Meet the tap dancing queen from Fort Lauderdale who made a splash on ‘Drag Race’

Before she was lip syncing for $50,000 on national television, Suzie Toot was an up-and-coming drag queen in Fort Lauderdale performing for free.

She’d show up to open stages at bars that don’t exist anymore and leave smelling like cigarettes. She worked hard as a cast member at Lips, the iconic Fort Lauderdale drag venue now rebranded as Aquaplex. And she’d perform her favorite number, a Liza Minnelli-inspired lip sync, sometimes for crowds of just 10 people.

But things have changed for Toot, the drag persona of 25-year-old Ben Shaevitz. After a memorable appearance this year on season 17 of MTV’s “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Toot performed the same Liza number in front of an audience of 2,000 in London.

Toot is not known for the flips, dips and splits that South Florida’s drag scene specializes in. She prefers 1920s flapper dresses and tap dance shoes over glamorous evening gowns and towering heels. She’s more likely to perform to Lady Gaga’s niche jazz records than her pop hits. Her drag style stuck out in South Florida and on “Drag Race,” where her fellow contestants weren’t sold on her aesthetic — that is, until she outlasted most of them in the competition.

“I love being talked about, whether it’s positive or negative,” Shaevitz told the Miami Herald, laughing. “It’s funny how my ‘Drag Race’ experience, in a lot of ways, reflected my experience coming up in the drag scene in Fort Lauderdale because I was so different and I looked so crazy. I’m a polarizing figure, but I love it.”

Shaevitz’s Toot went from underdog to semi-finalist, nearly making it to the end to snatch the $200,000 grand prize. Though she didn’t win the crown, the drag artist still feels like a winner. And she loves the attention, even when she’s the butt of the joke.

She won $50,000 during the show’s “Lip Sync LaLaPaRuza Smackdown.” She endeared fans with her comedy, like tap dancing the Gettysburg Address in Morse code. She’s touring the country with her cabaret-style act. And her feature film debut, a camp horror flick filmed in Fort Lauderdale, is now streaming on Hulu in time for Pride Month.

Toot, alongside season 17 co-star Lucky Starzzz, is among a growing crop of South Florida drag queens who have been elevating the local drag scene to international acclaim, like fellow “Drag Race” alumni Morphine Love Dion, Mhi’ya Iman Le’Paige and Malaysia Babydoll Foxx.

In the pantheon of South Florida drag legends, Toot emerged as an unlikely reality TV star, a fan favorite and an internet meme. But for her friends back home, the Suzie Toot success story is no surprise.

From theater kid to tap dancing drag queen

Born in New York and raised in Wellington in Palm Beach, Suzie Toot’s creator, Shaevitz attended Lynn University in Boca Raton for its “tiny but mighty” musical theater program.

He’d often joke with friends about what they would be like as drag queens, and during the pandemic, “we had all the time in the world.” That’s when Suzie Toot — with her Betty Boop-esque makeup, curly red hair and niche musical theater antics — came to be. “Weird stuff, the old classics. This big melting pot of my loves and my interest became the Suzie character,” Shaevitz said.

After dropping out of college, Shaevitz moved to Fort Lauderdale to pursue a career in regional theater and, eventually, drag full time.

“This is where everything is. There’s theater. There’s drag. It just pulled me over,” Shaevitz said. “And it’s my favorite place in Florida. I’ll say it. Sorry, Miami. Sorry, Orlando. Fort Lauderdale is where to f------ be.”

Shaevitz worked tirelessly developing a tap-dancing, live-singing cabaret act. He found friendship — and his first drag gig — with fellow Fort Lauderdale cabaret drag artist Eric Swanson, who performs as Miss Bouvèé. It all started with a message from Shaevitz on Instagram asking for a guest spot at a show, Swanson said.

“[Toot] was brand new on the scene then, and I was giving love to anybody who wanted to sing and come share the stage,” Swanson said. “And she was exactly as she is now. She has not changed. She is an old soul in a little, young person’s body.”

Swanson and Shaevitz applied their musical talents as the stars of “Big Easy Queens,” a campy, raunchy, bloody horror movie musical set in New Orleans and filmed in South Florida. The independent film premiered in Fort Lauderdale in 2023 during Popcorn Frights, South Florida’s largest genre film festival, and is now available to stream on Hulu as of Saturday.

Swanson, 42, recalled a conversation he had with Shaevitz in their dressing room about where his career may go.

“I said, ‘This is good. You’re going to get calls from people,’” Swanson said. Soon after, Shaevitz got the call from “Drag Race.”

“And the rest is history,” said Swanson.

‘A win for the weirdos’

When Kai Gomez met Shaevitz at a drag competition in Wilton Manors, he had a feeling he couldn’t shake. “Before the competition started, I was like, ‘OK, you and me are going to the end,’” said Gomez, who performs in drag as King Vyper.

Sure enough, they both landed in the top four, and the hosts were about to announce the top two finalists. King Vyper was called. Suzie Toot was called.

“And they tell us both that we didn’t make the top two,” Gomez said.

They’ve been friends ever since, supporting each others’ careers and performing together. One of Gomez’s favorite moments with Shaevitz was their “Cuban Pete” number for a Halloween show. He dressed as Jim Carrey’s “The Mask” and Shaevitz was dressed as Lucille Ball.

While Shaevitz and Gomez’s alternative styles of drag are unique in South Florida, Gomez said it’s validating to see how well Toot has done on and off “Drag Race.”

“It makes me so proud. It’s a win for the weirdos,” Gomez said. “[Toot] wasn’t very favored because she was the artsy fartsy girly. She was the theater girly. But as soon as she started getting to those challenges, she was knocking them out the park.”

And it’s a win for South Florida’s drag scene as a whole, Gomez said. Toot’s success underscores drag’s continued popularity in South Florida, despite the state government’s anti-drag policies and rhetoric of the last few years. “We really do have heavy hitter performers here,” Gomez said.

In April, drag fans packed R House, a popular Wynwood restaurant, to watch Toot on “Drag Race.” Though she was eliminated that episode, the mood was celebratory. At midnight that night, it was Shaevitz’s 25th birthday.

“Once again, I love attention,” Shaevitz said. “So hey, people are saying ‘so sorry.’ They’re still talking to me.”