If you have been to any drag show in the past year (if you haven’t, I strongly urge you to reconsider), you have probably noticed that Beyonce is becoming the new Tina Turner of drag. Beyonce’s already managed to get on Etta James’s and Aretha Franklin’s respective bad sides; let’s hope Miss Turner doesn’t take offense too and join forces with them.
This past Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transsexual Alliance’s (GLBTA) First Tenth Annual Drag Show, Sheryu, one of three professional queens, paid tribute to the past and future of drag by performing (lipsynching and dancing) Beyonce’s “Get Me Bodied” in a white fringe minidress. If there is one thing the pros demonstrated as they strutted across the stage of the NEIU Recital Hall, it is that dancing in stilettos will do wonders for your legs. There were high and low points in the choreography in all of their performances but, to borrow from reality TV star Christian Siriano, they were all fierce.
Though the professionals were just that, GLBTA’s club members stole the spotlight. The show opened with a slightly unexpected rendition by Brendela of two old-timey fiddle tunes. This was as surprising as it was amusing. Try, if you dare, to picture a drag queen in bubblegum-pink hair, miniskirt, and striped socks (sans shoes) playing “Whiskey before Breakfast” on a violin. Brendela came up on stage once more to dance and lipsynch to Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” and recruit some members of the audience to dance with her.
Laura Barnhart and Heather Dean performed a medley of the Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)”, The Temptations’ “My Girl”, Cake’s “I Will Survive”, and T.I.’s “Dead and Gone” to boisterous cheers from the audience. The duo owned the stage in matching tuxedo shirts, Allstars and Groucho Marx ‘staches.
A Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman duet brought some old Hollywood glamour with a twist to the mix. A cigarette-smoking, whiskey-sipping Regina played Frank to Robert’s six foot Ethel.
In what was probably the best lipsynching job of the night, Melissa showed up the pros with her driving performance of “Paper Planes”. Complete with white paper airplanes flying onto the stage, this number was all-around one of the most entertaining and best executed.
In between numbers, an animated emcee brought up issues like Proposition 8, which GLBTA is working hard to raise awareness about and stop in its tracks. Activism is a large component of the club’s raison d’etre, and so proceeds from the drag show will go towards getting the club members to the Midwest Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Ally College Conference next week, where they will be able to attend workshops geared towards promoting positive ideals of “diversity, equality, and social justice”.
GLBTA really hit it out of the park with this event. Not only did they reach a new club record in fundraising but they also put on one of the most entertaining and original shows NEIU has seen in a while. The brilliant thing about the drag show was how engaging it was. During every number there were audience members dancing, clapping, or going up to the stage to show their appreciation with heaps of singles, for which the queens (and kings) would reward them with blown kisses and cheeky winks.
To learn more about GLBTA you can attend one of their weekly meetings, Thursdays during activity hour from 1:40 – 2:40 p.m. in FA-247 and make sure you keep your eyes peeled for next year’s Second Tenth Annual Drag Show.