Local drag queen Susie Starlet calls herself the “auntie” of the Milwaukee drag collective Haus of Fiend, which she regularly shares shows with. She’s also the founder/host of The Serve, a monthly drag revue at Cactus Club that aims to give burgeoning local drag artists a welcoming debut. A self-described “DIY queen,” Starlet styles her drag after fashionable Gen Z and millennial nightlife looks she sees in Milwaukee and Chicago clubs. Outside of drag, Starlet works in vintage fashion.
On May 28, The Serve revue will be an actual competition, one with a specialty judges panel. It’s the revue’s second contest since it launched in summer 2025. Alongside her hopes for the fresh batch of queens at the show, Starlet discussed with Milwaukee Magazine where Milwaukee’s queer community is finding spaces to gather despite a string of recent venue closures, why many drag artists are shifting to Chicago, and why drag matters in 2026.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Tell us about the structure and goals of The Serve.
We need more people in the scene. We want more diversity, period. Every Wednesday at This Is It! was an open stage, basically. You had to know the host, Bailey, and she’d get you in the show. It could be your first time in drag; it could be your 50th time in drag. It really didn’t matter. But when [it] closed, there was no space for new performers.
[I wanted] to provide that space back in Milwaukee. So, the competitions are to see who is out there that we’re not seeing, who in Milwaukee is not getting booked. We want to see what you can do.How are you feeling about The Serve’s impact so far?
I was a bit nervous at first. The Serve itself is a beginner show, but there has to be something there. I’m hoping that each one of these girls has at least that one thing – her outfit was amazing, her performance, her on the mic. I just want one thing to say, “Oh, yeah, this is gonna be your [specialty], and that’s totally great.”
What was your first drag performance?
I started drag in my bedroom when I lived in Illinois. [In college] I started going out in drag. That’s how I met some queens. If you go out in drag, you’re treated as one of their own, even if they don’t know you. There’s a sisterhood about it.
I first did a “tip kitten” spot – picking up dollars for the girls at This Is It!. I ventured out to Madison because they had more open stages. My first performance, I was in a little lingerie bikini set, a blunt bang wig, and just lipstick, mascara. I was very into La Veneno at the time, so I did a Spanish song at a fully non-Spanish bar.
Which drag artists inspire you?
I was really inspired by Violet Chachki, Jorgeous and Valentina. Locally, Yufie and Princess Janelza.
How did you learn all the components of styling?
No one tells you. You learn by getting bullied in the dressing room. … [Someone once] told me that I look like a bag of bread. I had to realize she’s talking about the costume; she’s not talking about me.
What’s your process of getting ready at the venue?
I’ll put my wig on first and then do my makeup, which I have not seen a lot of queens do, and they make fun of me for it. But it’s because then I can see where things are going! I don’t want my eyebrow to be in my hairline! … I would say most of us are just in comfortable clothing before we get to the gig, though. Usually, you don’t want people to see [your outfit] before a performance.
Why are local drag performers leaving for Chicago?
We’re trying to venture into new places to work. There’s only a handful of [local] bars that book drag performers, and in all honesty, [many of them] are not true drag bars or gay bars. We’re performing in some queer concert spaces, which is interesting, but there’s something about a gay bar. It was like stuff [was] drying up in Milwaukee.
What do you want to see change in Milwaukee’s drag scene/queer night life?
I think we lost the gay male audience. And I love the lesbians, the queers, the nonbinaries and [transgender community], because that’s who gets us. But at the same time, there has to be everyone here. I need gay boys to lock in and support local drag.
Times are tough economically, but I also need the bars to start paying us [beyond what we make from tips]. We bring in a lot of people to the bars, and some just do not work with us as much as I would like them to.
On the same note, there’s some gay bars who do not care about drag – not just the bar themselves, but the audience. We need people to care about drag, especially in Milwaukee. Not only This Is It! closed, but Hamburger Mary’s closed [with plans to reopen in another location], which a lot of people were performing at. It’s getting harder and harder for bars to stay open, so it’s kind of all hands on deck.
What does drag mean to you?
The community aspect. Especially as queer youth, [it matters] to know that others value what they value. It’s motivational to see yourself in someone else. “I’m gay, too. I love all this. Thank goodness I’m not alone.” That’s what made me fall in love with drag: that feeling that I’m never alone. There’s always someone in the bar I knew from performing, or vice versa. That helps me, and it helps the community, giving us spaces. I really think of The Serve as a third space.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Support young Milwaukee drag and book us [new] girls, too!
