Throughout my time in quarantine, I did a lot of binge watching. One of the shows I became OBSESSED with was RuPaul’s Drag Race. I had always known about drag and some of the popular queens, but I personally never took the time to watch the show that they all gained traction from. Let’s just say that I am so glad that I did. For those of you who have never seen the show, RuPauls’ Drag Race consists of around 10-14 queens competing to become America’s Next Drag Superstar. Throughout the show, the queens compete in various challenges such as improv, comedy, dancing, singing, designing, and make-overs. In addition, there is a fashion show where each runway has its own theme that must be followed. Usually, the two bottom queens of each week compete in a lip sync battle. The fashion, the comedy, the performing, the drama, the overall extravaganza of it all, got me completely hooked.
Drag queens are very important for LGBTQ+ representation. While the art of drag is for anyone and everyone, female impersonation originated with gay men dressing up and transforming themselves into women presenting individuals. The confidence they exude just resonates so well with other members of the community and encourages them to embrace who they are. Marsha P. Johnson, who is historically known for her prominent work at the Stonewall Riots, was a drag queen. RuPaul herself gained immense popularity which allowed her to have a competition show, broadcasted on national television without being censored against the heteronormative agenda of society. Although I have no plans to become a full time drag queen, it is on my bucket list to perform in drag at least once.
During the summer, I had seen many of the queens I followed on social media doing drive-in drag performances around the US. Unfortunately, none of the shows were anywhere near where I live so I was unable to attend…until recently. A month or so ago I was scrolling through Instagram and one of the queens I followed posted about a Halloween themed event they were going to be a part of. Considering most of these events happen in either New York or L.A., I was about to disregard it entirely. As soon I was about scroll past, I noticed that Philadelphia was listed as one of the performance locations. I SCREAMED and immediately informed my roommate that we had to go. Shortly after, we bought tickets for the show and waited the next few weeks in anticipation.
Voss Events Drive ‘N Drag Halloween Edition took place at the Neshaminy Mall in Bensalem, PA. So not REALLY Philadelphia, but it was close enough that the drive there only took about 20 minutes. The line of cars to get into the parking lot was insane but it wound up moving pretty fast. The event was set up in one of the parking lots which was actually pretty large and spacious. At the front of the lot there was a large stage, decked out in spooky, haunted house vibes. On either side of the stage were huge, bright LED screens for those towards the back of the venue to capture all the action. Event workers organized the cars into numerous rows and made sure to keep 6 feet of distance between cars. That way if people wanted to sit or stand directly outside their car, they could. My roommates and I wound up sitting outside of our car to see the stage better. As extra precaution, I wore my mask as well. (Reminder: Wear your damn mask.) The event itself was pretty similar to a drive-in movie, except instead of watching something pre-recorded, it was performed live. There were also food trucks parked on the side of the lot for people to grab some food during the show, as well as a merchandise table that always seemed to be crowded. I never expected that my first drag show would be in this setting but, regardless of the pandemic, I love the idea of a drive-in drag show.
The show line-up featured Asia O’Hara, as the host, with performances from Aquaria, Yvie Oddly, Kameron Michaels, Kim Chi, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, & Violet Chachki. If you’ve never heard of any of these queens, I suggest you look them all up because they are truly ICONIC. To keep with the Halloween theme, each queen had a little spooky backstory as to how they “died” which provided inspiration for their outfits and “undead” performance. Each queen had their own solo performance, accompanied by some backup dancers. Aquaria told a story about plastic surgery gone wrong, all through dances to songs from Lady Gaga’s Chromatica album. Yvie Oddly was the “trash” queen and pranced around the stage in this huge gown made of garbage. Kameron Michaels did a silly yet creepy clown dance number full of tricks and humor. Kim Chi is not a dancer but was able to showcase her acting and lip syncing skills through a “gut-wrenching” performance. Miss Vanjie featured an upbeat cage dance number, all in the style of hip-hop. Violet Chachki embodied a witch where she not only flew but baton twirled with FIRE. At the end, the entire group did an encore performance together, combined with the final bows to close out the show. My favorites of the night were Violet Chachki and Aquaria for sure.
Overall, I had a fantastic time. Was it because it was the first live event that I’ve been to in months? Possibly. Was it also because it was my first ever drag show? Maybe. I lost my voice from yelling “YAS” every 5 minutes and spent an absurd amount of money on show merchandise, but I have no regrets at all. As I said before, drag queens are such an important part of representation for the LGBTQ+ community and I’m so grateful for the art that they produce.
