SuburbanChicagoNews.com – By Nicole Brooks Staff Writer
South Elgin – It is a familiar tale: A little girl from the Midwest grows up donning pink tights and tutus with the dream of one day striking out on her own in the big city and finding success as a professional dancer.
It happened for one woman, a dancer the past 18 years and now a first-time author, who celebrated her success with a book signing at the Blue Razz on Tuesday night.
But her story has a twist.
Heather Haneman, also known by her professional name, Feather Handlesmen, has found success as a back-up dancer in drag queen shows.
“I didn’t know what a drag show was,” at age 19, she said between signing copies of Big Wigs: Stories of a Straight Girl in a Drag Queen’s World, published this month by State Street Publishing in Elgin. In her late teens Haneman was new in Chicago from Missouri, and dancing with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago.