Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tony Lewis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I used to run a theater company in Chicago, just after I had graduated college in 2005. I started to adapt the classic Shakespeare play A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. I decided to explain one unexplained part of the story: why a father chooses one man for his daughter over another man. How did I explain this? I made one of them a woman, thus thrusting a very queer take on the well-known comedy. I added a lawful decree against homosexuality and suddenly this play from over 400 years ago seemed very current. I rushed to get the script produced because my naive 24-year-old self thought the fight for queer rights and queer marriage would only be around for a short amount of time, as I saw signs of change in the country/world.

I produced that show for 4 consecutive summers, becoming one of the most meaningful works of art I have ever created and directed. Now, almost 20 years later, the fight against queer people has not ended and in certain parts of the community, the fight has only increased. I am now very excited to bring back this story to my company in Louisville, KY (Drag Daddy Productions) this summer. Going into an election, the messages of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: A QUEER TALE couldn’t be more important.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born in Louisville, KY and after almost 20 years in Chicago, my husband and I decided to move to my hometown in 2018. I started to produce a couple shows locally, and soon after, Drag Daddy Productions was formed with me as the Executive Director. With a focus on creating theatrical opportunities for Trans, Drag, Queer and Ally artists, and an effort to create stories to be enjoyed by the LGBTQIA+ community, we began to produce fairy-tale parodies such as SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DRAG QUEENS, TWINKIE AND THE BEAST and ALICE DERBYLAND. With the success of these styles of shows, we started to work on adapting and producing book musicals as well such as JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH. And moving forward, we plan to continue to tell uniquely queer stories with an upcoming summer production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and then the tragic Holocaust play, BENT, coming this fall.

With an additional focus on equitable pay for performers, we strive to make the arts a more sustainable part of the lives of all who dedicate their time to performing in our productions. Not all local theaters offer payment for performers (some none at all) but for us it is important for us to ensure that our talent is paid for the many, many hours they dedicate to out projects.

Drag Daddy Productions also partners with local Pride, Activism and Religious organizations in efforts to create a beautiful, safe and rich queer community in Louisville, while creating some very exciting and impactful theater. In 2023 we became a not-for-profit and now our mission to create opportunities for queer people in Louisville leads us in all our endeavors.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I have been directing shows since I was 11 years old in my grandmother’s basement. Every year I would gather my cousins days before Christmas (much to their chagrin) and we would create a holiday play, penned by me. In retrospect my aunts and uncles all owe me some babysitting funds for occupying all that time so they could enjoy their cocktails in peace. But bringing people together, even from a young age, was always the most rewarding part of being a theater creator (and still is).

In my adult life as a director I have seen countless friendships formed, drag queen careers started and connections made that would change the course of lives. Seeing these things forged out of a projects I helmed always leaves me so happy and fulfilled. I may not go down in the history books as a Broadway director or movie star like I had once dreamed, but I wouldn’t change anything knowing all the lives I have touched from the first person I asked to wear a wig to the queer kid in Louisville who sees some hope watching one of our shows,

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Collaboration, not competition. I think in arts communities, especially in mid-size cities like Louisville, there’s an urge to view your peers as competition, coveting audience members and looking for others to fail so that one may rise. In my mind, that is never how one rises or in any case, should rise..

As the old phrase goes: A rising tide lifts all boats. Since forming Drag Daddy Productions, it has been a big goal of ours to bring together the many, many theater companies in Louisville. By celebrating Pride celebrations and other events together, sharing advertisements and resources and actively collaborating on projects with one another, the Louisville theater community grows in a beautiful way as the rising tide “raises all the boats”. Successful cities have thriving arts scenes, and in order to achieve that (in my opinion) is through a fierce effort to collaborate as artists.

In addition, a thriving creative eco-system can only happen with patrons to hard-working local artists, so I encourage people to take a chance and buy a ticket to a local show as opposed to catching the Broadway tour coming through town. Go buy a painting from a local artist as opposed to grabbing a print from Target. If you want your city to have a thriving arts scene, you have to be a part of that patronage, not just wish it so.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dragdaddy.pro
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dragdaddyproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dragdaddyproductions

Image Credits
Josh Tyson, Jordan Pantoja, Matthew Pruitt