As a member of Forbidden Fruit, a local “Rocky Horror Picture Show” troupe, John Bartlett is used to performing in front of people. But he was just a little nervous this weekend, as Saturday night marked his first time performing in front of people while dressed as a woman.
Bartlett, a student at Lane Community College, participated in “Juice,” the ninth annual Drag Show presented by the University’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Alliance. He said the pre-drag show jitters were part of the fun of experiencing something new.
“I love performing. It is a great way to have fun and just be around other people who are expressing themselves, open-minded,” he said. “I like having the ability to go out and do things in a safe, fun environment.”
The event’s headliner was Dréd, a Haitian-American gender-illusioning performance artist from Brooklyn, N.Y. Dréd, whose real name is Mildred Gerestant, described her one-woman show on diversity and gender as “a mix of spoken word, theater, drag, gender-bending, music.”
The message of “Daring Reality Every Day,” the show Dréd has been developing for 12 years, is “to love all of who you are.” She uses comedy to break down walls, she said.
“It’s a rush while I perform and put a smile on people’s faces, make them laugh, make them think,” she said after the show. “I find that when people are laughing, they tend to be more open to experience new things. So laughter for the soul is definitely the way to go.”
Taylor Waind, a University junior majoring in business, attended “Juice” after hearing great reviews of last year’s drag show. He said Dréd’s performance about gender, diversity and social stigmas was the highlight of his night.
“She actually had a message,” Waind said. “Instead of just stunning visuals and effects, she put aesthetics aside and focused on real issues.”
Following Dréd were eight performances, mostly by groups of University students. They ranged from the low-key, ballroom dance-inspired rendition of Melissa Auf der Maur’s “Overpower Thee” by Bartlett and Forbidden Fruit, to the flamboyant and in-your-face Pinky Toe Blow Out doing their best Britney Spears.
Waind said the drag show was fun, but he was surprised that it wasn’t more sexual.
“I thought it would be much more risqué or a little less conventional or a little less structured,” he said. “I guess I was expecting a little more liberal.”
Other songs performed include Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” and “Dick in a Box,” the Emmy Award-winning spoof Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg sang on “Saturday Night Live” in December 2006.
Cody Williams, whose girlfriend performed, said “Juice” was “good for the community, good for the school and a great experience overall. It lets people be able to express their alternative ways and means.”
Drag shows allow performers to put themselves out there without being looked at strangely, Bartlett said.
“Drag can be anything out of the ordinary from your daily life,” he said. “It is one of the rare avenues people have to do something, dress in a way that no one is going to judge them that night. If a guy is wearing a skirt or dress, no one is going to say anything.”