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…
‘Drag Race’ Star Milk to Perform at Heat
Growing up in Syracuse, New York, Daniel Donigan attended Catholic school and was an altar boy at his local church. It was a conventional upbringing for the unconventional personality who would go on to create the popular drag posse “The Dairy Queens” and branch out on his own as the hilariously campy Milk on season…
Drag Race All Star Alyssa Edwards Makes Return Visit to Heat
With over one hundred contestants on eight seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a call back to appear on season two of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars is no small feat. While she didn’t take the top spot, coming in at fifth place, Alyssa Edwards made a welcome return as one of ten contestants to be…
Eight Years After ‘Idol’ David Hernandez is Making ‘Beautiful’ Music
For David Hernandez, the road to success and self-acceptance hasn’t been easy. After years of battling self-esteem issues, music industry obstacles, and those pesky rumors about his sexuality, Hernandez recently came out in an interview with Out magazine. With a new single titled Beautiful, and its accompanying video directed by Printz Board (of Black Eyed…
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Star Latrice Royale Leads Greg Hinojosa’s Latest ‘Rocky Horror’ Remix
Decades before the dawn of RuPaul’s Drag Race, British playwright Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show challenged the status quo and championed a similar message of self-acceptance. Both the Logo reality series and the 1973 musical transcended their early cult status to become icons of pop culture. In 2012, director Greg Hinojosa, then with the…
Out in the Park Mixes Drag Queens and Roller Coasters with Fabulous Results
Originally published in the San Antonio Current. Not unlike Orlando’s Gay Days at Walt Disney World — which annually attracts an estimated 50,000 color-coordinated attendees — Rey Lopez’s slightly smaller (he’s hoping for 5,000) fall signature Out in the Park functions as an over-the-top LGBT theme-park takeover. An instant hit built around the winning combination…
Naomi Smalls to Make SA Debut at Heat
When Naomi Smalls walked into the room and declared, “Check your lipstick before you come for me,” she was easily one of the most striking queens on season 8 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Her signature style (inspired by 1990’s era supermodels) emphasized her slender body and flat chest, and she was known for having ‘legs for days.’ Think…
Carmen Carrera Returns to SA
Although she first came to fame with stints on season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and RuPaul’s Drag U, Carmen Carrera has expanded her brand by becoming an actress, model, burlesque dancer, and advocate for transgender rights. Since coming out as transgender in 2012, this Puerto Rican beauty has appeared on VH1’s Couples Therapy and even…
‘Straight Outta Oz’ Coming to Tobin Center
As scores of forgotten reality show cast-offs have proven, it takes a lot more than actual talent to make it in the world of entertainment. After making his Broadway debut in The Color Purple, Season nine American Idol finalist Todrick Hall has reinvented himself on more than one occasion emerging both as popular YouTube personality and…
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…