Barbie Q on artistry, community and resilience in the wake of Dolly Parton’s passing.

By Bethany Stopher

It’s a cold Thursday night in Northbridge. The city is in the kind of lulled state that makes most want to retreat to their beds. However, Connections nightclub is humming, upstairs accessed via an arching rainbow neon light sign, sandwiched between a kebab shop and a GYG Mexican eatery. Despite the dreary weather, there is a small but enthusiastic crowd gathered on the glowing tiled dance floor. It’s Dragathon time, where amateur drag artists compete for cash prizes and the audience’s affection.

The brain behind the event is the-one-and-only Barbie Q. The Connections entertainment manager, 2024 Proud Awards Hall of Fame inductee and a drag queen with 28 years of experience and an abundance of accolades under her belt, she is considered to be a formidable force in the drag community. She understands the importance of open stage nights better than anyone. Her career jump-started from winning her first drag competition in 1998, something she entered in an endeavour to secure her rent money after losing her regular job.

Until he was eleven, Matthew McPharlin lived in the rural town of Walpole, a town Barbie Q describes as a ‘you blink and you’ll miss it’ stop on the way to Albany. The small community revolved around the local sports teams and school kids tossed slurs around in the yard. McPharlin already sensed he was somehow different from his peers. Yet, he describes his childhood as a happy one, surrounded by music; all his family played guitars and sang, and they attended local gigs.

There was one musician who stood out from the rest. When he was around five years old, McPharlin’s Nanna introduced him to the country artist Dolly Parton. He recalls sitting in front of the television as a little boy, with his mother’s tea towel thrown over his head to resemble long hair, singing along to Parton’s program and strumming his makeshift guitar (his brother’s ruler.)

“She’d always sing I Will Always Love You at the end. And whenever she would, I would be like ‘I will always love you too’ and I’d wave at the TV.”

This love had a lasting impact on McPharlin, as both a person and an artist, from the large tattoo on his right forearm to award-winning Dolly Parton drag shows.

Parton was also an inspiration behind the creation of McPharlin’s Barbie Q drag persona. Reflecting on it, he says it was a long process that felt emotionally like the birth of a new character.

“I always loved Barbie dolls, and I always loved Dolly Parton. I always loved Madonna. I always liked the girls that were different.”

In 2005, McPharlin took a break from Drag performance to work as a male dancer in the USA for Princess Cruises. He was used to performing, having studied dancing since he was 13 years old. Still, the strenuousness of the job exceeded his expectations, as he performed all styles of dance in tricky conditions.

“That was some of the hardest things I’ve ever done and some of the most beautiful costuming and tech. You’re on a cruise ship that’s rocking through the water, but your stages are like revolving and raising up into the roof.”

So, when he returned to Perth in 2010 and was recruited by Connections as the club’s entertainment manager, not only did McPharlin have couches to crash all over America, he also had an intensified passion for production.

As entertainment manager, McPharlin directs every step of the process, choregraphing, planning and even designing costumes despite his self-professed ‘terrible’ drawing skills. He emphasises the importance of incorporating all different styles and expressions, even if it is outside of his preference. His main passion lies in production, and the sense of community group acts provide.

“I think a lot of people think that I just get to put the show together and put myself in a show and do whatever, but it’s so much more than that.

“I’m a hard boss. I’m a good boss, but I’m hard. Watching all these artists that I can push to get the best out of them just gives me everything. That’s the best part for me.”

Connections employee Josh Cole, also known as ‘The Sexy Bin Chicken’, defines themselves as a drag thing, as they are neither a king or queen, but both or something in between.

They first encountered Barbie Q performing at her 25^th anniversary show, to a remix of Barbie Girl by Aqua, and were enthralled.

“I can remember where I was stood.”

Cole praises Barbie Q for her effort and care, saying those traits are what make drag brilliant.

“I would never say this to her face,” they laugh, “but she kind of is really like the Dolly Parton.”

In the dreamy atmosphere of a gay nightclub, it is easy to forget the violences the queer population face. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimate LGBTQIA+ Australians make up almost 5 per cent of the population, yet have only this year been validated in the census. Human Rights Watch lists 67 countries that still criminalise same-sex relations between consenting adults.

McPharlin sticks by Parton’s “I don’t do politics” rule.

“I’m here to make people forget about that for the hour that they spend at my show and they can smile and sing along and have a good time without having to worry about what’s happening outside the door.”

However, he does feel that some individuals tear down others inside their community and finds it counterproductive.

“What about the politicians that are trying to strip us of everything? They’re the ones that we should be targeting, not each other.”

McPharlin’s skin seems as thick as Barbie Q’s wigs are voluminous. He talks of the physical and verbal abuse he suffered as a queer man in the 1990s.

“Words mean nothing. Do you know what I mean? Words are nothing. It’s just someone for some insecurity of their own needing to voice that.

“But I’m secure with who I am, so they can call me what they bloody want.”

He is also no stranger to grief, having lost three family members within the span of eighteen months when he was graduating high school.

“I never got to come out to my Nanna. I never got to come out to my dad. But my dad was a huge country singer, loved Dolly. So, there’s just many times when I feel his presence.”

He admits the death of Dolly Parton feels as though an aunt or sister had died. His next Dolly impression act, now a tragic tribute, is in October, and he knows it will be a rough performance to get through.

But from a young age, he has appreciated life as a fragile thing.

He remembers thinking, “I’ve got to hit the ground running because you don’t know how much time you’ve got.

“Your life changes and you kind of blink and you miss it.”

Perhaps because of this mindset, he and his husband, fellow drag queen Alexas Armstrong, prioritise healthy communication. McPharlin says they haven’t had a single argument in the 13 years of their relationship.

It is a minset summed up in Parton’s lyrics: “You better start trying, better start smiling, you better get to living.”