Reality TV show starring Rockford performer reveals ‘the soul behind the drag’
By Helen Karakoudas
Special to the Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — If you’ve been to Pride parties or LGBTQ+ clubs in northern Illinois or southern Wisconsin, you know Auntie Heroine, Rockford’s ghoulishly glamorous drag queen.
Soon, people far beyond this corner of the Midwest will also get to know Auntie Heroine, the drag persona of local performer Stephen Ramberg. Starting Tuesday, Auntie Heroine will be on television screens across the globe as a contestant on the new season of “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” a reality TV series Ramberg describes as “America’s Next Top Model” meets “Fear Factor.”
Ramberg, 32, is trans nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns out of drag. The name Auntie Heroine is a play on anti-hero, bringing attention to people doing what they think is right even if society judges how they look.
One of 12 contestants on the show’s sixth season, Auntie Heroine is competing against drag performers from Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Washington, D.C.; Kansas City, Missouri; Portland, Oregon; and Auckland, New Zealand.
“Everyone else is from a big city, and they like to loop me in with the Chicago people. I tell them every time, ‘I’m not from Chicago, I’m from Rockford — and proud of it,’” Ramberg said Monday afternoon in an interview on the patio of The Office Niteclub and Show Lounge, 513 E. State St., where Auntie Heroine has been hosting and headlining events for half a decade.
“The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula,” a show that started humbly on YouTube in 2016, now streams on AMC Networks’ subscription bundle AMC+ and its horror-focused premium service Shudder, which is available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. In an email from AMC Networks, a spokesperson said the show’s fifth season was a runaway hit and one of Shudder’s most-watched titles in 2023. Sixth-season promotions began this month and include announcement of an Emmy nomination for the drag duo who lead the show.
The trailer for what’s called Season 666 of “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula” was released this week. If you use our lead photo as a guide, you will be able to tell which out-of-drag contestant will transform into Auntie Heroine — a process that can take four hours.
If you’re in Rockford on Tuesday night, you can catch the 90-minute season premiere — with commentary from Auntie and Scylla, a contestant from Chicago — during a watch party at The Office. There will be two big screens in the main room, a projector in the side room, and weather permitting, another projector on the patio.
Auntie will be back hosting watch parties every following Tuesday night until the show’s finale.
On the 10th and last episode of the season, the crown of The World’s Next Drag Supermonster will come with a cash prize of $100,000.
Six suitcases
Like the spandex on Auntie’s Elvira-inspired gowns, secrecy over how the drag competition unfolded is tight.
So respectful of the confidentiality agreement they signed, Ramberg won’t speak about even where they traveled for the filming.
National coverage of past seasons and local coverage of another contestant this season indicate the show is filmed in Los Angeles. All Ramberg would reveal is that packing up Auntie Heroine’s attire for a production this extensive involved six suitcases and $3,000 in UPS shipping boxes.
What Ramberg does speak of is pride in being part of a TV drag competition that’s inclusive — and pride in having auditioned for it with videos recorded all in the city they call home.
“‘Dragula’ is a space that creates community for all of the LGBTQ people that maybe don’t feel like they belong in their community. Dragula’s embracing of all identities and all types of people,” Ramberg said, recalling having followed the show since its second season and noticing that unlike “RuPaul’s Drag Race” initially, “The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula” featured trans performers.
“If you’re transgender, there’s a lot of people within the LGBT community that aren’t allies of the trans community. There are individuals that are ostracized. I felt like (Dragula) is a space that stands for me as a person and uplifts my community as an outcast.”
Ramberg credits a friend who competed on Season 4, a Chicagoan who performs as Sigourney Beaver, with the push to audition. “ ‘You need to get on next. You are perfect for this,’ she said. I think her believing in me and seeing that spark that I have, that was a big tipping point for me to start really seriously considering going out for the show.”
Ramberg auditioned for Season 5 but wasn’t called back. Undaunted, Auntie went out for Season 6. The audition is a video, which, like the year before, again was recorded on the streets of Rockford. This time, the callback came, and a video interview was next. Ramberg needed to find a frighteningly fitting local venue.
‘The soul behind the drag’
“We’ve had the joy of getting to know Auntie and the soul behind the drag. When we learned they needed a spooky place to record their interview for ‘Dragula,’ we didn’t think twice about offering our spooky little store as the place to do it,” said Liz and Randy Wolf, owners of Wolf Hollow Gift Shoppe in Olson Plaza shopping center, 3800 E. State St. “Rockford should be very proud of how forward-thinking Auntie is, and of what they want to accomplish for the community as a whole.”
Ramberg is on the Rockford Area Pride Committee, helping organize the city’s Pride parade; on the planning committee for The Liam Foundation, helping organize the nonprofit’s annual Gayla; and on the Consumer Advisory Board at Crusader Community Health, helping in a program that supports people living with HIV. In July 2023, when protests to a library Q&A with a fellow drag queen escalated in the nearby Winnebago County village of Rockton, Auntie Heroine supported the newly formed Rockton Pride group by stepping in during a counterprotest potluck and hosting a thought-provoking, all-ages drag show.
“Everyone loves Auntie,” said Brian Finn, one of The Office’s four owners, who calls Ramberg a beautiful human and a shining star. “It’s not just the drag itself. It’s about being an advocate and being good for your community. Stephen is very appreciated here. That’s for sure.”
in Rockton on Friday, July 14, 2023, during the Rockton Pride Kickoff Party. (Photo by Helen Karakoudas/Special to Rock River Current)
A Rockford-area native area raised in the village of Winnebago, Ramberg moved away for college, briefly lived in Chicago in young adult life, and returned to Rockford with an appreciation for the opportunities to make a difference here. Until recently, Ramberg worked as an administrative assistant for the Disability Support Services office at Rock Valley College. Now a drag performer full time, Ramberg said a lot of people have been asking whether worldwide exposure on television brings with it a move to a big city.
“Every time I say, ‘No, I’m going to stay in Rockford.’ My whole stance on the show is about community, building community, and being a community leader. We’ve seen so much evolution here just in downtown in the last 10 years. We just had our first-ever official Pride parade; our last Pride festival was the biggest it’s ever been. And now a drag queen is taking Rockford to the international level. These are all steps in the right direction.”
‘Dragula’ watch party
Where: The Office Niteclub, 513 E. State St., Rockford
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, preceded by at Meet & Greet at 6 p.m. and a drag show at 7
p.m. Find details HERE for the season premiere.
How much: $5 cover
Also: 8 p.m. Tuesdays, from Oct. 8 to Dec. 3 (the rest of ‘The Boulet Brothers’ Dracula’
season), there will be no cover.
Fun fact: Bartenders at The Office will be concocting an Auntie Heroine cocktail and mocktail.
Each drink will be green, Auntie’s favorite color.
This article is by freelance journalist Helen Karakoudas. Email feedback to news@rockrivercurrent.com.
