By Alexa Rubinstein
Photo Credit: Carol Moran
The black walls in the Blackbox Theatre at the Tabler Center for the Arts, Culture and Humanities were the only things that weren’t… colorful at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual Alliance’s 4th Annual Drag Show last week. Small pink and purple lights lined the stage and were strung across the ceiling, and metallic silver fringe hung down from the small opening where some of the performers emerged onto the stage. When students walked into the TAC, Stony Brook Live, a music ensemble consisting of mostly male students donned in colorful, sparkly boas was playing music.
After Stony Brook Live’s performance, students crowded closer to the low stage in the packed theater for the performances, beginning with “Spice Up Your Life” by the Spice Girls, with one performer dressing up as each one of the five “spices.” Scary Spice, performed by Jonathan Millard, got the crowd excited with fierce dance moves, heavy blue-green eye shadow and a short leopard dress. The show continued its ‘90s theme with an intense battle between Destiny’s Child and *NSYNC, with the two bands performing together at the end of the Destiny’s Child song “Survivor.: No one seemed to care that the animal-print dress was riding up a little too high on “Sasha Fierce,” the drag queen impersonating Beyonce. Mariah “Mimi” Carey, a drag impersonator not associated with Stony Brook, performed a slow song in a metallic turquoise dress and sky high heels, the likes of which most women probably couldn’t wear without falling over.
The LGBTA has a couple of sure-to-be crowd pleasers, who got a lot of positive feedback when they performed at the show last year. Frank Trombetta ended the show just for that reason. The senior chemistry major had the crowd captivated during his entire performance of Rihanna’s “Who’s That Chick?” complete with a bright red mohawk, a short, tight blue dress and four-inch high heels. Trombetta flailed his limbs around the stage, lip-syncing to the song and leaving the audience wanting more.
Anther popular act was Shirley Banger, who performed a mash-up of Rihanna’s “Disturbia” and Bette Middler’s “I’ll Put a Spell on You.” Banger came dressed for that performance, complete with long, dark wig, dark lipstick, witch’s hat and black and red costume dress. One of the more popular performances, Shirley Banger was theatrical, interacted with the audience and did not miss a step in choreography. The audience seemed to love interaction with the drag performers, who sung right to them, looked into their eyes, and sometimes caressed their faces.
The hosts, Colleen O’Connor and Brian Garrett, however, were not so popular. After a couple of very brief yet humorous skits at the beginning of the show and in between the first few acts, they turned to awkward and confused, seeming as though every word they were saying was an attempt to kill time before some of the acts that weren’t quite ready. They had a running bit of the characters “Grandma” and “Georgie,” adopting strained Brooklyn accents, with “Grandma” commenting about “Georgie’s” behavior and style of dress. They also had a running joke (something about a wooden spoon) that quickly grew tired.
Aside from the entertainment aspect of the show, the LGBTA had a philanthropic motive. All guests were asked to donate money to the Ali Forney Center, a very personal cause at the LGBTA. The Ali Forney Center uses donations to house wayward or homeless LGBT youth.
The drag show has a positive reputation among Stony Brook students because of the fun and humorous atmosphere, which certainly helps the LGBTA get more publicity, and also raise more awareness about the gay community on campus.
