Over the mid-semester break, Nexus was given the spectacular opportunity to interview one of Kirikiriroa’s biggest stars, Rita Menu. The epitome of glamour and grace, Rita shared with us stories about her career and motivations as a drag queen, as well as her experiences on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under’ season three, all while giving Nexus writer Steve Huynh the ultimate drag makeover. Without further ado, let’s get right into it! 

 

Hello and welcome back to our lovely Nexus readers. I’m Steve, and today I will be interviewing the amazing Rita Menu. I will also be receiving my first ever drag transformation. To start off, can you introduce yourself to our readers? 

Of course! Kia Ora, my name is Rita Menu. I am twenty-four years old, and I represented Kirikiriroa on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under’ season three. 

 

For our first question, we wanted to ask about the backstory on how you came up with the name ‘Rita Menu’.  

When I first started doing drag, I didn’t really have an idea of who I wanted to be name-wise. I went to my first local drag show, and after that watched a lot of the drag queens in Hamilton. We all sat around a table the next day (and had a few drinks), and I knew I wanted a name that played on a word. We were throwing out ideas, and then Rita came up. And I thought, “Rita Ora, great singer, great performer”. We through around some names like Rita Bitch, but when we came to Rita Menu I was like “that’s it!”. It’s a play on ‘read a menu’.  

 

 

That’s so cool! So, what influenced or inspired you to pursue this career? 

For me, growing up I really enjoyed watching ‘Drag Race’, and a lot of the queens from the US season resonated with me quite well. And I love performing- I’ve been doing that, pretty much all my life. It was sort of like seeing someone doing it and thinking “I can do that”, and now look where I am! 

 

Having grown up watching drag and being so involved in the community, how do you keep a sense of individuality in your makeup looks? 

That’s a good question. Of course, every face is different. For me, it’s been a journey of learning my face shape, and trying different and new things. Face shapes changes and evolve, and it’s really just about learning what works best for you.  

 

Could you tell us more about your experience on the show? 

I really enjoyed it. I went into the competition knowing I was new, knowing I was young, and I wanted to learn as much from the other queens as well as get critiques from RuPaul and Michelle Visage. For me, anything was positive.  

 

What inspired you to audition for the show? 

When I saw the auditions, I was like “I’m just gonna do it”. Why not, you know? Nobody from Hamilton has been on ‘Drag Race’. Also, a lot of inspiration came from watching Kween Kong. She is someone I look up to because she looks the same as me- a strong brown queen who represents her culture. And so, I was like “if she can do it, I can do it!”. That’s kind of where I was inspired to actually do ‘Drag Race’. 

In fairness, I also did it because I wanted to know the experience of how to do an audition tape. In reality I didn’t think I would get on, and then I got on!   

 

Have you ever incorporated your own culture into any of your performances before? 

Well, although I didn’t make it to the episode, I was going to do the poi for the talent show. It has never been done on “Drag Race’. I had it all planned, but unfortunately, I got sent home just before it happened.  

 

Do you think you’ll do that for a performance in the future? 

I was thinking of doing that for an upcoming show in September, the ‘Glamilton Drag Show’. I’m currently working on what I want to do for that, and recently when I envisage what I want as an artist, it’s been doing more Māori performances.  

 

I really love that, especially as someone who wants to incorporate their own culture into their everyday lives more often. As a final question to wrap up the written segment of this interview, who is your go to artist for performances?  

Anything Beyoncé. I mean, she is the Queen B.  

There are no wrong answers, but that was definitely the right one!   

 

It was an absolute pleasure being able to talk with Rita over the break, and even more so that we were able to see her in action! For more content from this interview, keep your eyes peeled for new posts across our social media. Much love to you Rita, and thank you so much for your time, talent, and company.