Actor stands the heat generated by role in 'Losers Take All'

Photo by Alan Spearman // Buy this photo

Neal Figueroa (center), 26, plays the role of DeWaynda in a scene in the film "Losers Take All," which was being shot Monday at The Orchid Club.

Earlier this summer, Neal Figueroa, 26, portrayed the title character in Theatre Memphis’ production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”

But even that rainbow-garmented role didn’t prepare him for the colorful rigors of a day’s work as DeWaynda, the D.C. drag queen.

Photo by Alan Spearman

Neal Figueroa (center), 26, plays the role of DeWaynda in a scene in the film "Losers Take All," which was being shot Monday at The Orchid Club.

Resembling a cross between Pat Benatar and Dolph Lundgren, Figueroa was the most resplendent performer Monday on the Beale Street set of “Losers Take All,” an independent feature film about a fictional Memphis rock band in the post-punk, pre-grunge 1980s.

A newcomer to cross-dressing, Figueroa was costumed in a Danskin bodysuit, a purple knit miniskirt, gold spandex leggings, pink lace socks, and size-14 Mary Janes that added a few inches to his 6-foot-2 frame.

His figure was not entirely his own. “They’re called ‘chicken cutlets,’” said veteran Memphis costume designer Meriwether Nichols, referring to the silicone bra inserts that transformed Figueroa into an Adam’s-appled lady of the night. “Let me put it this way: They’re in every wardrobe person’s kit, in case the director says, ‘I want more up there.’”

Directed by Alex Steyermark (“Prey for Rock & Roll”) from a screenplay by co-producers Winn Coslick and Andrew Pope, “Losers Take All” began shooting Aug. 16 and continues through Sept. 11.

The $1.5 million production is employing a crew of about 50 people daily, almost all of whom are Memphians or Tennesseans, said Mike S. Ryan, another of the film’s producers. Ryan’s credits include “Forty Shades of Blues,” the Memphis-made movie that won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and such other recent acclaimed indies as “Junebug” and “Old Joy.”

Original songs for the film have been recorded at Scott Bomar’s Electraphonic Recording Studio here, with contributions from famous power-pop musician Marshall Crenshaw, and such local rock artists as Jack Oblivian and John Paul Keith.

In the scene shot Monday morning on the hot parking lot outside the low-slung Orchid Club at 642 Beale, Figueroa confronts two of the film’s young stars, Kyle Gallner (“Veronica Mars”) and Aaron Himelstein (“Joan of Arcadia”), who portray budding rock musicians.

Proving it’s not easy being a drag queen, even in the movies, the heat required makeup artist Alicia George and hairstylist Janice Byrd to retouch Figueroa’s face and wig between takes, as sweat played havoc with his long eyelashes, Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick makeup, bright Chanel Coco Pink lipstick and blue-and-pink cream eye shadow.

The lights, cameras and cables were fascinating to Thomas Young and Carolyn Brasfield, owners of the Orchid Club, a primarily late-night bar that restricts entry to people 25 or older. (“We had a problem with some youngsters,” explained Young, 65. “But you know, you got some grown crazy people, too.”)

Young recalled when Ryan scouted the bar as a location a few months ago, he simply walked in, ordered a Michelob, and asked if they’d be interested in hosting a movie.

Said Young: “After he left, (Brasfield) asked me: ‘You think he’s for real?’ And then she asked me, ‘Has he been drinking?’”

— John Beifuss: 529-2394

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