“If you keep going and stay true to yourself, it’s lovely. But there’s an awful lot of doubt from night to night. You can go out on stage one night and you think that they love you, and then you come out the next night and you want to grab them all and slap them.”
The tranquil tunes and steady beat of American standards play in the background as Jimmy Massey flips briskly through piles of old photographs on the second floor of his Central West End home. Above us is the infamous “drag” floor and all around are the decorative flourishes, big and small, of a life lived on stage.
Celebrating 40-years in the art form, Massey’s Candy James is without question the matriarch of modern St. Louis female impersonation.
“Once it started I sort of got trapped and it went on and on and on and on,” quipped the soft spoken entertainer. “I didn’t own a store bought dress until three years after I started. I was so proud of it—right from the store!”
Up until 1971, Massey had only dressed in drag twice for the Mandrake Society's annual Halloween Ball. The event was the annual fundraiser for St. Louis’ first lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights organization, and the novice queen caught the attention of the
“They were going to start the show at Helen Schrader's [in East St. Louis] and Tracy asked if I could fill in for two weeks and just help them out until they found another regular,” Massey recalled. “So Miss Tracy sort of started me on this—and certainly on the way to the show I didn’t have a name, and they came up with one. Tracy always razzed me about being sweet and all that good stuff: ‘You’re just so fu*king sweet—Sweet as candy.’ So I became Miss Candy.”
The Stage Show which started out at Schrader’s and soon moved across the street to The Red Bull and later Faces was called “The River Queens.” Tracy took a job out of town leaving Candy to keep the show running with cast mate Donna Drag—who along with his twin brother, Lana Kuntz; Empress of the Midwest, Claire Sheridan; Toast of the Town, Toni Taylor; and Mr. Edie Gregory were just a few of the marquee entertainers to strut the stage.
“In the reality of things, I enjoy performing,” explained Massey. “But if it were up to me—and of course they didn’t pay you for that—I would have preferred to have done hair, makeup, scenery and lighting. It’s the creative aspect about drag that I truly like. And of course the performing part—I could actually make a few bucks—and I did.”
In 1974 Candy James entered the fledgling Miss Gay Missouri, America pageant; but with zero intention of winning.
“I was strictly there to help Kim Green, and I entered because of the fact they didn’t allow anyone backstage,” explained Massey. “I was there to do Kim’s hair and makeup and help him. And then I just went to Sears bought a dress and a little boa and did a number I normally did in the show. I did my interview—and when I was announced the winner, I was kind of surprised.”
By 1977 Massey was at the top of his game and was tapped by Red Bull owner Jerry Edwards to be the Show Director at his new late night entertainment complex, Faces. It was the East Side’s largest club and the pinnacle of after-hours LGBT nightlife.
“Jerry was probably one of the fairest people I’ve ever, ever, ever dealt with in drag,” said Massey. “He’s one of those people that, when he hired someone to do something, he didn’t care what it cost. As long as you did what he asked you to do, and you achieved that goal, he didn’t hassle you remotely. He was just so very, very good about stuff.
Candy James and The River Queens had become the regions preeminent female impersonation review. The show included two production numbers and in-between the regulars’ sets there was an hour of new talent which gave birth to the likes of Petrina Marie, Christi Cole and Melinda Ryder.”
“Just about everyone who became anyone performed with us,” offered Massey. “And it’s not that we made them anything—it’s just that we were the show to be at and we had as many people as we possibly could. We really tried to book people quite often and move the show around and change things.”
Massey reaches for a yellowed and tattered photo album from beneath a pile of papers. The well worn keepsake falls open to a page devoted to his mentor, the late Rudy Hendrickson.
“Probably the person I trusted most—and I did my own thing, but I listened—was Miss Tracy. She used to just amaze me,” Massey explained. "And I certainly didn’t need protecting—but she felt that I did—and if anyone said anything to me or about me that was bad, she was more than willing to take them on.”
“I love helping people—helping the kids,” he continued. “My entire focus in my drag life has been, I really believe, to make drag better. I couldn’t care less about being the star. It’s just always been let’s make the show nice, let’s make the show look good.”
For Massey has not only shaped but lived the history of the art form. From the days of police raids and drag performers having to recruit lookouts during St. Louis shows to the heyday of the Red Bull with Martha Raye and Phyllis Diller in the audience—Miss Candy’s seen it all.
"The sad thing about what’s happening right now is that the bars themselves are not willing to invest," Massey stated. "If you go anywhere now you’re hard-pressed if you can get $25 to perform (if you’re a name.) When Faces first started in 1977—everybody in the cast and our guests made $50 a night plus drinks and tips."
"You couldn’t get $50 today if your life depended on it," the legend continued. "Unless you’re Miss Gay America—people in this city aren’t going to do it. And it’s the bar owners' fault. They think they can get—and I used to go crazy when I’d hear it—they’d say, ‘you know we can get a group of crazies up here and no one cares and they’ll all come and look.’ Well that’s very true. But if you want something good, you have to pay for it—and drag is not cheap."
Asked if he has any advice for younger performers and Massey doesn’t hesitate: “Learn a skill—learn how to sew, how to do hair or build a set,” said the former Miss Illinois America, Miss Midwest America and Midwest Entertainer of the Year. “You’ll be self sufficient and won’t have to depend on others all of the time.”
“I think the new kids who are coming up—they’re talented, but they’re missing a lot,” he offered. “They’re focusing on current music, and that’s okay, but there’s an awful lot of clever, incredible stuff out there. It’s like with Wicked—everybody picked up on that and they should have. And there are other things out there that people should be picking up on.”
Candy James can be found performing on Saturday nights at the Grey Fox in St. Louis or at the occasional review or benefit show. Ever the Grand Dame of the St. Louis stage, the pioneer in pumps gives audiences a turn at her greatest hits whether a Broadway number, Judy Garland or the ever-popular "Salvation Army" song.
“Someone came into Helen Schrader’s and they came in on Roller Skates and did that number,” Massey recalled. “And I thought, I’ve got to get a copy of that! And then I started doing it with the spoons and the cymbals. It’s fun to come up with ideas and clever things. It’s okay to see something and like it and want to do it. But once you see it and want to do it—you need to make it yours.”
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