Spectrum to host drag show for charity Saturday

Performer Zsa Zsa La Femme makes her way through the audience back to the stage, tips in hand from attendees, during the Spectrum Drag Show on April 20. Spectrum will host its annual fall Drag Show at 7 p.m. Nov. 2. DN FILE PHOTO JONATHAN MIKSANEK
Performer Zsa Zsa La Femme makes her way through the audience back to the stage, tips in hand from attendees, during the Spectrum Drag Show on April 20. Spectrum will host its annual fall Drag Show at 7 p.m. Nov. 2. DN FILE PHOTO JONATHAN MIKSANEK

Disney villains, “CarnEvil” and the circus will take over Ball Gymnasium on Saturday night when Spectrum hosts its drag show.

Spectrum hosts a themed drag show each semester to raise money for charity. This weekend’s show has a fun house theme, and the money raised will go to Muncie OUTreach, a center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer youth and their allies.

Jaime Whitaker, president of Spectrum, said the organization has donated to Muncie OUTreach before.

“[Muncie OUTreach] was a brand new organization when we first donated a few years ago,” the senior theatre design and technology major said. “Now, they have members, meetings and events. We love working with them, and we love their goal to help the LGBT youth in Muncie. It was a unanimous vote [to donate to them].”

Shaving, duct tape and makeup are just a few of the things that bring a Spectrum drag show together. Whitaker said the organization puts a lot of effort into planning a show for Ball State because the group wants to show the audience the best that they have.

“We don’t want you to sit in the audience like, ‘What is this?’ So we hold our performers up to a high standard and expect them to meet it,” he said. “We hold screenings where we see what the costumes are going to be, we talk about song ideas, we make them do little performance… It’s our way of sort of getting the performers ready for the show. Some of them don’t know what to expect, and we want to make them feel like a star on the stage.”

There will be a mix of returning and new performers at the drag show. Whitaker, who performs as crowd favorite Miss Avery Leigh, said the diva will bring her firecracker personality to the stage with a hot performance.

“This is going to be a great show, and I don’t think the audience will be ready for it,” Whitaker said. “I know that I am super excited. I hear one of the co-hosts is a crowd favorite. Giving [Avery] a mic just means it’s going be a great show.”

Alyssa Bennett has attended almost every drag show during her time at Ball State, but as she approaches her senior year as a psychology major, she decided it was time for her to take the stage as Anna the faux queen, a woman who performs as a drag queen.

“She is a dominatrix, sassy and very in control,” Bennett said. “I’m not entirely sure how I came up with her. I knew that I wanted to do something fun for my first time. I picked my song, which is ‘S&M’ by Rihanna, and I built my character around that. I just jumped into it.”

Bennett said she has been very involved with Spectrum during her time at Ball State, and she didn’t want to graduate without experiencing the fun her friends have had on stage performing. She said she hopes to perform as a drag king at the next show but until then, she is excited to perform as a faux queen.

“I hope the audience reacts well to my performance,” Bennett said. “Because of the nature of the drag shows, how everybody really enjoys them and all, I’m sure that the audience will get into it, but this is probably the part that I am most worried about.”

The Spectrum Funhouse Drag Show will start at 8 p.m. Saturday at Ball Gymnasium. While the event is after Halloween, the organization encourages the audience to come in costumes. Spectrum also will have a change table to break large bills for donations.

“It’s a great time,” Whitaker said. “You will laugh, scream, dance, cheer and, hopefully, be throwing some money. The show is to raise money for charity. We invite everyone to come and have fun, but everyone does have to be respectful, as well.”

For more information and details on the event, visit Spectrum’s Facebook page at Facebook.com/BallStateSpectrum.

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