BGLSA, Carolina Productions host annual drag show
Carolina Productions partnered with BGLSA to host the 14th annual Birdcage drag show event. Featured Tuesday night in the Russell House ballroom, the event served as a fun segue into talking openly about the LGBT community and safe sex.
The theme of the night was "La Cage aux Folles," a French term meaning, "the cage of crazies." It was inspired by The Birdcage, a Robin Williams flick in which a gay cabaret owner and his drag queen partner agree to "play straight" in order to meet their son's fiance's right-wing, straitlaced parents.
With a rainbow backdrop and silk flames framing the stage, the evening was a showcase of local and student drag queens and kings, donned in glitter, feathers and the highest heels imaginable.
The evening was full of glitz, glamour and laughs as the high-stepping ladies worked the runway.
"For me, it shows the wide diversity of what students are interested in," James Teague, a third-year fashion merchandising student who serves as social chair of BGLSA, said. "Not only does it show diversity of the LGBT community... it shows really eccentric people, [because you] don't have normal friends."
The show featured drag queen Shangela of RuPaul's Drag Race fame opening the showcase with a Beyonce medley, stunning the crowd in a black and gold number. As a clear hit, she wowed everyone with her floor moves, graciously accepting tips with a wink and a hair flip.
The Birdcage Follies, four ladies adorned in glitter and tassels, earned laughs with their song about being who they are, "girdles and jocks" and all.
"Drag may be the most visual part of communication, and it gets attention. Just like the University of South Carolina, [LGBT] are black, white, Christian, atheist ... We're just like you," Zac Baker, a third-year visual communication student and president of BGLSA, said.
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There were many impressive acts, all impersonating leading ladies of pop culture, such as Lady Gaga in a silver getup, all lip-synching anthems by the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry and Diana Ross.
Samantha Hunter hosted the event, coming on stage in a different outfit each time, drawing many tips from the crowd and hoots after her raunchy comments. At 57 years old, Samantha has been in the game a long time and was the reason for one fellow drag queen's start on the runway.
Dorae Saunders, a finalist of America's Got Talent, started doing drag as a response to Hunter's inspiration. She wowed the crowd in a blue sparkly dress, ripping off parts of it as her act progressed, and brought in three backup dancers clad in tights to hit the floor with her — literally. Saunders says it is a duty of the college crowd to perpetuate love for everyone, regardless of the who they are. "[It's] not about your sex or your color ... watching this room filled with every nationality, creed, color ... [you must] teach them to love."
The event also featured information from Youth Empowerment Against HIV/AIDS (YEAH!), an organization for gay, bisexual and queer men advocating to eliminate the stigma of gay sex and how to be safe about it.
After more numbers featuring the lone drag king and a gilded performer, Shangela closed the show as Nicki Minaj wearing her trademark pink curly hair. At one point, the stairs up to the stage fell off the runway with Shangela prancing on them. Like a true performer, she kept dancing, raising the crowd to their feet.
Both the performers and the audience thoroughly enjoyed themselves, voicing tolerance and acceptance with each minute the production continued.
Patti O'Furniture, who hosts the longest running drag show in Columbia at PT's 1109, was very proud of the and the drag show and its participants.
When asked what she wanted to communicate through drag, she said, "I want people to laugh and have a good time and forget about their troubles."
O'Furniture is a USC graduate, received her master's degree in education and once served as advisor to BGLSA.
Although the glitter is probably still there today, so is the mutual feeling of excitement for diversity and tolerance toward all people.