Walking into the chapel at Park University, you see stained glass windows, church pews, crosses and a stage. You would not think, “now this is the perfect place for a drag show,” but at 7 p.m. on February 7, the Spectrum Club and the Park Student Activities Board thought just that.
The organizations held a successful and entertaining drag show for its students to participate in along with professional drag kings and queens.
“The whole thing had so much energy, I loved it,” said Bailey Deiter, freshman culinary arts major, and she was not the only one. The performers also loved it.
That evening the show started with Widow VonDu coming out and wowing the crowd by doing cartwheels across the stage. If her goal was to excite and mesmerize the audience, she certainly accomplished it. Throughout the evening, many professional drag kings and queens, as well as Park University students, lip-synced and dance routines. They fed off the audience’s energy.
“The audience was really great; it was fun to hear them go ecstatic and made me feel more comfortable with what I was doing because I was nervous. They made me feel loved and really excited to keep dancing,” said Sam Culver, freshman business management major, who on stage goes by Queen Bee.
As the show went on many of the performers jumped off the stage and performed among the audience, creating an exciting and fun atmosphere for everyone. It was incredibly engaging. The show made it impossible to not give your attention to all the performers and what their acts entailed. Many of the audience members loved it.
“My favorite part of the drag show was probably when one of the queens came and danced in front of me. I thought it was up close and personal, it was really fun,” said Tim Whittaker, freshman criminal justice major.
The show ended with host Widow VonDu jumping off the stage then landing in the middle of the aisle in the splits. The audience went wild and the energy level was at its peak. After Widow’s huge finale, the audience was allowed up on stage. Some of the students thought their favorite performer was inspirational.
“Cody VonDu was my favorite because I take a lot of inspiration from drag kings, and I really want to be one,” said Deiter at the end of the show.
After all the performers left the stage there was cake and cookies for anyone who needed them after the performance ended. February 7 was a night to remember.