Life

Keith Levy on the creation, ups and downs of his drag persona Sherry Vine

Keith Levy on the creation, ups and downs of his drag persona Sherry Vine

What drives a person to perform in drag? Keith Levy, also known as a drag queen by the name of Sherry Vine (check out her YouTube channel), is here to give us his life story as an answer. For Keith, a single song inspired him to change his life course from acting to drag.

It all began with Ella Fitzgerald’s “Black Coffee.” Keith explains:

My entire life and vision was on this path of being a movie star. And then it was kind of just like, “Oh, there’s this song, ‘Black Coffee,’ this torch song I’ve always wanted to sing.” And I was like, “Well, I can’t really do that as a guy! No one wants to see Keith up there singing this song.” I was like, “Maybe I’m going to do it as this tattered ex-showgirl.” And people really responded to it.

The transition from actor to drag queen was difficult for Keith and involved being honest with himself and his family about what kind of performer he truly wanted to be.

This is Keith’s true LGBTQ story:

“I’m from Driftwood,” a collection of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer stories from all over the world,” appears weekends on LGBTQ Nation. For more true LGBT stories, or to share your own, visit “I’m from Driftwood.”

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