Drag show challenges gender identities, dress

It’s 8:15 p.m. in the Kurtzman Ballroom. There are only 30 minutes before that night’s drag… It’s 8:15 p.m. in the Kurtzman Ballroom. There are only 30 minutes before that night’s drag show starts. Makeup is abundant, hair is high, there’s a perfume fragrance in the air and for junior John Musser, there is only one question remaining.

“Where the f— are my hoop earrings?”

Serving as the master of ceremonies, Musser ushered in the Rainbow Alliance’s sixth annual Drag Show as part of Pride Week on campus last Thursday night in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room. In front of an audience of more than 300 people filling both the chairs and spilling onto the floor, 11 drag kings and queens performed dance routines to raise money for the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.

Musser, who performed under the stage name Veronica Bleaus, came out dancing to the song “Angry Inch” from the Broadway musical and movie “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” as the first act of the night.

After an uproar of applause and dollar bills thrown onto the stage, Musser walked to the front of the stage to welcome returning audience members and introduce “drag show virgins” to the festivities. To Musser’s surprise, many of the audience members had never previously attended a show before.

“Did you all go to Catholic school?” He asked. “That’s no excuse!”

Littered with humor and profanity, the show continued with other performers with stage names such as Summer Clearance, Lilith La Morte, Christopher Crash and Dominique Da’hoe. One particular highlight came from senior Justin Honard, known on stage as Alaska ThunderF—. Honard performed to Madonna’s “Papa Don’t Preach” while having a balloon under his shirt simulating a pregnancy and carrying around a Kevin Federline picture while wearing a MILF T-shirt.

“I thought it was so relevant in that it was timely,” freshman Jamie Niedecker said. “[Honard’s performance] was a crowd-pleaser.”

While many felt the Rainbow Alliance’s activities were light-hearted and well-intentioned, others did not. According to Honard, earlier that night they had received complaints from several people about the labeled gender-neutral bathroom they had pre-arranged with the William Pitt Union staff in preparation for the drag show.

“We [had] to have a representative from Rainbow Alliance come out to the bathroom and act as an attendant. I think it’s ridiculous.”

Even with the minor setbacks, the night continued as planned. Following Honard’s performance were Alden Davidson, who played the redneck Dirk Nash to Warrant’s “Cherry Pie;” Brandon Benoit, whose on-stage split drew cheer, as Connie LaCoochie; and Laura Brown who played a George Michael-like character.

Kelly Coburn, the Political Action Chair for the Rainbow Alliance and also the Marilyn Manson-like “Christopher Crash,” felt the event acted as a release for the performers on top of being a great charity.

“[Drag is] definitely a form expression,” she said. “How often do you get to be and act like someone else?”

While speaking to the audience in drag, Musser shared a similar opinion.

“Some people think it’s a bad image (for the gay community), but I think it’s just fun,” he said. “It’s not like I’m going to the grocery store like this. This is just expression, how we want to be seen.”

On a more serious note, Musser spoke about the significance of Pride Week and its pertinence to everyone in the audience – not just the gay community.

“If you identify as Donald Duck, have pride in it,” he said.

By the end of the night after a few last-minute donations, the drag show raised $800 for the AIDS Task Force – mostly in one dollar bills.

“This made a lot more money than last year, like 300 percent more,” Musser said. “Last year, it wasn’t even $300.”

Aaron Arnold, the president of the Rainbow Alliance, said that while the event was difficult for the staff and performers to coordinate with humor, acting and dance, the audience helped make it much easier.

“You have to be funny, sassy, a little crude, you have to plan the numbers so there’s never a huge amount of downtime,” he said. “It wasn’t hard to do with this crowd. We couldn’t have asked for a better environment.”

While Rainbow Alliance exceeded its goals with fund raising and entertainment, they had one more goal in mind: to promote acceptance. Honard felt that much of that had been accomplished before the show even started.

“I think the very fact that we [were] in the Kurtzman Room and look like this is a message in itself.”

Arnold believes that the success of the drag show is a testament of the open attitude of Pitt students towards the Rainbow Alliance’s message.

“They proved that things like gender expression and sexual orientation are non-issues and we just feel so proud to be a part of such an accepting community of students,” he said. “You don’t get that at every school.”