By Megan Wadding, Feb. 26, 2015.
Kenneth Blake and Andrew Ryan both formerly called Arizona home, they’re both female impersonators by trade and they’ll both return to the Valley this weekend as part of Divas starring Frank Marino.
Echo caught up with the divas ahead of their three shows at Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale to talk about their journeys to the Las Vegas stage. (Read more about Divas Starring Frank Marino here.)
Kenneth Blake, age 44
Kenneth Blake. Courtesy photo.
Echo: What part of Arizona did you grow up in?
Blake: I was born in Kansas and I moved to Arizona when I was four and was there until I was 16 or 17. I moved back to Kansas then when my parents sold their property in Arizona and I graduated high school in Kansas, but then moved back to Arizona in 1989 and was there until 2004. So, I had three years of high school at Canyon del Oro [in Oro Valley, Ariz.].
Echo: Did you always know you were meant to be a performer?
Blake: I come from an entertainment family. My father was in the entertainment industry, so I’ve been performing since I was 3 or 4 years old. I started as a vocalist and I was a member of the Tucson Boys’ Chorus in Tucson and toured with them for several years.
Echo: How did you first get involved in female impersonation?
Blake: I discovered female impersonation through theater. For my 16th birthday, my mother bought me tickets to see a musical and that’s when I decided that was something that might interest me. Basically, I just studied it on my own, sort of in secret. Once I was back in Arizona, I continued to pursue female impersonation through the pageant system in Arizona. I was actually Miss Gay Tucson in 1997, Miss Gay Arizona American in 1998 and Miss Gay Western States America in 2001. Tucson basically gave me my start in female impersonation.
Echo: How did you end up in the Divas show? What led up to you being cast for it?
Blake: I auditioned for Norbert Aleman who owned An Evening at La Cage in Las Vegas at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. I auditioned for him as Madonna and was given the job doing Madonna, Dolly Parton and the finale of the show called What Makes a Man a Man. I was there from 2004 until its closing in 2009. Right now I portray Madonna and Dolly Parton; I just retired from doing What Makes a Man a Man last October. I also do Lady Gaga.
Echo: Why did you retire from What Makes a Man a Man?
Blake: I decided to let someone else take that on for a while. I had done it for 12 years and it was time. It’s a lot of makeup to go through. You actually de-drag in front of the audience in under five minutes. We just take it a step further and it brings our show full circle. We want everyone to know that we come to work as gentlemen and we leave as gentlemen.
Echo: What is your process for learning and becoming a character?
Blake: I actually won’t put anything on stage until I’ve studied a person for a minimum of four to six months. The costuming has to be right because it’s not just the physical look you have to recreate. It’s the walk and the mannerisms. That takes a lot of time.
Echo: Who helps your get ready for the show? Do you have anyone doing your hair and makeup?
Blake: All of the cast members do their own makeup. I make all of my own costumes for the show. Some of the things I send out that are beyond my ability. [My mother] used to make all of my costumes and then she taught me how to sew.
Echo: What is the hardest part and the easiest part of being in a Las Vegas show?
Blake: I make the joke that the hardest part of being in a show in Las Vegas is keeping it fresh. You can’t get lazy. You have to change it up. The easiest part of the show is the exact same answer. I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to do every night or what I’m going to wear every night because it’s the same structure.
Echo: What do you think is the key to Divas being such a successful show?
Blake: We try to bring in a new character or change the music of an existing character at last every two years. If there is a hot new diva out there, we try to bring her into the show. Recently, we’ve added Pink and Katy Perry. Our show has something for everybody. We have Bette Midler, Cher and Dolly Parton, but also Britney Spears and Lady Gaga.
Echo: Do you enjoy taking the show on the road?
Blake: It’s a lot of work to go on the road. I do enjoy it because it’s kind of a paid vacation. It’s a lot of work to travel with a show of this size when you have dancers and female impersonators and lighting; I wouldn’t want to do a traveling show fulltime.
Echo: What do you do in your free time?
Blake: I do costuming and hair, because it’s something I enjoy doing. But whenever I have a day off, I like to relax. I have a wonderful relationship with my mother. We just bought a house together in Las Vegas. I’m a single parent. I have two great dogs, Zoey and Gunne, that are my children.
Echo: Are you looking forward to coming back to Arizona do the show?
Blake: Working six days a week, we don’t get too much time to vacation, so I don’t get back to Arizona as often as I’d like to. I’m looking forward to going to Phoenix. I haven’t been back in a few years.