Miss Understood
Encyclopedia
Miss Understood is an American
drag queen
originally from Levittown
, New York
, who has been based in New York City since the late 1980s. She was a prominent figure in the East Village
drag scene of the early 1990s which revolved around the legendary Pyramid Club
and Wigstock
, an annual open air drag festival. Her film and television appearances include The Brenda and Glennda Show, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
, HBO's Dragtime, TLC's Faking It, Wigstock, The Movie, Project Runway
, and Sex and the City
. In Josh Kilmer-Purcell
's New York Times Bestselling Memoir I'm Not Myself These Days, one of the first competitions that Kilmer-Purcell's enters is one of Miss Understood's, in East Village's Lucky Chengs.
In 1994, Miss Understood started a drag queen booking agency called Screaming Queens Entertainment, for which she acts as "CEO and Spokesmodel." The company was developed to showcase some of the outrageous personalities Miss Understood encountered in her early days. "When I first went clubbing, I was stunned by what I saw: a whole world of surreal looking characters that never left their homes before midnight. I had seen people dressed in drag before, but in New York, drag meant something totally different. It wasn't necessarily about passing as a woman, but about looking outrageous, feeling fabulous, and getting attention." Prominent events for which Screaming Queens provided entertainment include George Stephanopoulos
's bachelor party
, Blaine Trump's Valentine's Day dinner, Barbra Streisand
's Farewell Concert VIP dinner, the Hugo Boss
Christmas party; and New York Magazine's 30th anniversary, amongst others.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
originally from Levittown
Levittown, New York
Levittown is a hamlet in the Town of Hempstead located on Long Island in Nassau County, New York. Levittown is midway between the villages of Hempstead and Farmingdale. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a total population of 51,881....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, who has been based in New York City since the late 1980s. She was a prominent figure in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
drag scene of the early 1990s which revolved around the legendary Pyramid Club
Pyramid Club
__notoc__The Pyramid Club is a nightclub in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. After opening in 1979, the Pyramid helped define the East Village drag and gay scenes of the 1980s...
and Wigstock
Wigstock
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in the 1980s in New York's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Traditionally the festival would act as the unofficial end to the summer for the gay community of New York City...
, an annual open air drag festival. Her film and television appearances include The Brenda and Glennda Show, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is a 1995 American comedy film, starring Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo as three New York drag queens who embark on a road trip...
, HBO's Dragtime, TLC's Faking It, Wigstock, The Movie, Project Runway
Project Runway
Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme...
, and Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
. In Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Josh Kilmer-Purcell is an American writer. In 2006 Harper Perennial published I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir, a tragicomic account of Kilmer-Purcell's early days in New York City, living as an advertising art director by day and a drag queen named "Aquadisiac" by night...
's New York Times Bestselling Memoir I'm Not Myself These Days, one of the first competitions that Kilmer-Purcell's enters is one of Miss Understood's, in East Village's Lucky Chengs.
Screaming Queens Entertainment
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news...
's bachelor party
Bachelor party
A bachelor party , also known as a stag party, stag night or stag do , a bull's party , or a buck's party or buck's night , is a party held for a man shortly before he enters marriage, to celebrate his "last night of freedom" or merely to spend...
, Blaine Trump's Valentine's Day dinner, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
's Farewell Concert VIP dinner, the Hugo Boss
Hugo Boss
Hugo Ferdinand Boss was the founder of clothing company Hugo Boss.-Early life:Boss was born in Metzingen, Germany. After completing his apprenticeship and one year of employment, he founded his own company in Metzingen in 1923.-Support of Nazism:Boss joined the Nazi Party in 1931, two years before...
Christmas party; and New York Magazine's 30th anniversary, amongst others.