Pedro moves to Birmingham
1998
Paul didn’t want Pedro to rush the decision so said he could come for a
week to see what he thought, and met him at East Midlands airport in
December. Pedro had expected cold but not darkness at 4 p.m.! He went
round the Bull Ring Shopping Centre and was surprised to find a couple of clubs open in
the daytime. The first bars he went to were Angels then Missing, which
had just opened.
Pedro moves to Birmingham
After
that week, Paul went back to Gran Canaria in January, and Pedro moved
to England on 14th February 1999. He enrolled at Bournville College to
do an ESOL course, and workwise, he had been doing drag in Gran
Canaria, so he entered a Miss Glam Drag competition at Route 2 and he
won it! Someone from Studio One saw him and got him his first show at
Missing, on a Wednesday. Paul gave him lyrics from one English song to
learn to mime to, the rest were in Spanish. He was fine singing and
dancing but nervous before the first song as he had to talk. Then he
was booked for a season, every Wednesday. He got established and also
played gay bars in Manchester, Blackpool, Cardiff. They travelled
together at night when possible, Paul was still working in Boots by
day. They lived in Paul’s flat in New Town, less than a mile from the
city centre.
Contributed by: Pedro