bikki and Chocolate Boxx
And for the next seven Saturdays, you can catch her sharing the Sporties stage with Mandy Moobs and Henny Spaghetti in V.I.P girls.
She will also be making an appearance at the upcoming Bad Fest and competing in this year’s Voyage Through the Galax-She.
You can also find her competing in Fluffy’s Starlet in the coming months.
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