Dream role for Drag Race star in Chicago

Drag queen Divina De Campo was one of the favourites on series one of Ru Paul's Drag Race UK, proving herself to be a formidable performer.

So it's no surprise she's revelling in her new role as Mary Sunshine in Chicago, making full use of her high soprano voice and four-octave range.

Divina said: "It's been really really great, I just really love this production. It's brilliant, the audiences have been amazing."

The Drag Race star plays Mary Sunshine, the news reporter who makes Roxy Hart and Velma Kelly stars through her sensationalist reporting.

Divina said: "Mary Sunshine is a well-respected writer for one of the local papers who very much tries to see the best in people."

Turning criminals into celebrities is a modern-day phenomenon, with the rise of true crime podcasts and mini-series.

It's very easy to believe that two criminals could dance their way to fame and applause one hundred years later.

And it turns out the musical resonates politically in many more ways.

"Historically we're in a very similar position," she said. "The show is based in the 1920s, and the political and economic sphere is the same as today, with the shift to the right, inflation, the Wall Street Crash and the pandemic."

The show is a dream-come-true for the drag queen, who has been singing the soundtrack since she was a teenager.

"Even if you haven't seen Chicago, you know the music through osmosis," she said. "I knew nearly all of the songs before I got the role, I just didn't know they were from Chicago."

Joining the cast made the performer starstruck at the incredible talent in the musical's cast.

Divina said: "I was starstruck over Darren Day - he's so well-known and respected. He's immensely talented and such a lovely guy.

"Faye Brookes is phenomenal. People who only know her from Coronation Street will be shocked at just how brilliant she is.

"And Sinitta is such a sweetie, just an incredible woman and absolutely gorgeous. We used to sing So Macho in the car when I was six, because obviously I wasn't."

The drag queen is still finding the time in her busy schedule to keep up with the latest series of Drag Race UK, which is on iPlayer now.

The series runner-up said: "I absolutely love this series, the UK version is genuinely my favourite Drag Race show.

"I really missed Victoria Scone this week, she brought a particular energy was so warm.

"But all of these queens are amazing for pulling together all these looks in a pandemic, the most difficult period of time.

"China stopped shipping things over, and lots of people had to do something else because they were financially scuppered.

"Overnight everybody's work just dried up. I have so many friends who have fallen out of the industry."

Thankfully, Divina is still performing, and hopes that some day she could perform in Cabaret, Priscilla, Everyone's Talking About Jamie, or Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Chicago will be at the Wolverhampton Grand from Monday 25 to Saturday October 30.