We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Domino D’Lorion a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Domino, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
On May 25th, 2020 George Floyd is murdered in Minneapolis. The following weeks are filled with a passionate, and neccessary, uprising worldwide. Whether it was physically, in conversation, in communities, or online; a ripple ripped through every community, and deeply in the Minnesota theater community. Many theatres during this time were frantically looking for ways to address the systematic racism they so intensely witnessed for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. June 4th, 2020, Joe Haj, Artistic Director at The Guthrie Theatre, reached out to a multi-generational group of Black theater artists and educators in the Twin Cities to have a very candid conversation about how systematic racism, how exists at the theatre, and what we felt the neccessary steps were to begin to shift away from it. These conversations lasted for weeks, eventually culminating in the founding of The Minnesota Black Theatre Circle in August 2020. MN Black Theatre Circle worked in partnership with the Guthrie Theater on an initiative to center, elevate and amplify the voices and protests of Minnesota Black theater artists, while also aiming to generate greater equity and inclusion within the Guthrie. In October 2020, MN Black Theatre Circle and the Guthrie began presenting a monthly series of virtual performances by local Black artists. The culmination of these works is the Blackness Is… Arts Festival, intentionally scheduled one year after George Floyd’s death.
As Head of Project Selection and Curation, my team and I reviewed dozens of submissions and selected 13 producing artists to respond to the prompt “What is Blackness?” The result was a dynamic and diverse showcase of theater, music, dance, poetry, and spoken word, as well as opening ceremonies, workshops, and talkbacks that honored the rich history and legacy of Black theater in the Twin Cities.
This is probably the most important project to date that I’ve worked on in my career for a few reasons. First, I remember when I received the email from Joe asking me to join in on the Zoom call, to which I agreed. Not thinking of the significance it would hold later down the road. I graduated from Guthrie’s BFA- Actor Training Program (Class of 2019), and we almost annually had Q&A/discussions with Joe as part of our classes on Monday, so I kind of assumed it was something akin to the nature of that. So when I logged on, I found myself in a (virtual) room with theater elders, mentors, and educators who I looked up to and have learned from, I genuinely thought I received the email by accident. I was barely a year out of school, not sure what I was going to do with my future, barely an adult, in a space with some of the most impactful voices of change and challenge in the Twin Cities; folks I looked up to. Before I could quietly slip out of the call, Joe acknowledged my presence, so now I had to stay. I remember sitting and listening to all of these people I’ve wired with & learned from expressing similar sentiments of being othered and sometimes mistreated in a community we were supposed to feel seen and safe in. I finally gathered the courage to mark my presence verbally by sharing a racial incident I experience in the building, not even a year before. Afterward, I remember tilting my laptop camera a bit. I was shaking so much because I still felt, let’s say, very green in this space. But the same grace, understanding, and comfort I received from everyone on that call is the same energy that we carried as a team when we built the MN Black Theater Circle.
My experience working on this project showed me, not only that I have an impactful voice, but also that it’s worth using, especially when action is put behind it to support it. This experience lead to me stepping away from the theatre for a full year to expound upon what I learned from working on this project, but also what I learned about myself while working with such amazing people on this project.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I always joke that the only things that brought me to Minnesota were Prince & The Guthrie BFA. Originally from Chicago, I graduated high school, from The Chicago Academy for the Art, as a Musical Theatre Major & with interest in business (as I was the President of our Entrepreneurship Team my senior year). I never thought I’d be in theatre/acting as the only artistic exposure I really had as a kid was finger paint and toilet roll sculptures I used to sell at church for $0.25-$1 each. Although like many paths I’ve taken, theatre arts & performance found me, I fell in love with it, and pursued it fiercely post-junior high, leading me to where I am today. I have worked around the Twin Cities in multiple capacities, as I enjoy learning a lot. So I find myself being asked to take part in projects (ex. MN Black Theatre Circle) that I don’t necessarily feel qualified for, yet I teach myself the skills I need to make sure I am. I’ve appeared in Hit the Wall (Mixed Precipitation), After the Fires (Transatlantic Love Affair), and most notably my award-winning original play STOOPIDITY (Minnesota Fringe Festival). In addition, I’ve taught at Northwestern University’s National High School Institute and the Guthrie Theater.
I hold many hats in my career now, from being a stage manager to a PA to a DEI consultant and more, but predominately I am a freelance Drag Queen & Actor in the Midwest. As of the last year, I’ve been exclusively working as a Drag Queen working for companies like Flip Phone Events, private events & several local venues around the twin cities. Working as a professional Drag Queen, I feel has expounded upon my theatrical training, but has also introduced me to other ventures I’ve found fulfilling; like sewing & costume construction, wig sculpting and styling, and music mixing. I make about 90% of all my own outfits, wigs, mixes, props, you name it!
When I’m not performing I’m either making commissions for other people or doing one of my favorite things; giving PE, VIP, or Ulitmate Tours of Paisley Park Studios, better known as, Prince’s house. My daytime gig when I’m not being a Queen, is as a Tour Guide at Paisley Park, providing experiences of all things Prince for folks all around the world.
Currently, as the Reigning Flip Phone Superstar 2022, I have been traveling for drag and performing in places like Chicago, Des Moines, & L.A., but in 2023 I plan to return to the theater and build upon the growth I’ve had during & post-pandemic, integrating the community work I’ve done with the Guthrie with my experience as a Drag Queen to build safer and more exciting spaces, exposure, & opportunities for Afro-Boriqua’s, like myself, and other BIPOC artists alike. Which is probably the biggest driving force behind anything I do, generating space and representation for QUEER BIPOC bodies.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I was accepted into the UMN/Guthrie Theatre Actor Training Program, I was convinced I’d go right into a theater career and stay there forever. Although working with the MN Black Theatre Circle in 2020/2021, I began to think about whether or not I had explored all my options, and honestly, whether I actually wanted to do theater as a performer. In 2020 I lost three people pretty consecutively. One to Covid, One to an asthma attack, and one to a drowning. I began to think about how much I’ve held myself back because of my anxiety, fear of embarrassment, etc. And working with the MNBTC made me think about whether I was utilizing my skills to the fullest potential. So I decided to step away from the theater to give myself time to explore and play. At this time I had also been introduced to the performative aspect of drag and began to explore that area of my creativity, divinity, and identity. This led to me becoming a full-time drag queen, and ultimately being crowned Flip Phone Superstar 2022. During this time away from the theater I feel there was a lot of myself that I had been neglecting, or hiding behind these characters I took on. Ironically, I wasn’t being as honest with myself the same way I was being with my art and characters’ truth. How that worked I have no idea, yet it did. Which led to my step away, which has been fruitful and necessary.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
1. PAY ARTISTS WHAT THEY DESERVE. 2. BE AS CONSCIOUS AND AWARE OF YOUR ARTIST(S) AS YOU ARE ABOUT THE WORK ITSELF, IF NOT, MORE.
3. YOUR SPACES SHOULD BE AT LEAST 80% DIVERSE IN RACE, GENDER, CREED, SEXUALITY, ETC.
4. SPONSOR ARTS THE SAME WAY YOU SPONSOR SPORTS. THEY ARE LITERALLY THE SAME AMOUNT OF WORK.
5. BRING BACK MANDATORY ARTS EDUCATION WITH AN EMPHASIS ON MENTAL HEALTH AND SUPPORT AS PART OF THE CURRICULUM.
6. ANY BOARD OR COMMITTEE SHOULD BE 100% DIVERSE, WITH ACTUAL ARTISTS BEING AT LEAST 50%.
7. GO SEE ART!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hausofcassadine.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladyccassadine/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ladyccassadine/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ladyccassadine
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@ladyccassadine https://linktr.ee/TheDivineSecret
Image Credits
Credit: DARIN KAMNETZ 1. 16 Lady Cummeal-102 2. 311194877_5680693145378555_5355395716500392259_n 3. 320029753_533391045507331_6091596121955432670_n Credit: RYAN COIT 1. 2021-06-24 11_23_33.708-0500 Credit: MICHAEL MCKITT 1. Photo 5_Domino D’Lorion Credit: ALEX WULHUETER 1. Fringe Credit: SCOTT STAFFORD 1. Honey_Logo Credit: DAN NORMAN 1. 78335670_10215047488369575_3074758042005274624_n Credit: DOMINO D’LORION 1. 167666668_137692765024983_5609435398017120660_n