Most nowadays would know her as Carrie 'Big Boo' Black from 'Orange Is The New Black', but Lea DeLaria has had an impressively long, colourful and successful career.
The multi-talented star (and first openly gay comic to appear on US TV!) is headed down under to present a performance filled with music and comedy, live on stage: a place Lea says she feels greatly at home no matter where she is.
“The one thing that I feel the most passionate about and the place that I'm more comfortable is in front of a live audience, always,” Lea says. “I'm always happiest when I'm downstage centre belting a B-sharp.”
“I love watching an audience, I love making an audience change its mind. I love the respect that I get from an audience and the give-and-take, there's nothing like it.”
This is no surprise to hear when you take even a brief look at the performer's accolades and experiences over the years. She's received Obie and Theater World Awards, a Drama Desk nomination, an Ovation nomination, she's performed in places like Lincoln Centre, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl and our own Sydney Opera House.
Audiences can expect a hybrid of smooth, jazzy tunes broken up by Lea's trademark brand of comedy: fiery, fast and – straight from the performer's mouth – “very vulgar and in-your-face. Australians get that.”
Lea loves Australia. She's already been here this year as part of the Netflix float at the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras.
“It was so much fun,” she reflects. “I've been to all the great world Prides. This was one I hadn't done... The entire city comes out for it, if not country! There's rainbows everywhere.”
“The GAYTM thing made me scream, I loved it so much. It was so unapologetically gay. Just, as queer as it could get. It made me so happy.”
In 2013, 'Orange Is The New Black' premiered on Netflix and although Lea had already made a name for herself in the entertainment industry, the show projected her to a new level of recognition with a new generation of pop culture absorbers.
Throughout her career, Lea says one of her biggest challenges has been to not sign on to do anything homophobic.
“I would be offered things that I felt were clearly homophobic and I'd say no,” she admits. “What I do now is that I say yes, but I go on set and change it. I have this new tactic now where it's like 'we're going to keep this gay character but we're going to change what she says and what she does'.”
When it comes to how Lea presents off camera and away from a character, she's unashamedly herself. Her live show is crafted intelligently so that you're not spending the entire night laughing uncontrollably... You get a breather from comedy thanks to Lea's smooth jazz vocals. She'll be performing jazz versions of David Bowie tunes and picks from her handful of jazz albums over the years.
“People can only take [laughter] for a very small amount of time before they're like 'it's too much! I'm being assaulted!'... You gotta give them a break. This show is very music-centric.”
It's always interesting to hear a performer answer the question 'what would you like your audiences to think once they leave your show?'. Every answer is different. True to her unfiltered and outspoken nature, Lea doesn't disappoint with her response.
“...That they want to have sex with me. 'Man, I wanna f*** her'. That's what I want audiences to think.”
Lea DeLaria Tour Dates
5 June – Queensland Performing Arts Centre7 June – Melbourne Recital Centre
9 June – City Recital Hall (Sydney)
