Students had the opportunity to show off their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent at USC Queer and Ally Student Assembly’s 14th annual Drag Show last Sunday.
The event themed “The Freak Show” featured 12 individual performances and 16 runway presentations from drag queens and kings on campus as well as a host performance from Los Angeles drag queen Lorelei.
For some students, it was their first-time experience performing live for a large audience; others already had experience.
“Sunday was the first time I had ever gotten into full drag and performed for an audience,” said Sam Tarlov, aka Starlov, a double major in communication and French. “I used to do theater for quite some time, and I always loved performing on a stage… so even though I might get nervous, I usually get really excited, and I just harness that nervousness to put on a better performance.”
It takes a village to generate this excitement and organize the event. From coming up with act ideas, to styling their outfits, all the drag performers work together to create one show.
“The purpose of the Drag Show is to really foster new queens and to allow for that communal environment in that drag family sort of vibe,” said Au Chung, aka Ms. Dacity, a double major in public relations and political science. “You don’t have to know how to put on makeup or how to sew or make clothes, we kinda help each other out.”
Ms. Dacity is also running to become USG president under their drag persona.
During intermission, the event was interrupted by the fire alarm going off, which resulted in a half an hour long intermission. Tarlov said that having to stand outside in the pouring rain was disturbing — particularly to those who had not done their performances yet.
“I felt fine because I had already done mine;I felt somewhat nervous and sad for my castmates because having that happen was very disruptive. During the show you’re trying to get in that headspace for your performance.I would say a good percentage of the crowd came back for the rest of the performance.”
Despite the minor inconvenience and the downpour of rain, the show went on as planned. Seven more performances, followed by a lip sync battle between three of the top performers (Ms. Dacity, Willconique, and Nancy), occurred on the mainstage.The three performers were nominated by the audience for battle and Will Yeaman, aka Willconique, an acting major at the School of Dramatic Arts won.
Halo Lyman, a junior double majoring in French and comparative literature, said that Lavinia Vaudeville’s performance — which featured music from Lady Gaga — was her favorite.
Saneel Sharma, a junior studying design, is the executive director of the USC Drag Show. Sharma first got involved with the USC Drag Show as a performer his freshman year.
His sophomore year he served as a creative director for the show, and this year he organized and performed in the USC Drag Show. As an organizer, Sharma says he prioritized an overall increase in production value.
Sponsored by QUASA, the USC Drag Show was able to upgrade its venue and better compensate its performers. Since its founding, the show has been held in the Grand Ballroom of TCC, but this year the show was held in Bovard Auditorium.
“What I wanted to do for the Drag Show [was] to provide a venue that is worthy of the performance level,” he said. “I decided to elevate the show and elevate the true theatricality of the USC Drag Show and make sure that the space represented the amount of high production and high concept value [the show] deserves.”
When the fire-alarm momentarily derailed the show, Sharma says he was furious, but wanted to focus on keeping the show going. Sharma, as his drag persona Rae Oblivion, brought the night to a close with a performance inspired by the drag queens of Ru Paul’s Drag Race.
Sharma hopes that students can take away a better understanding of what drag means.
“Drag to me means transformation,” he said. “Each performer has their own individual personality with their own individual experience. I really wanted to emphasize, every performer has a different story to tell, and I hope that each student can see that there is a different story within being a drag artist than being a performance artist in general.”