From a “Global All-Stars” review to some Spooky Season gig previews, we are all tuned in to Phoenix Bar’s Tella Novela! [Cover photo: Dante Leach]
Thotyssey: Hey Tella, thanks for chatting during this last bit of Spooky Season! So we have a new newly announced first ever Drag Race Global All Star. Um, this show hasn’t exactly captured the hearts and minds of the fandom the way prior franchise seasons have… any thoughts to share about it?
Tella Novela: My thoughts on the season: glad it’s over! We made it through! It’s been, to be honest, quite disappointing for me. This should have been the heart of Drag Race–everyone coming together and sharing how drag connects us through the world. And the cast was stacked! In no world should we be having a global competition, in 2024, so catered to those who spoke English as their first language. Even less so should we be pushing this narrative in the drag world, the art form meant to embrace any and all.
But I am glad to see how so many of us can join in disappointment. It’s a good sign that we can at least be unified as fans in knowing that this is not what drag is about.
Agreed across the board! And how excited are you for Halloween Proper?
Oh girl! This is my second Halloween as a drag queen–and my first where I finally know how to keep my wig on, lol–so I’m pumped. Keep a look out for the sexiest representation of Baja Blast you’ve ever seen.
Can you describe your drag a bit for the folks who need to know?
I am the sharp-cheeked chola of NYC, inspired by the incredible strong Mexican women I grew up around in California. As a Mexican gay kid, the first ones to stand up for me were my fellow Latinas, but specifically the cholas with the tough exterior–and they looked fab while doing it. So I try to emulate all that in my looks and my numbers: tough, sexy, funny, sassy, and gorgina.
What brought you to New York, and what were some of your first drag experiences here?
I came here for school and have stayed ever since! I might be one of those girlies weaponizing their BFA.
Some of my first drag experiences were in the theatre when I was in school. Everyone seemed to know I was non-binary and a drag queen before I knew. Supportively, they cast me in femme, high energy, dance-the-house-down-boots roles. The one that really clicked was in a production of The Wizard of Oz, where I was the Lion and we rearranged “King of the Forest” to be this incredible sexy, jazzy, burlesque number. And I, with my giant mane wig and lion makeup, was basically a drag queen, lol.
By the way, do you have an all-time favorite telenovela?
OMG, this is officially an exposé. So! I grew up spending all my summers with my Abuela, who moved here from Mexico and always had telenovelas on. But! My dad, being first generation and feeling set back by having English be his second language, made it a point to not teach me Spanish. Everyone in my family speaks it, just not me. So I never understood the telenovelas, nor knew their names.
It’s why I spell my name the way I do, “Tella” with two L’s and “Novela” with one. I make a joke often when introducing myself, saying it’s to “confuse the white people.” But it’s highly representative of my tangled connection with my heritage.
Fascinating! So you’ve got stuff going on and stuff coming up. You and Giardia the Parasite have been in charge of Sunday nights at Phoenix Bar in the East Village for a minute now, and this month you’ve been appropriately screening horror movies! How did you hook up with Giardia… and what been the best movie you’ve shown there so far?
It’s been a blast over at Phoenix; Sundays are popping! Giardia was actually someone that my dear friend, Sara Hatzopoulos, met before I did. Sara was my number one OG supporter, and produced my first regular drag show over at Dream Baby. And Sara was like, “I just saw this cool, stupid, funny queen named Giardia and I think you two would hit it off.” That was two years ago! We asked Giardia, she accepted our booking, and we inevitably formed a bond being two dumb sexy Latinas.
And best movie we’ve screened at Phoenix? Definitely Jennifer’s Body. Iconic. Such quotability. And A+ performances.
And besides Sundays, you and Giardia will be back at Phoenix this Halloween Night for “Halloweenix,” along with DJ Gracenote, Corma Kelley and Taína La Fina! What can the children expect?
Cheap drinks, cheaper looks, and back-to-back gay bops that are guaranteed to keep you dancing all night. This Phoenix family knows how to keep the party going.
What else is coming up for you, or is there anything else you?
Giardia, Taina and I will be hosting our “Tres Leches” night at Club Cumming, but this time it’ll be on November 1st–so we will be celebrating Día de Muertos, the Day of the Dead! It’s gonna be a banging Halloween week, that’s for sure.
Wonderful! Okay, so to combine two themes from tonight’s chat as a closer: is there drag in Space, and would you ever compete on Drag Race: Milky Way if there was?
Thotyssey with the hard hitting questions. Drag must be in Space; you know these aliens get with the gig and do some wild shit. Now, would I ever compete on Drag Race: Milky Way? Absolutely, this Uno Leche has to represent! But only if we’ve moved on from RuPaul’s current production team, lol.
Happy Halloween, Tella!
Check Thotyssey’s calendar for Tella Novela’s upcoming appearances, and follow her on Instagram.
Thotyssey 