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Step-by-step transformation
Three GQ-esque young men show up to help Alexus and Montana set up their stage. Brandon Prusa, Ullyssus sophomore, says he's helped with all of the shows since he met Alexus last year at Flanigans. He's gay, but not an aspiring queen, he says. Alexus and Montana hang black and red curtains to create a backstage area, while singing to No Doubt's "Just a Girl." Still in their male clothes, they are stamping brightly colore
fabric to the curtains. Alexus jokes, "Don't make me get butch." In not much longer than an hour, they have set up a stage and catwalk on the dance floor, complete with a pole.
Shave
Moisturize
Use concealer on face and chest
Apply foundation
Apply powder
Glue on fake eyelashes
Apply three cheek colors
Apply four eye colors
Contour
Apply four lip colors
Tuck male genitalia
Put on panty hose or dance tights
Put on girdles, tummy cinches,
bras, corsets, etc.
Tape chest together to imitate
cleavage
Stuff bra
Press on nails
Glue jewelry on to skin
Dress
At about 10 p.m., two more performers arrive, almost in full costume. Desiree Luv, is a voluptuous 24-year veteran, who does a lot of character drag, invoking Tina Turner and Patti LaBelle. She tells me there's an art to female impersonation; one that's transformed to a beauty competition. She is the only transsexual of the group. She says she has always felt very feminine and as a child everyone always thought she was female. The difference between her and the other girls is the lifestyle, she says. Desiree lives as a woman, and has size 38 C-sized breasts from hormone therapy, but hasn't had sexual-reassignment surgery. She performs in drag shows six nights a week and runs a party bus, called the Mudslide, in Kansas City, Mo. Her transformation to drag takes less time, just 20 minutes.
The queen next to her is tall and slender Channing LaRue. She's been doing drag for almost seven years. Several years ago she was a theatre and music student, named Andy, at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Andy became a music teacher during his coming-out period in 1997. He soon quit teaching and began bartending, and now he is a hairdresser. Channing describes drag as her "Aha!" moment. She had always wanted to perform, and within a year was doing drag one or two nights a week. She tells me her character, Channing, is a senator's wife with a background in ice skating. The girls banter and joke while getting ready in the dressing room. It's an easy, relaxed atmosphere. The last of the performers, a sassy, dark-skinned Milano quean, named Iman Mykales, shows up shortly before showtime. She complains she got lost on the way from Kansas City, Mo. Iman makes her living on drag shows, doing four to five shows a week. She holds 11 titles, and is the reigning Miss Gay Kansas City, she says. She started 10 years ago, as Michael, on a bet from her friends.
"And then began the drama," she says.
Show and Tell
It's almost 11 p.m., and the crowd starts to pour in. It's mostly gay men, some lesbians and straight women and a handful of straight men. "The heteros come because they've never seen this before, except on Ricki Lake," Alexus says. A few people sneak in the dressing room, and everybody is eager to meet and greet the queens. Their celebrity
status is obvious. I expect to be asked to leave the dressing room, but the queens seem to have forgotten I'm there. Desiree walks out topless in pantyhose and a girdle and I can only think two things: yes, her breasts are real, and they're bigger than mine. Alexus is in a top and pantyhose. They're singing and dancing to "Hey Ya" by OutKast while putting on their finishing touches. They tease each other and gossip. Iman's recounting an episode from earlier that week. "And I was like, I will whoop your ass and then put you in drag," she says to Desiree and Channing. Montana wears an outfit just for mingling with the audience before the show. I ask what she uses to stuff, and she pulls a prosthetic breast covered in fabric out of her bra.
I take my place next to the catwalk. Alexus comes out from backstage in a black bustier and pants with one sequined-denim leg and the other rainbow-colored
Next is Montana, donning a black leather jacket, black sequined bustier and faded jeans. She has long silver talons and stilettos. She looks a bit like Madonna, with a Farrah Fawcett-inspired feathered mane. Alexus changes backstage into a slinky black dress with a hot pink shawl around her waist, and short brunette hair. She introduces Channing, whom she jokes is just back from the Republican National Convention. Channing comes out in a bright green can-can dress and a long, blond feathered wig. During her routine, she strips
fringe. She also wears a blonde, shoulder-length wig. The buxom queen is the undisputed star of the show. People push to the front of the catwalk for a chance to put dollar bills in her top. Alexus also emcees the show, heckling the audience more than they heckle back. The show is a cross between a lip-synched concert, beauty pageant, pole-dancing show and comedy club. She announces Desiree, who shocks the audience in a fluorescent multi-colored cat suit and neon yellow pigtails.
The heteros come because they've never seen this before, except on Ricki Lake.
to a neon orange and green ice-skating dress with sequins, and then twirls down to an even skimpier neon yellow fringed skating dress.
At intermission, in the dressing room, I'm surprised to see Channing out of costume. I had almost forgotten these performers were men. Desiree is shaking her Tina Turner wig, making sure it's secure. The mood is subdued; the girls are getting into their next outfits, or silently rehearsing. They help each other get into costume and fix their hair. The quiet lasts only as long as intermission.
will cut you," Alexus warns the audience. Iman walks on stage in jeans, a sleeveless denim zippered top and plenty of bling-bling. The first half of the show wraps up with a slow song from Desiree to "I Believe in Miracles," by Whitney Houston. She's in an off-the-shoulder evening gown and adorned with fist-sized sparkling earrings.
Alexus portrays Iman as a bad girl. "She's shef and she
——ALEXUS PANACHE, DRAG
DIRECTOR
Iman starts the second half a seductive dance to "T-Shirt and My Panties On," by Adina Howard. She wears flashing jewelry that light up, a red body suit with red boots, a blue ripped T-shirt and a high ponytail that makes her resemble Naomi Campbell. The most important aspect of the show is the interaction with the audience. Alexus doesn't speak over the crowd, but rather to
them, asking questions and commenting on select patrons' clothing or sexuality. No one seems to mind even the harshest teasing. One girl is yelling Alexus' name, but Alexus can't see her. She yells back, "Are you pretty?" And then after
a moment, "No, you're not because nobody said anything." After Montana's rendition of "Walking on Sunshine" in a yellow and pink swimsuit and leather jacket, Alexus announces Rock the Vote voter registration. She's not campaigning for Kerry as much as she's calling for the outstung of Bush. Next is Channing in another ice-skating outfit, this one blue. Her eyelids are heavily glittered
Admiring fans boost Alexus' bustier with donation dollars during the show. All five of the queens received ample tips from the crowd.
and her routine includes an exhausting number of back kicks and twirls. The event everyone seems to have been waiting for is the pole-dancing competition. Young topless men are picked from the crowd. They strut down the catwalk and dance on the pole while the audience cheers and boos to vote for its favorite. One contestant reveals he's not wearing any underwear to the delight of the crowd. The show is winding down as Desiree, dressed as Tina Turner, performs an ambitious "Proud Mary." Out of breath, she announces Alexus, and the audience once again crowds the stage. In a white, sleek asymmetrical dress, Alexus ends the show with a fast-paced finale.
An hour before showtime, Alexus preps for her performance in the women's restroom. The man-toque metamorphosis takes an average of two hours to complete.
The queens and their entourages gather their costumes and makeup in the dressing room, while several fans come back to congratulate them on their show. I ask how long it will take to get out of drag, and they all tell me fewer than 20 minutes. "I like to put it on, but I love to take it off," Montana says After almost eight hours at the show, I wonder how these provocative performers can do this night after night. I slip out quietly, knowing it will be a long time before the girls will get past their fans.
Where to find drag
Lawrence
Jack Flanigan's Bar & Grill
(785) 749-4295
Next Drag shows at Jack Flanigan's
Sept. 29 and Oct. 27
Call for times.
Topeka Club Cosmos (785) 290-2582
Kansas City, Mo.
Missy B's
(816) 561-0625
PUSH
(816) 472-7855
Side Kicks Saloon
(816) 931-1430
Time Out
(816) 421-1288
Tootsies
(816) 471-7704
Wetherbee's
(816) 454-2455