UWG’s Queer Student Alliance (QSA) hosted its annual drag show on April 10 at UWG’s Campus Center Ballroom. Professional drag performers, including one who is also a UWG student, took to the stage with a variety of fashionable, fun and sometimes funny acts. The event featured solo and duet performances. And all the drag queens got a chance to perform multiple times throughout the show, which lasted over two hours.
“It’s a mix between theatrics and vogue,” says drag performer Kitty Love Antoinette. “It’s important because it’s one way for people to express themselves.”
People from all over the school and nearby public, all from different backgrounds, sexual orientations, ethnicities and ages excitedly watched the animated and theatrical performance. The show started at 7:30 p.m., continuing until around 10. Almost all of the 200 plus seats in the ballroom were filled.
Exaggerated and outlandishly bedazzled costumes, sexually charged body movements, comedy, and acrobatics performed to the accompaniment of recorded music are typical elements of a drag show. And the performers at last week’s QSA show were especially flamboyant, punctuating their acts with lip synching, splits, flips and cheeky comic bits.
“It gives them {drag performers} the ability to be the writer, the actor, the director, and the producer all in one,” says Antoinette.
Much of the time, drag queens took turns distracting the audience with comedy during the breaks between acts, usually after their own performances. Whether it be interacting with and pointing out a particular audience member, making jokes about how far out in the middle of nowhere compared to Atlanta UWG is, or wondering about where the best place to party in Carrollton might be, the performers never failed to entertain.
By requiring interaction from the audience, drag performances “go both ways,” so to speak. These interactions include clapping to the beat of the music, cheering when an impressive display of acrobatics is performed, and tipping the drag queens for especially inspired and/or outrageous acts. The drag queens have a much better likelihood to interact with you if you are tipping them and sitting closer to the stage.
And while there is definitely a sexual nature to drag shows, the human connection is also very important to a successful performance. “It’s a way to get people outside of their everyday stress,” says Antionette. “And it’s a way to connect with people and bring a little happiness to the world.”