Drag performer Mandy Mango has an origin story.
She was out with friends in college when they came across dried mango fruit snacks, a staple from the Philippines. Joking, she pitched an idea.
“If I ever were a drag queen, I’m literally a Philippine mango,” Mango said, holding the package of dried treats. “I’m fruity and sweet, I’m Filipino.”
The group then went around in a circle, trying to think of alliterative drag names with the fruit, finally settling on Mandy.
Mango is currently competing on the 18th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which premiered last Friday. When she’s not on the stage, she works as a nurse in Philadelphia, specializing in HIV care.
The 29-year-old’s journey to the national spotlight began at West Chester University. Her first time in drag was for a Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS fundraiser show in 2017, where she performed “Sex Is in the Heel” from Kinky Boots.
“I already knew how to perform and do musical theater, and I knew a little bit about voguing and waacking,” Mango said. “So when I brought that, a lot of people were like, ‘Have you done drag before? You’re good at it.’ ”
This encouragement led to Mango entering and winning a college drag competition. She remembers watching the video of her performance and being surprised at herself on stage.
“Someone coming from a history of feeling like I need to hide a lot of my feminine parts, just being able to see myself perform and kind of let it all loose and let it all out was just like, whoa, I can do that,” Mango said. “I won money for that.”
Mandy’s journey
While searching for a nursing job after graduating from West Chester in 2018, Mango would stay up late at her parents house watching “Drag Race.” Using all the drugstore supplies she could afford, she practiced makeup techniques.
The same year, Mango moved to Williamsport, where she received an artist residency at Pajama Factory, a creative hub in the city. There, she said, she was able to produce her own shows and hone in on the craft of drag, “being able to learn how to sew, do more wigs and really learn how to produce an event and a show.”
Mango’s drag persona pays tribute and is infused with her Filipino heritage. She didn’t see Asian American role models in movies or mainstream media while growing up, but drag allowed her to create her own image.
“Drag gave me that spot to be that own person I wanted to see,” Mango said. “Being able to represent Filipino culture through the fashion, through the humor, through some of the language and the slang.”
Running parallel alongside Mango’s journey as a drag artist, she serves as a nurse in HIV care. The combination of these two careers has had a definite impact, according to Mango — people would recognize her at her shows after coming in for STD testing.
Mango said that she has been both judged and discriminated against at a healthcare clinic. She explained that people felt more comfortable knowing that someone who is also “unapologetically queer,” and understands how to navigate the relationships and journeys that queer people go through, was part of their care.
“Being able to come at it with a community sense of a drag mother, but also the clinical knowledge and resources of a nurse, has really shown me this is what I was meant to do with both these careers,” Mango said.
To watch Mandy Mango compete on RuPaul’s Drag Race, tune in to MTV on Fridays at 8 p.m. or stream on Paramount+.
