By Kevin Ferrisi –
Connecticut based pop-alternative drag entertainer, Ambrosia Black, may just be Connecticut’s fashion Queen. If you have ever seen her perform, you quickly learn that she has a great sense of style and an eye for design. Ambrosia carries a sense of confidence when it comes to her stunning attire.
One thing she is passionate about is her drag esthetic. Her wardrobe consists of pieces from designers that only pop stars have designs of. No stranger to fashion, she is constantly probing the internet, researching designers. Her closet is full of pieces that are from the same designers who create for music celebrities such as Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and Christina Aguilera.
She takes pride in her ability to research designers regularly, scavenging the web for garments and finding amazing deals on high-end fashion, so much so that other queens look to her for guidance in finding their own different ensembles. Ambrosia has over 200 designers noted in her archive for reference.
Ambrosia describes her style of drag as ‘living in a Halloween-centric comic book kind of place,’ but in the same breath, she adds that she loves pop and dance music as well as club vibes, and things like Barbie, for example. She gravitates towards things that are more likely to get her a successful mainstream career with versatile, bookable performances. Ambrosia tries to blend her nerdiness and spookiness with her pop princess fantasy side. Her favorite genre of music to perform to is pop music: “I love edgy pop Halloween stuff, but anything with like a really moody deep base is super fun, but we all love nostalgia. So like, early 2000s is definitely really great.”
Ambrosia started doing drag in 2018 while attending the University of Connecticut in Storrs. Around that time, she started buying and applying makeup and began covering her eyebrows, as before that time, she was simply doing face makeup as a boy. But when she glued down those wigs and started blocking out her brows, that is when she considers the actual start of her drag career.
Obtaining her education on such a huge campus as UCONN, she didn’t really have a lot of friends. During her time in college, Ambrosia felt the campus was pretty conservative when it came to the student body and quickly learned her fellow classmates had different values than her, so she found it difficult to make friends. She found herself spending most of her time just going to and from class, returning promptly back to her room.
Eventually Ambrosia started driving home, back to Hartford, every weekend, at which time she had a roommate who she went to karaoke with at the Chez Est in Hartford, every Wednesday. These weekly adventures eventually led her to making friends with someone who we know today as Ambrosia’s drag sister, Flaminia. Flaminia invited Ambrosia to a drag competition for support and that was the first time Ambrosia found herself surrounded by people who took genuine interest in who she was as a person. It was the first time that she felt at home and was given so much love. She quickly made more friends over time and, after spending so much time at the Chez Est, she felt comfortable enough to hit the stage herself, and the rest is herstory!
Ambrosia Black was not always her persona name at the start of her drag career. A fun fact to learn, when Ambrosia started doing drag, she originally chose the name Amethyst, after her interest in the American animated television show Steven Universe, as well as her passion for pastel shades of purple. The color purple itself also correlates very closely with representing spirituality, which was very instrumental in her survival, especially during high school. Upon deciding, she did not want to take any attention away from other drag queens who went by Amethyst, she thought maybe it was the color she was most interested in and decided to change her name to Lavender.
Still feeling that the name did not quite fit just right, she considered the name Ambrosia and thought it was really cool because a lot of queer people, specifically, gravitate towards different religions that are not the standard traditional Christian faith. She gravitated toward Greco-Roman mythology, because it has a lot of queer interpretations. Ambrosia, which means ‘nectar of the Gods,’ really started to feel correct, and it also was a name that was not popular in the drag community.
When I sat down to interview Ambrosia, I wanted to know, when performing on stage and seeing the crowd having such a good time, thoroughly enjoying themselves, what goes through her mind? “Oh, thank God,” she replied and continues to say, “So my first feeling is like, ok good. This is why we’re here. This is my job and I’m doing a good job at it.” A lot of drag artists perform to feed their own ego, but for Ambrosia, she doesn’t do it to feel good about herself. She does it for the love of the art form, and then uses the art form to make other people happy.
After all, that is how Ambrosia got started in drag, by being introduced to an environment where she was surrounded by so much love. “It just makes me do even better and lose all of the worry. And I stop thinking and I perform, my fear is gone.” Ambrosia feels she is a very fear-based driven person and she found that drag is the only area in her life where fear doesn’t define her, and where she actively seeks out the fear and uses it to fuel her performance.
If you are new to drag and just starting out, Ambrosia gave us some valuable advice for someone who wants to dip their toe in the drag pool. “Be forgiving in all senses of the word. Like if someone gives you bad advice and it didn’t work for you, don’t be mad at them, maybe it works for them, but most importantly, be forgiving of yourself because no one comes out of the womb fully formed, that’s not real.” She goes on to explain, “You’re never going to become what you see on TV overnight. You’re never going to own what they have on TV overnight without a lot of big sacrifices and working very hard. It just takes time. And don’t hold yourself to anyone else’s standard. Don’t set the bar based on what other people are doing.”
What can you expect to see from Ambrosia in the future? “I am actually working on music right now. I’m not a singer and I may not be a rapper, but I’m going to get you some fierce music.” Ambrosia is currently working with a producer in New York City. Her first song is expected to be released during Fall of this year, and she promises to continue to bring the fashion as well!
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