Veronica Bleaus steals the Drag Show

There was cellophane, an entire roll of duct tape and plenty of “fierce” to go around.

The… There was cellophane, an entire roll of duct tape and plenty of “fierce” to go around.

The spotlight went up on hostess Veronica Bleaus (aka Pitt senior John Musser) decked out in a retro-themed mini-dress, eight-inch platform heels, a pink boa and a neon-pink feather wig. Not even 30 seconds into her Kylie Minogue number, audience members were swarming to throw money on stage.

“Get the f— into it!” Bleaus told the crowd after her first act. “This is the best crowd I’ve ever worked with, but don’t stare at me and not tip me.”

Such was the mood at last night’s seventh annual Spring Drag Show hosted by the Rainbow Alliance as part of its Pride Week activities. Drag kings and queens entertained more than 500 people packed into the William Pitt Union Assembly Room and raised $1,140 for the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.

As the crowd shouted and whistled, Bleaus strutted to the front of the stage welcoming the “drag show virgins.”

“I am a man wearing sparkles and feathers,” he said. “That’s all you need to get, OK, people?”

Bleaus offered lessons in tipping etiquette before performances from first-time drag kings Christopher Crash and Cliff Hanger (Kelly Coburn and Ursula Rogers.)

“Don’t stuff it in my pants,” Bleaus said, referring to the cash that audience members were tipping. “Don’t stuff it in my bra either because that will just shift my titties.”

As the underwear thrown on stage was being cleared during Crash’s rendition of Wolfmother’s “Woman,” Lilith La Morte (senior Daniel Stuchel) prepared for what she described as “a series of dramatic recitations.”

With a little bit of lace, a parasol and an affected British accent, La Morte kept the crowd in an uproar of laughter, performing renditions of popular songs such as “Low” by Flo Rida and “Milkshake” by Kelis.

“My frozen dairy product brings all the young men to the veranda,” she said, interpreting the hit single. “I could instruct you but it would be that I would have to send an invoice.”

Bleaus then returned to the stage in a blonde wig and a black sequined mini-dress to teach the art of being a drag queen.

“You might be a drag queen if you not only own fake eyelashes but wear them, you know more than one Kylie Minogue song, and you own more four-inch heels than flip-flops and Pumas.”

During Bleaus’ “tranny change,” La Morte lent some advice to the audience including straight women and men, gay women and men and “people who just don’t fit in either category.”

“I don’t care if you are an octopus or a salamander,” he said. “The only thing that matters is that you are getting laid and you are happy.”

The laughter degenerated into hysteria as Bleaus appeared on the stage in a Little Mermaid costume.

As she sang “Part of Your World,” Bleaus battled a sailor trying to catch him in a fish net while switching to Fontella Bass’ “Rescue Me.”

The laughter was so uncontrollable that no one noticed that the president of the Rainbow Alliance and sailor Aaron Arnold fell backward when trying to help Bleaus offstage.

Despite the abundant hilarity and profanity, the show’s purpose deals with the ongoing struggles with AIDS and gay awareness.

For Arnold, it was a way to get people thinking about what being gay means. “I want them to walk away thinking about those performers who did man and did woman and did it better than those people who are born into it.”