Anthony Hudson might have earned the tongue-in-cheek title of “Portland OR’s premier drag clown” even if he were not Portland’s – and perhaps even the country’s -- only drag clown. He has delighted and terrified Portland audiences in equal measure as his alter-ego Carla Rossi for over 12 years, performing carefully honed satire in a variety of venues, including the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art.

At Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre, both Anthony and Carla program and host “Queer Horror,” the only LGBT horror screening-and-performance series in the country. Anthony also co-hosts with writer Stacie Ponder the queer feminist horror podcast “Gaylords of Darkness.”

A member of the Confederated Grand Ronde Tribes, Siletz, he recently was one of four Indigenous artists to present work in an exhibit titled “Always Here” at The Arts Center in Corvallis, OR. In the exhibit, he and his fellow artists separately and collaboratively created conceptual pieces that upended perceptions of what Native art can or should be.

Anthony also wrote the solo autobiographical play “Looking for Tiger Lily,” which he has performed in theaters all over the country and has toured internationally, from Melbourne to Vancouver. He is currently adapting the play into a book.

In this interview with Pier Carlo Talenti, Anthony explains how he developed Carla Rossi and her particular flavor of drag performance and describes the joys and dangers of being an outspoken queer clown when drag in particular has become such a dangerous cultural flashpoint.

https://www.thecarlarossi.com/

https://theartscenter.net/always-here/

https://www.grandronde.org/history-culture/culture/chachalu-museum-and-cultural-center/