Kings and queens took to the stage as the Rennselaer Pride Alliance hosted its annual drag show in the West Hall Auditorium Friday night. It was drag queen Storm’s third and final year hosting the event, and she surely didn’t disappoint.
Storm stomped in for her first act with drag king Mr. Sebastian, showcasing her notorious somersaults and showing the world how to be a princess in TV Rock’s song “B.I.M.B.O.” Following her act was the winner of last year’s Drag Fashion show, Miss Lucy Vagina. She showed us that even RPI males can dress in drag and look fantastic.
Although the list of performers was lacking this year (Miss Mallissa Capri and Jahyra couldn’t make it this time around), those who managed to make it doubled up on their acts and even managed to get Vagina to perform a few times. She extracted quite a few laughs from the audience with her performances by playing stupid in Pink’s “Stupid Girls” and strutting just like a Pussycat Doll in “Buttons.” Vagina even had a hilarious duet with Miss Analeeza—Britney Spears and Madonna might have to watch their backs.
Sebastian started out by dancing to pop songs (a medley of the Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way,” “Backstreet’s Back,” and “Larger Than Life”) and then moved on to rock (“Pour Some Sugar on Me” from Def Leppard). His last act was a mix of hip-hop and techno, ending with “Good Vibrations” by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.
Miss Lily SaVage, Storm’s co-host, came out singing a duet with Analeeza. While SaVage tried to do Bonnie Tyler justice in “Holding Out For a Hero,” Analeeza opted to strut around in her pink sequined dress with the trendier Shrek version of the song—fairy godmother-style. SaVage’s other act consisted of her lip-synching to Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman.”
Analeeza started her performance by completely twisting Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. She began by singing “Belle” from the film and then remixing it with Lord of Acid’s song “Pussy” for a more comedic effect. To stall for time while Storm and the other performers were changing in the back, Analeeza did a bit of what she called “audience interviews” and randomly put people on the spot. The drag queen’s sparkly short soldier uniform resulted in wolf-whistles from the audience as Analeeza danced to a medley of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and Christina Aguilera’s “Candyman.”
Of course, Storm also performed a number of pieces in between—most of them consisting of her pulling audience members onto the stage and having them dance along with her. With her numerous outfits, from leopard and zebra pants to glittery shirts—which SaVage claimed were stolen from her wardrobe—Storm strutted on stage performing disco songs and “Love Me or Hate Me” by Lady Sovereign.
Because of the popularity of the fashion show from last year, that particular event was repeated again. Male and female students were made up in drag during the show and walked onto the stage at the end. The winning drag king and queen were awarded their crowns and paraded around the auditorium while Storm finally closed her last drag show at RPI with Dreamgirls’ “One Night Only.” It surely was a glittery end.
