Saturday Night Live has drag fever. Not even a month after the cast did a sketch revolving around RuPaul’s Drag Race, Katy Perry invited several New York City-based drag queens and club kids to help her perform her new single, “Swish Swish.” Billboard talked to one of those performers, Brenda Dharling, about the auditioning process and Katy’s surprisingly strong handshake.
How did this performance come about?
Milan from RuPaul's Drag Race sent me an email saying that there was a gig on SNL and they're having auditions. I sent in my information and got invited to audition. I did a little improv for the choreographer, and the rest was history. I booked the gig. We didn't find out it was Katy Perry until we actually got there.
Did you rehearse with Katy beforehand?
Yeah, we rehearsed with Katy on Wednesday night. She flew in super late. We were rehearsing all day and they kept saying, “She's coming, she's coming.” It was like midnight when she finally got there. But we had a lead rehearsal and then we had a tech rehearsal with her at SNL studio.
