Sequins, feathers, makeup, spot lights and it’s Drag Show time!

The annual Drag Show had approximately 350 people show up to the show.

Both kings and queens performed. The professionals were Matthew Steele, Jackie Oh Kennedy, Anita BisQuette, Veronica Kennedy, Alex Lee Damage and Avii Kennedy. Student performers were Aiden Abetting, Andy Roginous, Calvin T. Cordial, Mister Brightside and Jack Mayoff. These are their stage names, of course. Anita BisQuette was the show’s MC.

The most touching performances were given by Alex Lee Damage, who performed “Skin” for his girlfriend’s sister who is 13-years-old and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma last December, the performance by Jackie Oh Kennedy, who signed “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken” and moved a student to sign along with her.

All of the drag kings and queens got the audience involved in some way that was all their own. One of the performers did a woman build up where she would remove clothes so her attire would go along with the empowering song she was performing. Another had a performance similar to that of a tasteful strip performance.

Anita BisQuette knew how to work the crowd and get everyone laughing. She had three guys in the crowd that she would flirt with throughout the performance. At one point in the show BisQuette points out an audience member and the conversation goes as follows:

“Are you a professor?” said BisQuette.

“Not anymore, you can lap dance on me all you want,” said former professor Sherry Dorman.

“(The show) went super well and the decorations were gorgeous,” said freshman PRIDE group member Jesse Kaus. “The kings and queens all had amazing performances.”

Kaus said that the show raised $1,020 for Dr. Cooper’s family.

Before the show a panel allowed students and staff to speak for the drag performers. Many of them had a background in theater.

“I’m a PRIDE Queen,” said Veronica Kennedy. “The first time I ever saw drag I was at a PRIDE festival in South Dakota, and I saw some on stage and thought, ‘That’s something I can totally do.’”

Matthew Steele first entered a strip contest for his birthday, he said, “Just for sh*ts and giggles type thing.” He won and was asked to return and was told that he would get paid as well as keep all of the tips that he received for New Years.

“That’s where I kind of got my start in the scene,” said Steele. “I did some stripping and stuff in drag shows.”

Steele said that drag queen Nova Star sat down and had a conversation with him telling him that he doesn’t have to take his clothes off on stage in order to be an entertainer.

“That was kind of a reality check for me, so from then on I decided to change the way I took my artform,” said Steele. “Not necessarily taking my clothes off, but if I do, do it in a tasteful way so there’s some skin showing but not be completely naked.”

A big message that came through the panel as well as the performance is that drag allows the performers to be who they want to be, and they encourage others to do the same especially college students.