A former child performer who grew into social media and music success as well as Philadelphia drag stardom, Little Piece is currently taking the biggest slice of New York nightlife pie… and it’s delicious! [Cover photo: Joe Mac]
Thotyssey: Hello! Happy Pride Month! Do you have all your looks in order, or are you gonna wing it, lol?
Little Piece: Oh baby, have I been winging it! The only brand-new thing I’m wearing this month is a gown my sister Martine is making out of green scrap fabric for “Miss Cxntinental.” Charli dropping BRAT this month so I can wear the same three green outfits to every Pride gig was very thoughtful.
Lol! How do you like BRAT, by the way?
Absolutely loving it! I’m doing a BRAT megamix for my talent on Saturday.
On a slightly related subject, it seems like the general population seems to have suddenly discovered Chappell Roan this month… how do you rate her in the Pop Diva Canon?
My friend Julie introduced me to Chappell Roan in 2021, and I got it… but I didn’t, like, get it, you know? I think it was around SOPHIE’s death, and I wasn’t ready to start listening to new artists. I live for Chappell’s sudden rise from millions of listeners to tens of millions of listeners. Like I don’t know, I just think she’s neat! Love that I can start performing “Hot To Go” and the whole room knows the words. I saw a hit Tweet about how she declined to perform at the White House, and how that sets her up for performing at someone’s inauguration in ten years. Real.
Indeed! By the way, what do friends call you in a social setting when you’re in drag mode: Little? Piece? LP? Something else?
It depends! “Piece” is standard, but that’s not to say that there aren’t a solid handful of people who refer to me as “Little.” LP is fine, but I do love something about one or both of the full words. My biological sister, who DJs all my Philly production–shoutout Eva Italia–recently started calling me Piece out of drag when it’s just us, and I like it.
How did that name come to you?
My original drag name was not Little Piece! It was very corny. I had a chance meeting with Cyndi Lauper, told her the name, and she said it was awful–that it put me in a box. Mind you, I was 19 and only knew I wanted to do drag.
A little over a year later, a friend of mine was getting fucked regularly by this guy. He would have her put her hair in pigtails, then call her his “sexy little piece.” When she told me about it I declared instantly it would be my drag name; I did originally want it to be Sexy Little Piece, but Little Piece is what stuck. I think it suits me well!
Are you a Philly native?
Yes! Born and bred–hopefully tonight! Actually, both my parents are immigrants–my dad is from Sicily, and my mom was from what I think is now Ukraine–so maybe not bred.
Were you always a performer of some sort growing up… and how did your drag journey begin?
I grew up trying to be a child actor, but in that era there were not roles for “boys” like me. I got a few roles in plays here and there–some in Philly, some in NYC, and a pest control commercial–but not too much serious work. It was terrible for my self-esteem, but my mom was living through it vicariously… and we were enmeshed.
The summer of the final Selena Gomez & the Scene album, When the Sun Goes Down, I spent a month at her friend’s place in Brooklyn for an acting workshop. I remember dramatically quitting on the phone with [my mom] to prove a point, after she called me about an email my teacher sent telling her how much of a standout I was. The next year, I started at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative & Performing Arts, but with a major in Creative Writing.
My mom, who had (inappropriately) been my best friend and only artistic supporter, left the next summer to pursue a DJ career. That was the nature of all the adults in my life growing up, though! Everyone was a character, everyone was a narcissist, everyone loved attention. My dad still hosts nightly at our family restaurant, tending to regulars, singing happy birthday, all that. I was raised around entertainers, and was raised to entertain.
In high school, I started producing these (unknowingly) cringe dance videos and posting them on YouTube. They were so overtly queer that parents in my neighborhood starting harassing me and my family about them. Two friends had begged to dance with me in one of them. Reluctantly I said yes, and within a day I wasn’t allowed to see my childhood friends anymore. One of their parents, an accomplished lawyer, threatened me, a 15 year-old, with legal action because of it. Looking back, I was failed by every adult I interacted with! What still gets me to this day is that I was the trademark “parent’s favorite friend” until that video.
The experience ruined my relationship with being on camera. I was genuinely afraid that what was left of my life would be unraveled if I tried to create content again. Existing publicly felt rude. I dove into writing music, applying to music industry programs and eventually landed in Drexel’s Entertainment & Arts Management program. What I learned there was that I am not cut out for academia… but I am a natural at putting together a drag show. I was the only student on the Drexel Drag Show committee that year, and really fucking turned it.
Before I found Drag Race, most of the queer content I consumed was musical. I am technically one of Big Dipper’s sons, in the sense that he was the first loudly queer music artist I got into. Between high school and college I started listening to Chippy Nonstop, Big Freedia, Dai Burger, Big Momma, Cakes da Killa, $WAGGOT, Rye Rye, Alex Chapman, UNIIQU3, and of course all things PC Music–especially Hannah Diamond! Sure, not all of those artists were queer… but their music made me feel okay to be. Listening to them kept hope alive that I would be able to perform to my fullest potential, and be eventually be appreciated for it.
I started watching Drag Race-related content right before Season 8 started airing, binging Season 7. Pearl and Trixie were turning it out for me at the time! It was Trixie’s entrance that made me think, “Oh, I like this!” Then it was a lot of Hey Qween, a lot of deep diving on Philly drag instagram, and eventually, All Stars 2. What an incredible year to be a 19 year old gay person thrust into drag fandom. It was the introduction of the finale girl group challenge that solidified drag as my destiny. Clearly, drag was the way I’d get to do my thing my way!
I finally stepped into the Philly drag scene the summer I turned 21. Before, I had attended some outdoor events and amateur nights in drag, and made friends with the fellow drag babies. Once I was of age, though, I was at shows every night I could be out. I wanted to learn, and I needed to network. I earned a spunky reputation for my iconic spiel–something along the lines of “Hi, nice to meet you! My name is Little Piece, and I am a big fan! My Instagram handle is @littledicklegend… L-I-T-T-L-E-D-I-C-K, legend.” then I’d either plug my singles, or ask them something about them. I don’t know, some people absolutely hated it… but those people don’t really work anymore. I also wouldn’t include the “big fan” part if I wasn’t a big fan.
It wasn’t until the next year that I ended up co-producing a monthly show, and I really fell into that! Esteemed wig worker and fellow drag queen JonBenét TrélurTrash started a monthly variety show / open stage with me called “LMAO Clinic” that built up a great returning audience. Still so proud of that.
That is an extraordinary evolution! Philadelphia has seen huge drag successes like Sapphira Cristal on Drag Race, as well as local legends like Iris Spectre and VinChelle. We also have Venus Mystique, another young queen who is working both the Philly and NYC scenes! How might you describe Philly’s drag scene today?
There is no easy way to describe the Philadelphia drag scene, except that it’s very much crabs in a bucket! There aren’t a lot of spaces open to having drag shows at all, even with the growing demand. At my home bar, Franky Bradley’s, all events are self-produced. They give us the room, the bartender, the barback, and the stage. We have to fill in and pay for the rest. I’m working hard to keep $5 First Fridays profitable, which the manager recently asked I start producing weekly towards the end of the summer. It’s hard to break into the scene here, and even harder to find something regular.
The scene is varied and welcoming, but there isn’t much room for growth. I’m extremely privileged to have been able to leverage my online success into the local platform I have, and I don’t take that for granted. I hope this doesn’t sound totally pessimistic! Philly drag is just going through some growing pains right now.
Communting between New York and Philadelphia isn’t really a short trip! How do you handle that?
It’s not as bad as it seems; buying early bird / late night Amtrak tickets in advance can be the same price as a bus ticket, and those trains are pretty comfortable! I find the work worth it, in efforts to build a name for myself as a two-city twirler.
Might you become a more permanent NYC fixture down the road?
I could totally see myself moving to New York in the years to come! For now, family keeps me here. At the end of the day, no matter where I go, I will always rep Philly.
I could never have expected New York City to embrace me the way that y’all have over the past couple years. The Str8 to DVD family and Bushwig in particular have really shown me how valued I am as an artist in Brooklyn.
I saw a song and video from you streaming online: “MTCS,” featuring YUNG ONYX and GAYTHEMBO from last year! How fun was recording and filming that?
OMG what amazing time in my life! The whole “MTCS” moment was unreal, but at the same time very real. It was hard to believe, but at the same time correct as fuck. Are you aware of the lore? Like, where the song came from?
No, take me to school!
It started with me posting this video, and just took off from there. Two weeks after this, I dropped the first version of the song while I was headed to Chicago, where I got to work with people I’ve idolized for years. It was a sequence of events that had me blowing up in little drag pockets of the world.
Will we be seeing / hearing more music soon?
Absolutely! No doubt about it. YUNG ONYX just dropped her own new single, “Stella!” I’m so proud of her. I have no doubt that we’ll be collaborating again one day as well. I fucking love a bitchtrack!
On Friday, you’ll be at Soho Playhouse for a session of Paul Curry’s live Dungeons & Dragons events alongside Megami, MissMa’amShe and Sherry Poppins! Can you explain to the muggles what this is about?
Well, sorta kinda! I feel like if someone is reading this feature they’ve definitely heard of Dungeons & Dragons, the iconic fantasy tabletop role playing game. And from what I can tell, we will be playing her live! This is going to be four beautiful women slaying not just the world, but whoever the villain of the day is. I love the game, and am so excited to come and literally play for this audience. RPGs are my shit! I ran the Pokémon Club in high school.
And then you’ll return to your NYC home base C’mon Everybody–where you and Venus hosted the recurring “Gooped Gagged & Gathered” for several months–for the prior-mentioned “Miss Cxntinental” show on Saturday!
Yes! “GGG” was so sickening, I think Venus and I are going to be able to bring it back later this year with Evangeline–everyone at C’mon Everybody has been super supportive.
Now, Miss Cxntinental? She is going to be unhinged. They booked serious girls ready to twirl pageantically. It’s giving presentation, swimwear, talent, Q&A… full pageant experience. I have no idea what’s in store besides what I’m bringing. I think everyone is treating it like a real competition, lol! Like, this is thee New York Pride Weekend pageant to be at.
It’s actually a huge deviation from what Spindarella and Civilization prepare for “Cxnty Creations” every month! Normally it’s a fully scripted movie or TV parody, which I love to work. They give me a fabulous chance to stretch my creative legs. [That pair] are another two that have been extremely supportive of me as I work more in Brooklyn! I filled in when somebody had to drop out of their October show, and they asked me back for December that night. After December, they invited me to be a permanent cast member of “Cxnty Creations.” It’s an honor to be a part of what they are building.
Speaking of honors, how cool is it that you’ll be a part of Bushwig in September!?
I gagged receiving that acceptance email! After what I would call a very sickening Bushwig debut last year, it means so much to have been accepted in to perform once again. This year, Philly has three other divas making their Bushwig debut! Philadelphia favorites Avery Goodname, Mz. Peaches, and Sir Donyx are all taking the Bushwig stage this year for the first time.
Excellent! Is there anything else coming up for you?
Next month I’ve got some interesting themed shows! On July 13th in Philly, Avery Goodname is having me in “C.L.A.T.,” a show dedicated to music by drag queens. I will definitely be performing some new music there.
Soraya Sis also has me in Brooklyn on my birthday July 20th for a show that has yet to be announced–so stay tuned for that!
Gorge! Okay, last question: What’s your favorite item in drag bag–cosmetic or otherwise?
Okay, I live for this question! I love a good powderpuff + compact to touch up the under eye. The experience of dipping the puff in some bright white eyeshadow and patting it into my face methodically is soothing… to put it lightly.
Happy Pride, Piece!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Little Piece’s upcoming area appearances, and follow her on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
Thotyssey 