Since her early days entertaining “straight Republican white women” in Orange County living rooms, wayward Southern belle Dixie Longate—an over-the-top drag character created by writer-actor Kris Andersson—has earned comparisons to Dame Edna and emerged as an unlikely ambassador for Orlando-based Tupperware Brands Corp. Putting an unapologetically trashy spin on the Tupperware-party format, Andersson’s signature show…
Meet The Juniors: Rising Drag Stars Harness the Power of Teamwork
I meet them as boys on an evening a week before Christmas, at Bakery Lorraine. Louie Canales, who performs as Chyna Cravens, and Christian Paolo, aka Sephwhora (pronounced Sef-whore-ah) 51, are waiting for me at a table near the entrance. The third member of the drag queen girl group known as The Juniors is running…
Rey Lopez Throws a Bash Fit for a Queen
When RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) premiered on the Logo network in 2009, no one could have predicted the type of cultural phenomenon it would become, thrusting gay culture into the mainstream, breathing new life into the world of drag and bringing the show’s namesake out of 1990s-era oblivion. Only two years later, local nightclub promoter…
Tencha la Jefa’s Alternative Approach to Drag
As I drove to meet Tencha la Jefa at her home on San Antonio’s West Side, Siri took me on an unanticipated ride through the neighborhood where I grew up. I drove past El Mercado H-E-B where my mom first trusted me to to run in by myself to grab an ingredient she was missing…
Deep in Vogue: House of Kenzo’s Multidisciplinary Movement
I meet House of Kenzo (HOK) on the University of the Incarnate Word Sky Bridge, a phobia-tweaking pedestrian catwalk over the zooming traffic on Highway 281. It’s a sunny afternoon, and House of Kenzo are mid-photo shoot. They are beautiful, self-assured, gender-flouting, working their rainbow fashion gear into wind-whipped battle flags visible for a half-mile.…
Hot Glue & Duct Tape: John McBurney’s Rasquache Aesthetic
“We had the courage and the tenacity to be flamboyant and to be ourselves.” “I’m an old showgirl,” John McBurney says, as he shows me a faded photo of himself in partial drag backstage at Cornyation in 1998. McBurney is 61. “I am 6’ 4’’ and almost 300 pounds. I have to be very couture.…
Adore Delano Brings Her ‘After Party’ to the Aztec
Competing on the seventh season of American Idol, Daniel Noriega made it into the top 16 but not without a few insults from Simon Cowell, who reportedly called the California native “useless” and even described one of his performances as “grotesque.” Five years later, Noriega re-entered the reality competition arena reinvented as Adore Delano on…
Trixie Mattel and Delta Work team up for Rey Lopez’s ‘scary dollhouse Halloween party’
Billed as a “scary dollhouse Halloween party show,” Rey Lopez Entertainment’s latest outing combines the over-the-top talents of RuPaul’s Drag Race grads Trixie Mattel and Delta Work. Allegedly safe for “ages 3 and up,” season seven starlet Mattel (born Brian Firkus) favors a “life-in-plastic aesthetic” possibly best suited for Barbie’s stepmonster. Despite her role in the…
Dixie Longate mixes comedy, drag, and Tupperware at the Tobin
Since her early days entertaining “straight Republican white women” in Orange County living rooms, wayward Southern belle Dixie Longate—an over-the-top drag character created by writer/actor Kris Andersson—has earned comparisons to Dame Edna and emerged as an unlikely ambassador for Orlando-based Tupperware Brands Corp. Putting an unapologetically trashy spin on the Tupperware-party format, Andersson’s signature show (touring…
The Real Drag Husbands of SA
Meet the men who tease the wigs and get the lipstick off the couch From the time I saw my first drag show at the Saint Showbar back when it was still on Main Street, I knew there was something very special about the San Antonio drag scene. Whether they are working to achieve the…