IMG_0166.JPG

About

 

Naomi Wayne has been a professional chameleon throughout her artistic life. Combining backgrounds in music performance, visual art, theatre, and spirituality, Naomi has had the audacity to work as an actress, a drag performer, a singer, and a professional witch. She is most well known for her work under the pseudonym Gilda Wabbit where she traveled the country as a drag artist, enjoying performing opportunities like Sasha Velour’s Nightgowns, touring her one-woman Gilda Wabbit’s Big Gay Opera Show, and becoming the face of the meme ‘The Future Liberals Want.’ She also spent five years as a Playmate and emcee at Play Dance Bar in Louisville, Kentucky and starred in OutTV’s Camp Wannakiki.

In the world of theatre, Naomi has performed extensively with Drag Daddy Productions receiving rave reviews for the titular roles in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Jesus Christ Superstar. She has also performed with other noted theatre groups including a turn as Mary Sunshine in the Lexington Theatre Company’s Chicago and Frankfurter in Time Slip Theatre’s Rocky Horror Picture Show. Alongside her performance work, Naomi also writes shows that combine drag, theatre, and live music. Her most fruitful collaborative relationship is with Columbus, OH performer Gretta Goodbottom. They have co-created numerous performances including the Gretta & Gilda Easter Spectacular, Gretta & Gilda’s Holiday Hangover, and Goodbottom & Wayne Daylight Save the World

Since beginning her transition in 2022, Naomi has decided to thread her spiritual world and professional world together. While performance has always been an avenue that allows Naomi to connect with and uplift audiences in a grand and fabulous way, working as a witch has created a space that is more intimate, personal, and deeply human. Whether she is doing a reading or crafting a ritual for a client, she always seeks to build a bridge for someone’s inner life to step into the physical world. She longs to help those she works with dive deeply into their own experience, just as she dives into whatever work she finds herself performing on stage.

Whatever work you’d like to do with Naomi, she’s here to make magic.

When I tell someone I’m queer, I hope to communicate how I interface with the world, not just who I sleep with or which bathroom I’d like to use.
— Queer Kentucky
She flawlessly executed what is one of the most deceptively difficult roles in musical theatre.
— Broadway World