Rainbow Alliance Drag Show | Photo by Alexis Wisler | The Wright State Guardian
Wright State University’s (WSU) Rainbow Alliance held their annual Drag Show on Saturday, March 27 after cancelling the show in 2020 due to the onset of the pandemic. Performers wore clear masks on stage and the show was streamed over WebEx to follow coronavirus guidelines.
The 2021 Drag Show
The show opened with drag queen Blueberri Mary performing Fifth Harmoney’s “Work from Home,” pulling out a laptop during the bridge and pretending to work from home, something that has become familiar to most of us.
Following Blueberri Mary were performances by drag queens Jareje Rashad, Landon Cherry, Chanel Cherry and drag king Oliver Dixon.
The show closed with an emotional performance by Jaraje Rashad of Demi Lovato’s “Tell Me You Love Me.” Wearing a white gown, Jaraje Rashad captured the audience and closed the show with something to remember her by.
Scholarship donations
During the show, the audience had the opportunity to donate virtually to the LGBTQA Scholarship Fund.
This year, Rainbow Alliance’s goal was to raise $500 for the scholarship, which is less than their goal in previous years due to the pandemic.
According to President of Rainbow Alliance Drew Gillum, the group aimed to raise $1,000 at the last show in 2019 and surpassed that amount.
It is unknown as of now if the $500 goal for this year’s show was met.
The tradition
According to Gillum, the drag show has been a part of WSU for over 15 years.
“Sometimes we have people that are just getting into drag and this is their first performance, and sometimes we have people that have been doing this for years and years. So, it’s a good opportunity for people to get into drag if they are interested in it,” Rainbow Alliance Vice President Kirsten Spires said.
Several of the performers this year were WSU alumni, according to Gillum and Spires, and in years past students have performed as well.
Rainbow Alliance cancelled the show last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but they were determined to continue the tradition this year.
“We made it! Although we didn’t do it in 2020, we did make it happen in 2021. Thank you, Wright State,” Jareje Rasha said after her last performance.
The future of Rainbow Alliance drag shows
Finding people to work the equipment and figuring out how to show the ASL interpreter and the performers made streaming over WebEx difficult, according to Gillum and Spires.
Although they were able to pull off a virtual show this year, Gillum and Spires said that they most likely won’t continue to stream shows once people can attend in-person events unless there is a demand for it.
