In New York City, life can be a real drag. Filled with drag queens, that is. While the heyday of drag in wider pop culture may have ended after the 1990s, drag queens still do everything from hosting bingo competitions to doing stand-up. But some of today’s most interesting drag performance is in legitimate theater. Some drag queens are willing to settle for a few cheap laughs and tips at a gay bar, but a few are working to make real art with their drag personas.
My fascination with drag first began when my roommate threw on a purple flapper dress and performed Liza Minnelli’s version of “Maybe This Time” at an amateur drag night at a local Chelsea gay bar. As a gay man, the world of drag had always amused and confused me. Amused, because drag queens can be some of the funniest performers in New York, and confused because I’d never really understood why an ordinary guy would want to strap on padding and painful shoes, slather on pounds of makeup, and pretend to be somebody else. Well, now, I am determined to look into the soul of a drag queen and figure out what it is that makes her tick.
Mind you, she only tore her wig off after the countless shots of tequila. Never again.
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