Celebrating LGBTI+ pride with the cast of Kinky Boots: Daniel Downing

In our second Pride interview with the cast of Kinky Boots, Daniel Downing talks to us about how the amateur theatre community helped him to discover his personality and sexuality, why he considers his sister a hero, and his dreams of one day becoming a family man (if our country can get its act together and legally allow the option to LGBTI+ citizens, that is…)

With which aspect of the q*eer community do you identify?

I’m a gay male within the LGTBI+ community.

What is your role (onstage or backstage) in Kinky Boots?

I’m one of the male swings, covering the six angels and the six male factory workers.

What are your pronouns?

Him.

Could you please outline your “Pride” story?

I came out to my friends first at the age of 19, and my parents about six months later. I was lucky enough to have an older sister who had already come out and been openly accepted, so I knew it wouldn’t be a problem for those around me. I think I always knew I was attracted to men as well as women from a young age, but as I grew older, I found myself being attracted more frequently to men. I think I just hated the label of “gay”, otherwise I would have “come out” earlier. The fact that I felt pressured by society to have to label myself as gay or straight when I wasn’t ready actually pushed me back “in the closet” (for want of a better phrase!). It wasn’t until I finished drama school and learnt that the only person it was a big issue for was me that I came to terms with just being who I was rather than feeling the need to hide.

Why do you believe so many people in the LGBTI+ community gravitate towards working in the theatre industry?

There seems to be a level of acceptance within the theatre industry. Being creative and open as a performer, designer, director, creative – anyone involved with the theatrical process – is integral to a successful product. Adaptability seems to be part and parcel of a theatrics life and career, which is potentially why people from every aspect of life are more commonly accepted within the industry. I can only talk about my experiences within the last seven years of being in the industry, but my experience has been with people who are open (or are at least willing to learn) to accept people of different race, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender.

Has there been a time in your life where you felt as though participating in theatre helped you to make sense of your gender or sexuality?

Being involved in the amateur theatre circuit in my home town from a young age opened my eyes to the possibility of being gay. I think I was probably similar to a lot of other people when I knew I liked both men and women, I just didn’t know there was a “label” for it. But, during my teenage years, I was surrounded by more and more of the LGTBI+ community and I started noticing their similarities and interesting personalities that I found really easy to connect with in an incredibly safe environment. I had my first kiss (both male and female), my first big party, my first alcoholic drink – all within this amateur theatre community. Cutting to me being involved in shows like Priscilla and Kinky Boots where their messages are so clearly about acceptance and individuality, I think my own acceptance involving who I am has become a lot easier after being involved with such an industry.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BMWSa7Uj-_w/?taken-by=danielpdowning

Have you ever seen yourself or aspects of yourself portrayed in a character in a musical/play?

I think if a character within a show is written well, we should all be able to relate to at least one aspect or part of them. One that springs to mind though is Tick/Mitzi from Priscilla – Queen of the Desert (the character Hugo Weaving played in the movie!) I’ve just finished playing the role overseas and it was such a joy and pleasure to be on stage in the role because I felt it was so close to home. Tick is a gay man on a mission to meet his ten year old son, a sensitive, honest and worldly gay man who’s been through his fair share of ups and downs in his life… Basically exactly where I like to see myself in ten to fifteen years’ time.

What inspiration do you take from Kinky Boots about your own q*eer identity? Have you learned anything from the characters in the show?

As a performer, we are constantly trying to be better, to change ourselves to fit whatever role we’re auditioning for next. The character of Lola in Kinky Boots changes for no one. She is so comfortable and strong within herself. I think I have really learnt a lot from this particular character. I’ve adopted the phrases “You do you…” and “stay in your own lane”. There is so much negativity and influence within the modern world that it’s easy to get lost and not stay true to what you really feel within yourself (as much as that sounds incredibly cheesy!) I think this really rings true, particularly with Lola.

Do you believe that Kinky Boots has the power to influence audience members when it comes to issues of gender or sexuality?

As a swing, I’m often lucky enough to watch the show from the audience (yes, for free!) in order to learn the twelve roles I cover. I sat in the audience of the second preview amongst a group of 60- something year old ladies. During one of the more sensitive, heartfelt moments of the first act where Lola (or Simon at that point of the show) is explaining his troubled relationship with his father, the woman next to me broke down. I then overheard her saying to her friends at interval, “I didn’t think I’d ever be moved so much”. I think that sentiment speaks for itself. Kinky Boots might not be fighting fires or performing heart surgery, but it’s certainly changing how people think and feel, and I think that’s incredibly important.

What message do you hope questioning audience members will take away from Kinky Boots?

I hope they walk away understanding that acceptance of the LGTBI+ community doesn’t mean that they have to change the way they live their lives, it simply means that they learn to let us live our own. We aren’t asking for everyone to walk around in high heels and wear sequins, we’re simply asking that they let us do it in peace!

Why is Kinky Boots important to you?

To be honest, I’ve always wanted to be a drag queen!! My older sister always dressed me up as a girl (she cried when she found out I was a boy)! and so I think it’s always been in my destiny. But putting all of the glitz and glam of the show aside, I think the message is so incredibly important and poignant, particularly in relation to the acceptance and understanding of the LGBTI+ community that I proudly belong to.

America was going through the gay marriage battle when Kinky Boots premiered on Broadway, and now the show is premiering in Australia while the same issue is in the spotlight. Do you have any advice for theatre people who might be struggling at the moment, or even those who are opposed to same-sex marriage?

It’s my dream to marry a man I love and have a family, all in my native country of Australia.

I hate the term “same-sex marriage” or “gay marriage”. It’s just marriage. It’s the union of two people (I don’t care what gender or combination of genders this union encompasses) who love each other and want to live the rest of their lives together. On Masterchef, when Matt Preston comments on the marriage of the gravy to the roast chicken, he isn’t saying that the gravy is female and the roast chicken is male, he’s saying that the two are basically made for each other – that they’re perfect counterparts, complementing each other beautifully. That’s what marriage is. I probably sound absolutely crazy comparing marriage equality to a Sunday Roast, but I think the debate on marriage equality that continues to be unresolved is just as crazy. I won’t go into statistics of divorce between the “conventional marriage” unions, because it’s a broken record that is all too often played. What I will say is that allowing marriage for the LGTBI+ community doesn’t degrade or tarnish any of the already standing “conventional marriages”. It simply opens up the option of happiness to the rest of us that is available to the [majority] of the population, and that can’t possibly be a bad thing! I don’t think anyone should have the power to deny another human of happiness. I would also invite anyone who is struggling at the moment with these ideas to come and see Kinky Boots and then come have a chat with me at stage door after the show if they’re still struggling, because I’d be fascinated to know how or why!

For those who are within the industry that may be struggling with their own identity or sexuality, I can guarantee that there is someone right there who has been through similar things and are there to support and nurture your journey. It’s an incredibly lonely feeling that a large percentage of the industry has either gone through, is currently going through, or will go through in the future – you are never alone.

Same-sex marriage is the public issue for LGBTI+ people at the moment, are there any other governmental/social changes you believe need to be made in Australia to make the lives of rainbow people better?

I was severely bullied as a primary school student, and it was at a catholic primary school […]. Safe Schools is essential. I was lucky enough to have an incredibly supportive family waiting for me at home every day after school, but I know that there are children who aren’t quite so lucky. There needs to be some form of protection for kids who aren’t as lucky as I was with my home support network. It’s so important for kids to be nurtured and accepted from a young age (hopefully from birth) and the fact that the government has taken such an essential element to this being more possible is a crime.

Cyndi, Harvey, and Jerry all stand out as q*eer icons in pop culture or the theatre world, what has it been to like to work with the material they created? Did you admire any celebrity that was linked with the LGBTI+ world growing up?

My older sister wasn’t a celebrity in the world’s eyes, but she was in mine. She is the reason I am performing today. I used to go and watch her at drama eisteddfods and be so upset that I wasn’t performing too. Decades later, she “came out”, to me first, and then to my parents as the strong, independent woman of the LGTBI+ community that she remains to be today. She doesn’t know it (because I’ve never told her), but her strength and power are what made it so easy for me to “come out” as well.

Kinky Boots is currently playing in Melbourne and can be seen until the end of January. A Sydney season in 2017 was announced this week, with tickets for both seasons to be purchased here.