PRIDE and APO host drag show
With elaborate costumes and routines, the show in Ransburg Auditorium was no “drag” on March 22.
The annual UIndy Drag Show, organized by UIndy PRIDE and the theatre honor society Alpha Psi Omega, was held for its ninth year and featured the routines of Tiffany Jewels, performed by Blake Miller; Testes Knees Child, a group composed of Deondra Billingsley, Anthony Jackson and DyNishia Miller; and the group Really Big but Not So Rich, performed by Morgan Jackson, Ashleigh Skaggs and India Van Camp.
Testes Knees Child, a group composed of Deondra Billingsley, Anthony Jackson and DyNishia Miller, performs at the UIndy Drag Show. Photo by Kelbi Ervin.
Senior sociology major Josh Ford, president of UIndy PRIDE, works extensively to put the show together. He said the show focuses on variety.
“Drag is traditionally masculine-identified people dressing as women and feminine-identified people dressing as men,” Ford said. “At UIndy’s Drag Show, we welcome anyone to perform, and not everyone adheres to traditional drag culture … It’s not just what you wear, it’s the makeup, it’s the hair and it’s the whole shebang.”
Ford explained that a lot goes into getting into full drag. Women might do facial hair makeup and get into it. But he has also seen others go up in a simple dress and not have much else done.
Traditional drag shows involve tipping the performers, which is how the Drag Show raises money for Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS, an organization which sponsors research and awareness.
Ford said that the show was not a fundraiser. However, through the work of Alpha Psi Omega and PRIDE, the show helps bring exposure to drag culture, and they decided that the tips should go to a charitable organization that helps battle against HIV/AIDS.
Junior sociology major Alison Resnick was this year’s OUTreach Chair for the Drag Show. She said that her duties included being the main contact for the performers and the theatre department. Resnick said that last year the show raised a little more than $1,000.
“My hope is that we’ll raise more money than we did last year … We were really surprised about last year and hope that we can raise about the same, if not more,” Resnick said.
This year’s drag show raised $885 for Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS.
At the show’s conclusion, the winners were announced as Testes Knees Child for the Best Group, Guy Manson (Linny Wines) as Best Drag King, Really Big but Not So Rich as the Most Original, Tiffany Jewels as the Best Dressed, and Breck Ireland as the Best Queen.
