Parallel Lives
By day, Tony spends time working as a restaurant manager in Hamburger Mary’s in Chicago, Illinois. Openly gay, this man makes a complete transformation into a drag queen once a week. Tony calls himself a manger by day and Tasha, a female impersonator by night.
Tasha has been participating in drag shows for close to twelve years, and frequently performs at Hamburger Mary’s in Oak Park. The process of transformation is surely the work of the artist. It can take up to five hours each performance night and requires meticulous makeup application, full-body hair removal, clothing adjustments, and prostheses to mimic a woman’s form. While he is content with himself and within his careers, he finds these performances as an opportunity to play with gender, saying and doing things that might not fit his 9-5 persona. I aim to tell the story of Tony’s life. When he works with the crowd, or when he is alone by himself at home. Watch the Parallel Lives movie here.
