GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

JANUARY 26, 1996

Evenings Out

A North

Coast legend

Melissa Ross has seen many changes in two decades of female illusion

by David Ebbert

One of Northeast Ohio's most prominent female illusionists, Melissa Ross, a.k.a. Richard Ross, was named to Cleveland magazine's list of "Most Interesting People" in their January issue. Ross has been an enduring presence in Cleveland's gay scene for the past 20 years, performing at local clubs and for other events, such as the annual Dancin' in the Streets benefit for the AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland. After a brief tour of her home, we sat down for a frank discussion about her views on the female illusion industry, benefits, and many other topics. This is a small glimpse of a North Coast legend, Melissa Ross.

David Ebbert: How does it feel to be one of Cleveland's most interesting people, and to have such enormous exposure through Cleveland magazine?

Melissa Ross: It was a thrill, although I thought it was a joke at first. I got this letter in the mail and I thought, “Yeah, right.” I called the number that was on this letter and I spoke with the editor of the magazine, Liz Ludlow, and she said that it was for real. She said they were throwing a big cocktail party at the Wyndham Hotel and they wanted me to attend, so I asked them how they wanted me to attend, and they said as Melissa. It was really funny because the whole article talks about Richard, so I didn't know. It's a great honor, especially to be a gay person and be selected as one of the fifty most interesting people in Cleveland.

DE: How did they choose you; what was the selection process?

MR: The readers were asked, back in the October issue. There was a nomination ballot that you had to fill out and submit to the magazine. Well, my employer and dear friend Ann Presley, unbeknownst to me, submitted it along with a publicity picture and listed some of the things that I had done for the community. She thinks the picture is actually what clinched it for me. At the ceremony that day they said there were like 3,800 responses, and out of 3,800 they narrowed it down to fifty.

DE: What prompted you to become a female impersonator some 20 years ago? MR: Well, I had never heard of a drag queen at all; I thought it was some kind of queen that... I mean, I figured it was a queen like a Queen Elizabeth; I didn't know what the hell it was!

I remember being parked out in front of the first gay bar I ever went to and looking at all these people going in and out. They looked like women, but they didn't look like women, and it was like, "What the hell are they?" Then I befriended some people here in town and they asked me to go to an event in drag and I said, "What the hell is all this drag about?” I didn't know what it was...but that's how it all got started. Someone just slapped some makeup and a wig on me and called it a day. It kind of

Melissa Ross

just stuck around from that point.

DE: For you, is female impersonation a hobby, a calling, or a career? And is it possible to make a living in Cleveland as an impersonator?

MR: You're in my home now, and everything that I have is a result of being a female impersonator. It's very obviously for me a

career.

DE: What major differences have there been for you in performing female illusion 20 years ago as opposed to today?

MR: Twenty years ago it seemed like people put so much more effort into costuming, and it was more showy. It was all glamour and glitz, and now it's just something off a department store rack and you dance your ass off. If I wore that we'd be in some serious shit! Really, now it's like one disco song after another and it's just, you know, a pair of jeans and a blouse and you go out there on the stage and call it a day. I think the days of glamour are over.

DE: Do you believe that the emergence of films such as Priscilla, Queen of the Desert and To Wong Foo have made it easier for people to become involved with or accept the female illusionist industry as a whole?

MR: I haven't seen To Wong Foo, but I do remember going to see Priscilla and leaving the theater. The person I went with said, "Who told us to come see this movie?” And I said, "I don't know, but they owe me thirteen dollars." I thought that was one of the worst portrayals of female impersonation that has ever been produced on the big screen. I think Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon did a better job of portraying female impersonators in Some Like It Hot. Who on earth would ever believe that those three people were women, even in the outback of Australia? [It was] not at all what most female impersonators strive to try and do. I found it insulting.

DE: Do you consider female illusion to be a form of activism? Do you think you can

Richard Ross

use female illusion to

bring awareness to a cause and to help that cause?

MR: Anyone who takes a stand and is at the forefront and is willing to speak out and just make a conscious effort and bring an awareness to the people about what's going on-I guess if that's an activist, then consider me

one.

DE: You have seen a lot of performers throughout the years. Who are your favorites?

MR: Well, to quote a friend, I am a fan of no drag. It's always a joy to see Big Mama up on stage. Twiggy, people like newcomers Jennifer Phillips and Keri Nickles, Tasha James and Deception. It's just nice to see that the torch is being passed down and people are still coming on. It's people like them that put a lot of effort into what they do.

DE: There seems to be a lot of backstabbing in the industry. What are your thoughts on this and what do you attribute it to?

MR: Jealousy, jealousy, jealousy. That's why I have, as female impersonators go, a lot

of acquaintances, but very few if any that come to my home. It's not that I feel I'm better than they are, but I find that so many people are envious of what I've been able to achieve, and it's nothing more than what anyone else could do if they set their mind to it. And I refuse to be brought down by the insecurities of other people, and I refuse to let them try and take away, in any way, shape, or form, anything I've worked so hard for in my life.

DE: What would you like to see happen to the impersonation and pageant industry of Cleveland within the next ten years?

MR: Well, the pageant situation...it's like every other week there's a pageant. I mean, you go to see a pageant and everyone in the room has a crown on their head! I remember when I was Miss Gay Ohio, back in 1970something-or-other, I was the only Miss Gay Ohio in the state, and boy, you were recognized and you got the bookings and every club wanted you. I traveled extensively, I couldn't begin to tell you the amount of traveling I was doing.

But now there's Miss Ohio North, Miss Ohio South, Miss Big Ohio, Miss Little Ohio, Miss Southern Ohio, Miss Ohio Next To Pennsylvania...it's gotten out of hand. And it's all

because of the greed of promoters

'that want to get franchises started and will just create a pageant at the drop of a hat for the franchise fee. Very few pageants mean anything to me at all, that's why I haven't competed in over twelve years.

And I'd like to talk about benefits in the city and how the city is getting benefited to death. There are just too many benefits for too many wrong reasons in this community. When you do a benefit for a person who has died, and then the very next night they're having a benefit to raise money to send Miss So-and-So to a pageant because she can't garner the money to get there on her own, well then maybe you shouldn't go. Maybe you should have thought about that before you entered the pageant, knowing that if you won this preliminary you were going to have to travel to Atlanta.

Back in the days when I was doing pageants-and trust me I'm not try-

ing to make myself sound anything better than anyone else I knew that when I entered Miss Gay Ohio, that if there was a chance that I'd win, I'd have to go compete at Miss Gay America. Well, if I knew I wasn't going to have the money to get there, I wouldn't have even thought of entering Miss Ohio.

I believe that rather than having benefits, the entertainers should gain sponsors. A sponsorship could be anything, and you can't ever look a gift horse in the mouth. A sponsorship could be, "Buy me three pairs of pantyhose." If that's what they want to give me, then that's three pairs of pantyhose that I don't have to worry about buying.

The benefit situation is getting way out of hand. We did the Great Pumpkin contest back in October at Visions and we hardly raised any money. That benefit used to raise up to fourteen thousand dollars in one evening. We raised less that one thousand dollars this year. That's pretty sad... the pockets are starting to dry out. And everyone is constantly asking the female impersonators-and we are always the first ones to get knocked down and read by the Continued on page 23