Cirque du Soleil ‘OVO’ (Photos courtesy Endicott PR)

Cirque du Soleil’s OVO opened Wednesday night at the Comerica Center in Frisco. The show’s theme centers on a bug’s life – or several bugs perhaps. But as with any Cirque show, the thrill is in the acrobats and the music and spectacle. There’s much humor in the show – some of it cute, some of it sophisticated with massive amounts of talent onstage. 

Houston-native Kyle Cragle, 25,  did the media rounds Wednesday morning which led to an extended kiki about drag and queerness and the circus. His act in OVO plays the dragonfly and he beautifully contorts and hand balances his body to dazzling effect. Some may know Cragle from his time last year on America’s Got Talent – on there he performed the same type of act only in drag and in heels. 

Dallas Voice: Congrats on opening night. How long have you been with this tour?

Cragle: The show has been around since 2009 but I joined it in 2016. But after a few years I left to work full time as a makeup artist and do other jobs. I was invited back and we just opened. This is week two!

DV: Do you mind describing OVO for readers? 

Cragle: It’s a Brazilian-inspired show based on insects. We go ladybugs, dragonflies, grasshoppers, scarabs. There’s this colorful colony of insects and we meet a new insect with this big egg on his back that comes into the colony. Spoiler alert: by the end of the show, we welcome him and it’s this wonderful idea about inclusion. 

DV: You’re the dragonfly. How do you describe your moment in the show?

Cragle: I have this cute hand-balancing act and I think it’s a lyrical and beautiful moment in the show. 

DV: Do you do it in heels?

Cragle: Honey, I wish. 

DV: Can we talk about Scarlett Business? How did she come about during all this?

Cragle: I actually discovered drag when I became interested in makeup. And so from 2008-2012 I was watching this drag queen – also from Houston – talking about Dollar Tree makeup and what-not. She was also a special effects makeup artist who did drag. So I used makeup to create the character. 

DV: When did you go out in drag?

Cragle: So years later I had a roomie in college obsessed with Drag Race and we watched all of season eight and after that, it was OVER for me. I knew then I wanted to go out in drag before going on tour. So we went to the clurrbs and watched a drag show. 

DV: You must’ve looked fabulous with all your makeup experience. 

Cragle: Let me just say I’m glad there were no pictures that night or videos or Instagrams. I had my beat on she was busted that night. 

DV: You were on AGT as Scarlett and you’re doing Cirque. Was Scarlett ever a bar queen or did you bypass all that?

Cragle: She started out as a bar queen and as a hobby. That pressure becomes different if I was pursuing it professionally. But I had some sickening acts and opportunities to drag full time. The Garden in Vegas is my favorite place to perform. Also, there’s something special about drag brunch. It’s all like quintessential drag in gay venues. 

DV: Are you doing the contortions at brunch?

Cragle: Yes. I’m trying to get those tips. Plus they might think I’m hot shit doing these tricks. 

DV: Talking about this, in a lot of ways Cirque is also a lot of drag – just not the kind we think about. 

Cragle: Yes! So I’m a dragonfly in this show. No real gender but I see that the point of drag at times is to render gender irrelevant. We’re sort of past this point of recognition once transformed. 

Cirque du Soleil ‘OVO’ (photos courtesy Endicott PR)

DV: What do you feel about your career as a performer with Cirque?

Cragle: I was just a kid and I found what I fell in love with. It slapped me in the face. We saw a Cirque show and I was just so enthralled. I knew that’s what I was going to do. This is what I was born to do and it’s surreal. I can’t help myself to believe I was born to share these talents. You have to do the work for this level of performance and athleticism but everything just aligned for me. And it was particularly this Cirque style of performing that affected me.

DV: Obviously you’re on the road but are you still based in Houston?

Cragle: I’m based in Vegas now as a lot of us are. I left home when I was a sophomore in high school. I went to the National Circus School in Montreal. I went to college there. 

DV: Does Texas stay with you while you’re away from here?

Cragle: What I like about Texas is that it feels like home. Even here [in Frisco], I grew up in Texas suburbia and this feels like home. I’ve gotten to see many pockets of the world and I like to think I’m relatively cultured from all that but our Southern hospitality always shines through.

DV: What’s your queer experience both growing up and with Cirque?

Cragle. You know, Texas was not the easier to grow up as a queer person, but I’m proud of my career and that I can live my gay life out loud. I love this place – Texas – but I had to leave to become who I am today and now I can bring all my skills back and share them with people I know. 

Growing up I struggled. I was the only effeminate boy on the gymnast team. I wanted to do the girls’ routines! When I moved to circus school, I thought it would be different, but kids being kids, they still made fun of me. But, once we were on the college track, we all matured and came together. 

DV: Cirque must be a supportive place for you it sounds. 

Cragle: I definitely found my place and there are a lot of people here who are supportive. I can talk openly about my queer existence and share my authentic self while also talking about my work. I’m a proud queer artist and I think they are proud of their queer artists. That is such a privilege.

Cirque du Soleil OVO runs through Feb. 20 at the Comerica Center. For show information and tickets, click here.