By: Al Ballesteros
Click HERE to see more photos of Lola
Big hair, chic gowns, sparkling jewel necklaces, glitz, and all the makings of a glamor queen. Seen over the years, center stage at Pride events across California and beyond, alongside well-known pop music artists, fetching go-go-boys and loud on the mic. She is one of the most well-known, locally grown drag talents: Lola Veronica or simply, Lola.
Lazaro Concepcion started doing drag at 14. He’s performed for more than 44 years. At times the journey has not been easy. He lost his father also at 14 and had to work to help his mother pay the bills. He’s struggled with his weight, which reached more than 420 lbs., and caused him health problems and eventually led to needed weight-loss surgery in his late 40s. He experienced much adversity growing up a heavy kid, and later for doing drag. Lazaro lived with his mother his whole life and took care of her due to her decline in health until she passed. Through it all, Lazaro worked a full-time job to pay for household expenses and to support his passion doing drag.
Looking back on his career, Lazaro often feels that he has not gotten the recognition due as a performer. He says when he first started doing drag, he was told he was not ideal to perform because he did not have breasts and did not look like any star to impersonate. Lazaro has proven them all wrong and has had a career spanning more than four decades and is still doing a few gigs while he considers wrapping this all up for good.
Lazaro lives in quiet middle-class neighborhood in the San Gabriel Valley. His home very much blends in with all the others on the block. Lazaro opens the door dressed in kick back gray sweat shorts, tank top, flip flop slippers, unshaven face stubble. Entering the house, an altar greets you in the foyer and a candle burns for Saint Lazaro, his namesake. Lazaro says it’s lit every night and sets next to a photo of his mother.
Nothing about Lazaro’s home life speaks Lola. Nothing on the walls, no dressed-up drag pictures anywhere, no club shots. We sat at Lazaro’s kitchen table to talk.
Adelante: I expected a different décor. At least a picture or something that speaks of Lola.
Lazaro: Don’t be surprised. It’s simple. I keep my life as Lazaro completely separate from Lola. Here in my home, I’m Lazaro. Away from the club life, away from the madness; this is my peace, my serenity and I’ve always done it this way. Trust me, Lola’s stuff is all here in its own place.
Lazaro says his neighbors have never seen him dressed up. He puts his make up on at home and exits the house from an enclosed garage that is connected to the house so he can get in the car and leave on the DL. When he gets to the club or event, he puts on the clothing, wig and everything else.
Adelante: Maybe keeping these two lives separate was / is a good thing?
Lazaro: It’s a split personality. When I’m at the club, everyone wants to be my friend. When I’m not at the club, I don’t get phone calls, no one asks how am I doing. Am I alive? Let’s go out for a drink. Nothing. I just keep to myself. I’m a homebody. Ever since I stopped doing shows and working for the club, I just enjoy my peace. There is no one to bother me. Nobody to talk about me. Nobody here to put me down.
Adelante: Why do you do drag?
Lazaro: We all have a gift God gives us. The reason I do drag is for the people I love. I was like many of them, searching for a soul and I found myself through Lola.
Adelante: Was it harder to do drag when you started?
Lazaro: Back then I had to hide. I’d hid my drag stuff from my mom. One day I felt I could not hide it anymore. It got to the point where I had to take my stuff in luggage to a friend’s and got ready over there. So I told my mom I was a drag queen, a performer and that was what I did, that was my life. She accepted it, kind of. But she’d still ask me, when was I going to get married.
Adelante: Besides hiding it, what were the other challenges.
Lazaro: Being harassed, and bullied in school. Negativity and hostility when I started drag, awful and hateful comments. I was always called fat and I put up with it. That was hard. Even to this day it’s difficult to overcome the things that damaged my life. You would think at 58 years old that I would have gotten over those things, but I haven’t. Words hurt, and that’s something you can’t erase. At the end of the day, when I’m home alone, I get those flashbacks. You can always say ‘forget it’ but growing up as a kid, these ugly comments get engrained in one’s brain.
Adelante: Were those comments more from the general public or LGBTQ people?
Lazaro: From both. But it was more from within our community for sure. There were times I’d get in drag and be in the best mood and there would be some gay guys that would make comments like ‘Halloween is not here yet’. They’d just make me feel like I was nothing. I would think, I’m just like you. Why are you putting me down? I’m in the same boat as you. It would happen in the clubs, out on the streets in the gay areas. I think people with low self-esteem have to put others down because they feel the way they do. I get upset with the gay community for acting like this. I think the gay community can be its own worst enemy because if you are not perfect, you don’t exist. Another sad thing is when you hear our people say, “love is love.” Well, love is not love, because sometimes the people who preach it are the one’s who talk about you behind your back.
Adelante: Tell us about the start of Lola?
Lazaro: When I started, I did my own make up, put lipstick on and called it a day. When I started going to clubs, I met David Perry. He wanted to go out and do drag and I was not sure. I wasn’t that kind of gay, because to me, that kind of guy that did drag was a sissy. I’m a man. I do things like a man. Just because I wear dresses, doesn’t make me less of a man. I’m an actor and I’m going out to do a role. I get paid, and when the money is gone, I’m going home.
When I started doing drag it was fun and I got attention. Because when I’d go out dressed as myself, as a guy, people would not pay attention to me because I was fat. You know in the gay world if you’re not perfect or a perfect match for them, they degrade you. You hear them say “I won’t go out with that fat guy.” Then there’s the bear community and there’d be guys that would tell me I was cute but I needed to gain 20 more pounds. Go figure.
Adelante: How did you choose the name Lola?
Lazaro: My drag mother David Sutton named me. One day we were listening to the Barry Manilow song Copa Cabana on the radio, and he said, there it is: Lola is your name. I liked the sound of Lola and since the song was about a Cuban girl, and I’m Cuban, I decided to stay with Lola. I’ve always liked the name Veronica, so I chose Lola Veronica.
Adelante: You don’t really do characters or impersonations?
Lazaro: I don’t. I do myself. If anything, performers do me as a character.
Adelante: Where did the content of your performances come from?
Lazaro: I just talked about everything. When I did shows, I would do whoever I wanted because I wasn’t trying to be anyone. I sang live. I don’t lip sync.
Adelante: Who is Lola?
Lazaro: She is glamor, someone’s mother, father, teacher and counselor. I have always been a person who could love someone unconditionally, whether you’re handicapped, young or old. I accept everyone for who they are.
When I’m Lola, I have to be this big person, who has to be in the limelight. It’s like a demon takes over me. Once I have the mic and have the wig on, even my friends would be like, “how do you do it, you go from off to on, where do you get the energy?” “You work eight hours a day, you go do a drag show then you get up early and go to work in the morning.”
Adelante: Is Lola different than today’s drag performers?
Lazaro: Today a lot of the Reality-TV girls are real caddy and bitchy. They don’t want to take pictures with you. Lola takes pictures with everyone.
I used to get yelled at by managers to stop taking pictures with the crowd, but the crowd wanted to take pictures with me. A lot were young people and they would confide in me and ask if they could talk to me about problems they were having with their families. It can be hard for a Latino family to come out, because the father always wants their kids to be the most macho ones and not the gays. I’m so out there, living to have fun. Many tell me it’s because of my example that they were able to come out to their family and started doing drag.
Adelante: Have your looks evolved over the years? How did you come up with the big hair and everything else.
Lazaro: Early on David did my makeup very campy, and I didn’t really like it. I actually saw myself as more glamorous and that’s the look I wanted. So, I learned how to do my own makeup and Lola became the way I wanted to see her, glamorous.
An example of glamor is Elizabeth Taylor, she had the jewels, the big hair. I’ve always believed that drag should be glamorous.
Adelante: Has drag changed?
Lazaro: Yes and a lot of it has to do with this new generation of drag shows. I’m not saying it’s a bad drag. A lot of these new girls are very talented, they can paint for the Gods. But some are a little too big for their britches, they get a show here and there and they think they are all that. That does not fit with me. You’ve been doing drag three or four years and you call yourself iconic? No. You have to earn it.
Lola is a known entity. I’ve worked my ass off to be who I am. I had to prove myself that I could do this myself and stand on my own.
Adelante: Did being harassed give you more empathy for others?
Lazaro: Probably yes. When you spread kindness, people sometimes don’t like it. They’re like, what does she/he want from me. Probably because they’ve been burned by people. There are those people that don’t like hearing the truth. If someone says to me, “why do you always wear that big hair?” as if they don’t like it, and I say, because I like it, I don’t tell you how to dress, don’t tell me what to wear. At some point, I stopped accepting people’s bullshit.
Adelante: How are Lola and Lazaro different?
Lazaro: Lola can get away with murder. Lazaro can’t. Lola is outgoing, very positive, in your face, she can grab whatever guy she wants, and I’ve been doing that for years. But Lazaro can’t do that. Not that I’m intimidated, but I just feel like I can’t do it. I’ve always said, as a girl I could do whatever I want. But as a guy, if someone hits on me, I get shy. I start thinking ‘what is he looking at me for?’ I still have it in my mind that I’m fat and ugly, no matter how much positivity I put in my mind and how much I love myself, that always hits me. So, I question why he wants me. As Lola I could have a hundred men. Drag has brought me happiness, when I sit down and do my make up I just start feeling like a lady. I start transforming myself and I become Lola.
Adelante: Do you consider drag an art form or is it more of a fun thing or is it a lifestyle.
Lazaro: My drag was for me. A way to express myself. It was great to see how much joy and happiness I brought to people’s life. Sometimes when you live your life not so happy, but you see the happiness in other people’s life, it feels good. I’m not saying I’ve lived an unhappy or a horrible life. But I grew up without many friends and that affects you. So at least when I started doing drag, I noticed that people were paying attention to me. People would love me and I wanted that love. I wanted the attention.
Drag for me is not a lifestyle. I really enjoyed what I did and it was more of an expression of my inner self, like a persona of me that I always wanted to live.
I always wanted to be a singer, wanted to be on stage, an entertainer. Maybe that’s why I could create a Lola. My persona was glamor and big hair and long dresses. I’m that person on stage, with the mic, having a good time, getting the crowd riled up so they can have fun.
Adelante: When you get dressed up and you’re leaving the house, does your personality change?
Lazaro: My personality changes once I hit my lipstick. The minute I start getting ready, I just change. The Lola is here.
When I get off the stage and start coming home, I come out of it. I separate Lola from Lazaro. Lola is a wild person and Lazaro is not. I know how to control it. To this day, I probably don’t understand why. Maybe it’s because I don’t want to live that crazy lifestyle.
Like how you see me here in my house, you don’t see Lola anywhere here. You don’t see a painting of Lola, or a picture of Circus or Club Papi. I’ve lived it, I don’t need to show it off. People know what I’ve done.
Adelante: Did the separation between Lazaro and Lola contribute to your being able to do drag this long?
Lazaro: It’s a very healthy separation. It’s like your work. When you’re at work, you deal with your problems at work and you don’t want to take them home. When I left the club or the event, I left it there and that is how I did my separation. I entertained and did what I had to do. Then I took my make up off, my wigs off, clean up and go to bed and go to work the next day. I’ve always done that.
Adelante: Was it hard being in the party scene?
Lazaro: I’ve never taken drugs or smoked. Most of the crowd around me did, especially in the Circus Disco days, there were so many drugs. I never wanted to associate with that. I did not want to be known as Lola and drugs.
I wanted to stand on my own and maybe that’s why people don’t think about me today. I was always from my house to the show, entertain, get the crowd, once the night was over, come back home. I did not go to after parties.
Adelante: You lost your dad at 14, it must have been difficult.
Lazaro: Yes, I had to work. I started working at the school district and cleaning classrooms. It wasn’t much, the school did not pay me, rather the person I helped would give me a little money. I cut grass and helped my mom with her ice cream truck, selling ice cream here in West Covina. I supported the house expenses. I had an older sister that also helped and a younger brother to care for.
Adelante: Did you do Lola for the money?
Lazaro: There would be times when I’d walk out of Circus without even a dollar. I would use whatever I got to pay the show girls, they deserved it and needed it more than I did. It would bring me joy that people would come to see the show at Circus, to see me and often that was enough. The money didn’t matter. Back then, it was just seats and tables in the old Circus Disco when I took over the show. But after a while it got so crowded and we had to get rid of the tables and it became standing room only. Gene loved it because it was packed.
Through out my career, I felt that I was paid less than others. The money I made always went back in drag, so I basically did not make money over these years. Tips and payments go right back into materials for gowns and outfits, wigs, accessories. Drag is very expensive.
I believe a lot of the promoters saw the power and influence Lola had. I’m actually very grateful and very blessed of a promoter who gave me the opportunity to do the things I was able to do.
Adelante: You and Ms. Martin were friends. She was a legend. Tell me about her?
Lazaro: When I was at Circus, Gene opened the Arena Nightclub and it drew a different crowd. One night was for 18 and over and that’s when I met Ms. Martin who was hosting there.
Martin had a bad heart and I’d tell her to be careful with her health. I remember one day we went to Jack in the Box and we were both in drag, in line at the drive thru. Martin was a big 400 lb. Samoan. She ordered a bunch of stuff, like a few hamburgers, some tacos, fries just for herself. This Cholo guy walked by drinking a beer and Martin rolled down the window and yelled: “Hey, you’re fine guy” and the dude came over and said “wait, are you guys fuckin’ dudes?” and right then, Martin snatched off her wig and said “yea, I’m a dude” and the guy pulled out a gun and put it right in our faces and said “you’re lucky I don’t shoot you guys.” I saw my life flash before me. I never wanted to do that again.
Adelante: That could have ended bad.
Lazaro: You bet. There could have been two fat dead Queens at the Jack in the Box drive thu.
Adelante: What happened to Ms. Martin?
Lazaro: Martin’s heart. The dogs were fighting and she went outside to pull them apart and she had a stroke and died. She was like 38. Martin was unique and amazing.
There were many opportunities for her to do things. John Watters, the film maker wanted to do something with Martin, like a film. I wish someone would give me the opportunity to do something like that.
Martin was like me, she did not need to do a character. She was Martin. Martin never had to do anyone. She did not look like anyone. You can’t say shit about her because she’s Martin. There was only one Martin, and only one Lola. If he’d still be alive, we’d been doing stuff together.
Adelante: Does Lazaro get lonely?
Lazaro: All the time. Every single day. You see me here by myself, you have not heard my phone ring, nobody has called me. I watch TV, make myself dinner, and then by 9 or 9:30, I take a shower and go to bed. So, yea, I live a lonely life.
Adelante: How do you reconcile the differences between your Lola and Lazaro life. Popularity vs. the lonely.
Lazaro: I enjoy my peace. Because when you’re out there, you’re always go, go, go. You have nagging promoters asking you to get on the mic and do this, do that. Take pictures, etc. At times, I felt like that music box monkey dancing when the music played. It’s like, “get out there,” get the mic, make me money.”
Adelante: What’s next.
Lazaro: I kind of just want to retire. I don’t miss the club scene. Lola will always be a part of me, I just won’t do drag. Lola won’t come out anymore.
Adelante: How do you put such a big character away? Is it possible? Do you think there could come a day when you just put it all away for good?
Lazaro: It’s possible. I’ve done it. You saw my room, everything is nice and organized. I could put it all in big tubs and give it away.
Adelante: What happens to Lazaro? Does Lazaro take on more of what Lola would do?
Lazaro: I’ll retire as Lola. I’ve done it and I don’t regret any of it. Lola has done a lot for me. Lola has opened a lot of doors. She has led me to a lot of friendships. I could put the drag away but it will always be a part of me. If I go out to a club like this, as Lazaro and if I’m asked whether I’m Lola, I’ll say yes.
Adelante: How do you interact with club folks as Lazaro?
Lazaro: There are times when I go out and walk into a nightclub like this, dressed as myself with a beard and a hat. I see the same people who would go crazy and be excited to see me as Lola. But like this, they just walk on by. Like I’m not even there.
Adelante: That has to hurt.
Lazaro: It did hurt for a while, but it was like, oh well. I moved on. I learned to separate Lola from Lazaro. When I go to a club now, I’m a wall flower, a people watcher. I stay a couple hours and leave.
Adelante: For the people that are your friends, do they treat you differently?
Lazaro: Lola has ten million acquaintances, but Lazaro has a hand full of friends. My friends treat me the same, whether Lola or Lazaro.
Lazaro stopped doing drag regularly in June of 2024 and says his timeline for being completely done is not too long away. At 58, he says he does not want to be an old drag queen, he just wants to be remembered for what he did. More recently, Lola has done events such as Downey Pride and will be doing an upcoming Vaquero night at Club Muevelo in Downey.
Adelante: What do you want to say to your fans at this stage in your career?
Lazaro: I just want to say thank you to all the people who gave me the opportunity to be who I am. Those who have supported me for many years and who gave me the opportunity to be in their hearts. I’m very honored and blessed to have had the opportunity to share my love with each and every one of you.
I’d like to thank my friend and designer Tony Iniguez, who made my dresses. Mauricio Linares (Juan) for doing my make-up. Four people have done my wigs: Brenda and Rosario from Hollywood wigs, Maria from San Diego and Melissa BeFierce. I want to thank Delta Work for hosting me on her podcast, Very Delta.
Thank you for this amazing journey. And, I’m still here. If you’d like to keep in touch with me, you can get me at IG @LolaVeronica66.
Lola has been an inspiration to the community for four and a half decades. For those of us from Los Angeles and throughout California we’d probably all agree that we have witnessed one of our own rise-up to become one of the best known and most recognized drag personalities. It’s hard to think about our community without the presence of Lola. She’s made such a lasting impression on us. Whether you’ve known her from the various pride events throughout the state, or from back in the Circus Arena days, Club Tempo or the various events of Club Papi, Lola is stamped in our memories and part of our lasting history. For all of this, and all of what you’ve accomplished there is only one word to sum up Lazaro and Lola: Icon.
Adelante Magazine gives thanks Lazaro and Lola for the time spent speaking with us for this story. We wish Lazaro the best. Please enjoy the Cover of Adelante’s February 2025 edition and the photos of her over her long career. Please join us on February 7, 2025 at Club Muevelo in Downey for a cover signing evening with Lola and some of the cover boy models. More photos are posted on our website at www.AdelanteMagazine.com and on our IG @AdelanteMag.