What a drag! Self-isolating Aussie queen takes routine online
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[March 31, 2020]
SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian
drag queen has shifted her performances from stage to personal screens
during coronavirus lockdown in Sydney to ensure she's not all dressed up
with nowhere to go.
Penny Tration - born Daniel Floyd - is a professional artist who has
appeared on radio and TV shows. She has also entertained at shopping
malls and corporate functions and, when not in drag, worked for an
airline for 12 years that only recently let her go as the global virus
outbreak grounded flights.
Like many fellow Australians, Tration is in 14 days of mandatory
self-isolation as she was on an overseas holiday. That hasn't stopped
her from attracting a global audience by live streaming her show, "Tration
in Isolation", via Facebook every Friday and Saturday night
"I'm grounded because of the coronavirus. My airline has stopped all
international flights from the 30th of this month (March)," Tration told
Reuters via webcam.
"Now, with the airline not flying, we're all on stand down. No pay. No
prospect of when we will go back," she said, adding that some viewers
sent her donations at the end of the show.
During the largely unrehearsed show, Tration sings, dances and mixes
herself cocktails while answering questions from viewers as they write
in.
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Daniel Floyd, a flight attendant stood down in the fallout of the
coronavirus pandemic, prepares to perform in his drag queen alter
ego for an internet audience during self-isolation at home in
Sydney, Australia, March 27, 2020. Picture taken March 27, 2020 and
from a distance of 4 m or more outside the apartment in accordance
with self-isolation regulations. REUTERS/Loren Elliott
Even when isolation ends in a few days, Tration says she is not
venturing outside anywhere too soon.
"I'm not going out until this virus is under control and I know that
my actions can't impact anyone else. I think, if other people knew
this, when this was all kicking off, they would have done the same,"
she said.
(Reporting by James Redmayne and Jill Gralow; Writing by Melanie
Burton; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
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