What a drag
Drag shows at the Shaft offer a mix of entertainment
Drag shows at the Shaft offer a mix of entertainment
It kind of looks like any other lip-synch show, with performers mouthing along with their favorite artists. Except the costumes are way fancier. And the dancing is better, much more choreographed. And, oh yeah, those gorgeous girls on stage? They’re not really girls.
Three times a month — the first Saturday of the month and two Thursdays — the Shaft hosts drag shows, where local and area drag queens (or female impersonators, if you prefer) strut their stuff before an adoring audience.
And the audience does adore them. They yell and clap for the girls, tipping them with dollar bills. The performers flirt with the crowd, smiling, waving, wiggling their hips as they sing and dance to songs like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” or Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.”
In between numbers, the girls take turns acting as emcees. They play with the crowd, asking if it’s anyone’s first time at the show and telling jokes.
And they’re not afraid to do a little bit of harassing if the crowd isn’t paying them the attention they deserve.
“I am going to hit you over the head with this microphone if you don’t make some noise,” performer Sparkle Iman tells them during a recent show.
When she spots a girl in the crowd texting while she’s talking, Sparkle walks over and takes her phone and starts reading her texts.
“They make it really exciting,” says Vicki Wheeler, who comes to the drag shows twice a month. “I like how they give every individual attention.”
The drag shows bring a variety of entertainment to their audiences.
“It’s kind of like seeing a comedy show and a concert all in one,” says Shaft owner Dustin Mathews.
There’s a lot that goes into each performance of the drag shows. Besides having to figure out costumes, wigs and makeup, the girls also must come up with their routines. And this is more than just prancing around a stage mouthing the words to their favorite songs. Stage presence is a must if they want to win over fans.
“You have to be good, and it’s not cheap,” says Carl Glorioso, who performs as Victoria DePaula on Saturdays. “Costumes cost so much money, but when you have the good costumes and you have the raw talent to be on stage, people kind of flock to you. It’s not something somebody could just come in and do.”
The drag shows at the Shaft bring in a mixture of people. There’s gay and straight, young and old. One recent show had a grandmother in a wheelchair and a young woman celebrating her 21st birthday in the crowd.
Mr. Mathews says people have different reasons for coming to watch the drag shows.
“I think the gay crowd is a little more used to it, it’s just a fun night out to watch their friend dress up and perform,” he says. “For the straight crowd, it is a curiosity thing, ‘what do these gay guys do?’”
Mr. Glorioso says the diversity of the crowd at the Shaft is one of the reasons he loves to perform there.
“It’s really shocking actually that St. Joe would have such a cool place where more than just gay people are accepting,” he says.
Lifestyles reporter Lacey Storer can be e-mailed at lstorer@npgco.com
This story has 16 comments. Click here to join in on the discussion.
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Hate to come off as a homo-phobe, but my lord, can't we find something a little more newsworthy to report on?
Posted by Mizzou on July 31, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)Seriously, why does everything in the paper have to be "news-worthy". This is just a fun article. Not everything in the news-paper has to be facts and quotes.
Posted by joetowner on July 31, 2008 at 9:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)after reading this I can't get that darn RuPaul song out of my head, which IS NOT FUN AND ENTERTAINING!#@!#@
Posted by fly2sky on July 31, 2008 at 10:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)Lacey is a lifestyles reporter, which means she reports on random items in the community. And not everything in the paper needs to be "news-worthy" ever heard of the diem section, the comics, ads? come on people.
Posted by joetowner on July 31, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)weerrrrkkkk, turn to the left, weeeerrrkkkk....
Posted by Joe_Wright on July 31, 2008 at 10:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)At the bottom of this webpage there is a Google ad for tranniegear.com.("The Largest Drag & Stage Source with Pro Quality & Great Prices Too") I'll be giggling about that all day...thanks NPG!
Posted by g73 on July 31, 2008 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)Another fine establishment in the heart of Downtown. "The Shaft" wonder what that means??? "The Chute" would be a more fitting name. Whats will we see next in Diem? Maybe a featured article on Blondies or the Emerald Club? Cant wait!!!!!
Posted by joetowner on July 31, 2008 at 11:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)yeah fly2sky, would it be any different if our local lifestyles reporter did a piece on Emeralds?
Posted by Mizzou on July 31, 2008 at 11:38 a.m. (Suggest removal)This is way different than Blondies or Emeralds. The performers are not taking anything off. My wife and I went to see a friend who is a performer and it was a blast. Very entertaining and a fun crowd.
Nice to see St Joe has creative people who can come up with homophobic names for this establishment.... very mature!
Posted by joetowner on July 31, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)You are defending the name "The Shaft"? Look, I don't have a problem with this type of entertainment or people that want to go watch it. Nor do I have a problem with this type of lifestyle, if that is your choice.
However, it just kind of struck me as odd the News Press would cover this story. I figured it would be something I would find if I were for some reason to pickup Gay Pride magazine, not the St. Joe News Press.
Look, I've played beer pong before, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's something I feel worthy of the News Press covering either. I realize they are trying to reach out to a wider audience, but they have to realize there is going to be some pushback with some of these stories they are doing.
Posted by fly2sky on July 31, 2008 at 12:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)It wouldn't really bother me if they did a piece on Emeralds, but I would probably log onto the website every second to read the comment section!
However, Emeralds and The Shaft are very different establishments. I don't think the comparison is really fair to the Shaft.
Posted by Mizzou on July 31, 2008 at 12:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)I see your point with the name "The Shaft." I guess I was spining off of the comment of "The Chute."
Posted by comment on July 31, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)I gotta get me a bag of popcorn!
Posted by Mr_America on July 31, 2008 at 3:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)I'm sure that "the Chute" would be in honor of the old Lake Contrary ride. I'm partial to "Fire in the Hole"
Posted by ldowpar on July 31, 2008 at 7:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)It is 2008 and this club is part of St. Joe, so why not report on it? It is not as if this can't be entertainment to every person. I went to see the show a few years back and was reluctant, but my friends took me to lift my mood. My main interest was that these men had better wigs than I did (had cancer) and I was very intrigued. I found everyone was there for a different reason, but they all had an enjoyable experience. You don't have to be gay to step in and watch, just open minded.
Posted by StJoeMoe on July 31, 2008 at 8:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)Open minded often equals minimal ethics...
To each their own.
Personally, I see no entertainment value in it.
That's just me, no interest, thank you.
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