![Murray Hill and Linda Simpson by David Shankbone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Murray_Hill_and_Linda_Simpson_by_David_Shankbone.jpg)
A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by
drag artists impersonating men or women.
Typically, a drag show involves performers singing or
lip-synching
Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals.
Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...
to songs while performing a pre-planned pantomime or dancing. There might also be some comedy,
skits
Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...
, and audience interaction. The performers often don elaborate costumes and makeup, and sometimes dress to imitate various famous opposite sex singers or personalities. And some events are centered around drag, such as
Southern Decadence
Southern Decadence is an annual six-day event held in New Orleans, Louisiana, by the gay and lesbian community during Labor Day Weekend, culminating in a parade through the French Quarter on the Sunday before Labor Day.
History
The event trace ...
where the majority of festivities are led by the Grand Marshals, who are traditionally
drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
s.
History and development
Early existence
![Drag King Ms](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Drag_King_Ms._Florence_Hines_%2849988535952%29.jpg)
Instances of drag have been recorded well before drag shows began. There have been independent examples of drag in England and China in the 1500s. Since women were not allowed to participate in drama or theater, men impersonated women when acting on stage.
In the Victorian period English actresses impersonated men in theater, and in America actresses like
Anne Hindle also impersonated men in her performances. She had a low voice and shaved regularly her facial hair to cause it to form a stubble.
[ The impersonation of the opposite sex was popular in theater and film until 1933 when the Hollywood ]Motion Picture Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
was passed.[ This law or code was aimed at eliminating what it saw as perversion and disallowed men impersonating women in film, temporarily ending the era of male impersonation in film and theater.
The first known drag ''balls'' in the United States were in Harlem in the 1920s, at the Rockland Palace.] These shows featured extravagant performances of gays and lesbians impersonating the opposite sex and competing against one another in fashion shows. Harlem drag balls primarily had people of color. White people were not excluded but did not typically participate. Drag balls were social events that brought people together who were on the margins of society and they often had to meet in secret.
Women of the Harlem Renaissance
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and cultural revival of African American music, dance, art, fashion, literature, theater, politics and scholarship centered in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, spanning the 1920s and 1930s. At the t ...
like Gladys Bentley
Gladys Alberta Bentley (August 12, 1907 – January 18, 1960) was an American blues singer, pianist, and entertainer during the Harlem Renaissance.
Her career skyrocketed when she appeared at Harry Hansberry's Clam House in New York in th ...
, a prominent Blues singer, regularly wore tuxedos and dressed in men's clothing while performing.[ Butch African American women constructed their own forms of masculinity inside and outside of Blues performances which set the stage for future performers in drag. It was not until about 50 years later that the term drag king was coined and performances started popping up across the United States. According to Elizabeth Ashburn, "A drag king is anyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference or orientation, who consciously makes a performance of masculinity."] Therefore, drag performers of the drag king scene typically identify as women, but some may be cisgender men or transgender men.
During World War II, parody drag shows were also a regular kind of entertainment for soldiers who dressed up as humorous-looking women and put on shows for each other.
Jewel Box Revue
Doc Benner, and Danny Brown produced the show which started in Miami, Florida, at a gay bar known as Club Jewel Box. This show would go on to set the stage for the touring drag show known as the Jewel Box Revue. The Jewel Box Revue was the longest running drag show that performed from the 1940s until the 1970s across the United States. They had at least ten specific performances in their repertoire, which was helpful for shows that ran for longer periods of time at the same place.[ The show had their own music and dances that were composed and choreographed for performers, they also did comedy sketches and some stand-up performances.][ The revue was made up of a diverse group that included African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and whites, which was unusual for the times before the ]Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...
.
Many of the venues they performed at were part of the "chitlin' circuit
The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...
", the Howard Theatre
The Howard Theatre is a historic theater, located at 620 T Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. Opened in 1910, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
In its heyday, the theater was known for catering to an African- ...
(Washington, D.C.), the Baltimore-Royal Theatre, Uptown Theatre (Philadelphia) and the Regal Theater in Chicago. In 1959 they began performing at The Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a no ...
in New York City and it was always a full house when they came to town.[
In the 1960s laws and regulations were put in place against cross-dressing and the Jewel Box Revue slowed down a bit. Although places like Los Angeles had bans in place they were still allowed to play at certain theaters.][ Ultimately the laws and regulations against cross-dressing made it difficult for the Jewel Box Revue to perform.
In 1975, the Jewel Box Revue performed for the last time in a production at the Bijou Theater in New York City.][
]
Pearl Box Revue
In 1955 the Pearl Box Revue began its performances in New York City. Pearl Box Revue was an all Black drag show that ran for twenty seven years until 1982.[ ]Dorian Corey
Dorian Corey (June 6, 1937 – August 29, 1993) was an American drag performer and fashion designer. She appeared in ''Wigstock'' and was featured in Jennie Livingston's 1990 documentary '' Paris Is Burning''.
Early life and education
C ...
was a performer in the Pearl Box Revue and also one of the drag queens in the documentary by Jennie Livingston
Jennie may refer to:
* Jennie (singer), South Korean singer of girl group Blackpink
* Jennie, a female given name, variant spelling of Jenny
* ''Jennie'' (musical), 1963 Broadway production
* ''Jennie'' (novel), 1994 science fiction thriller by ...
known as ''Paris is Burning.''[
]
Disposable Boy Toys
Disposable Boy Toys (DBT) were a drag king group out of Santa Barbara, California. The group was started in May 2000 and had 31 members, mostly white, queer and transgender, and were a feminist collective.[ Their performances were centered on dismantling racism, sexism, gender binaries, ideal bodies and even militarism and they mostly performed in queer spaces or progressive spaces for fundraising and marches.][ Lip synching and dancing were regular components of their shows. DBT was known for performing at benefits to raise money for political and community causes.][
DBT disbanded in August 2004, and although they did not officially break up they never performed together again.][
]
After Dark
'' After Dark'' was a Swedish group founded in 1976 which performed for over 40 years, mostly in Sweden, but intermittently also in the United States and Spain.
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...
, Massachusetts, is home to some of the most famous drag performers and in the summers months there are several performances on any given night. On July 24, 2018, Provincetown was home to the first ever Drag Camp, a camp for drag performers to hone their skills and perform for live audiences. The camp lasted for two weeks (until August 4, 2018) and showcased famous drag performers. Jinkx Monsoon
Jerick Roman Lamar Hoffer (born September 18, 1987), better known by the stage name Jinkx Monsoon, is an American drag performer, actor, comedian and singer best known for winning the fifth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and the seventh seas ...
, Peaches Christ
Peaches Christ (stage name for Joshua Grannell) is an American underground drag performer, emcee, filmmaker, and actor. Peaches currently resides in San Francisco where her Backlash Production Company and Midnight Mass movie series are based. Gr ...
, and Raja
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
were some of the most famous drag performers who attended Drag Camp and had their own workshops sessions on how to apply makeup, or comedic performance, amongst many others. The drag performances in Provincetown, also known as Ptown, are legendary, hence why Drag Camp landed there.
Drag brunch
A drag brunch is a type of drag show in which drag king
Drag kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, eit ...
s and drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
s perform for an audience while the audience is served typical brunch foods and drinks. The events feature dance, song and comedy performances.
Although typically held at LGBTQ bars and nightclubs, restaurants have also become a popular site for drag brunches. The practice is especially popular in urban centers with large gay populations, such as cities like New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
, Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
, and . Drag historian and New York University professor, Joe E. Jeffreys, believes that the drag brunch's rise in popularity has been due to LGBTQ venues that arose between the 1950s and 1990s, such as Lucky Cheng's, Lips NYC, and Club 82
Club 82, also known as the 82 Club, was a nightclub in Manhattan, New York City that employed female impersonators as entertainers. The nightclub had a second life as a music venue, but was eventually closed.
History Predecessors
The 181 Clu ...
. In an article titled "The Importance of Drag Brunch in NYC", Jefferys described how these venues have the ability to expose new audiences to drag performance. " eopleare able to sit at drag brunch and have a lovely spinach frittata and Bloody Mary while learning this lesson through observation. They start to understand that gender and drag aren't these scary things," said Jeffreys. “It’s fun and festive like brunch can be.”
Gospel-themed drag brunches have been staged across the United States. The drag venue Lips first started gospel drag brunches in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 2007. Other places, such as San Antonio, Texas, have also seen a rise in gospel drag brunches. In addition to food, drinks, and the usual performances one would expect to see at a drag brunch, gospel drag brunches also feature performers in choir robes doing renditions of classic gospel songs.
Popular culture
Drag shows have become more popular with the documentary '' Paris is Burning,'' and shows like ''RuPaul's Drag Race
''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...
.'' Films such as ''The Birdcage'' and ''Too Wong Fu, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar'' have popularized drag culture too. These films along with ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' have a large heterosexual fanbase. Both the stage musical and film version of A Chorus Line
''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante.
Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is centered on seventeen Broadway dancers ...
reference drag shows, with the character of Paul relating his experiences as a performer with the touring company of the Jewel Box Revue.
See also
*Drag king
Drag kings are mostly female performance artists who dress in masculine drag and personify male gender stereotypes as part of an individual or group routine. A typical drag show may incorporate dancing, acting, stand-up comedy and singing, eit ...
*Drag queen
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part o ...
*List of transgender-related topics
The following outline offers an overview and guide to transgender topics.
The term "transgender" is multi-faceted and complex, especially where consensual and precise definitions have not yet been reached. While often the best way to find out ho ...
References
{{Drag performance
*
Variety shows