Students gathered in the Ceddia Union Building (CUB) multipurpose room last Tuesday evening to experience Phi Sigma Sigma’s charity drag show event, held in partnership with the Kids in Need Foundation.

The charity event not only raised cheers and laughter from the audience, but also $334, which will be given to low income-area students so they can have school supplies.

The show featured performances by both drag queen and burlesque dancer Trixie De’Flair and 12 Shippensburg University students.

De’Flair has performed in drag for five years, and was crowned Queen of Lehigh Valley Pride 2015 and Queen of Rumors, in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in 2015.

De’Flair kicked off the night with a dance performance to the song “Alive” by Sia.

She wore a white tear-drop shaped mask covering half of her face and a white wig and black spandex floor-length dress, which she ripped off mid-performance to reveal a multicolored deep-V leotard and a new electric-blue wig.

The crowd was enraptured by De’Flair’s moves, many of them cheering and whistling.

“We love you Trixie!” could be heard screamed from the audience.

Once De’Flair wrapped up her act, the student contestants took the stage, creating a sea of bright ball gowns, high-heeled boots, lipstick and a mess of wigs.

The competitors flashed smiles and waved to judges Robert Smith, Rebecca Ward, Traci Moyer and Trixie De’Flair before the start of the talent portion.

Most contestants performed a dance for the talent portion, dancing to songs such as “JuJu on that Beat” by Zay Hilfigerrr and Zayion McCall, “Closer ft. Halsey” by The Chainsmokers, “Me Too” by Meghan Trainor and “I’ll Make a Man out of You” from the Disney movie “Mulan.”

A handful of contestants stood out from the rest by showcasing less conventional talents like chugging a milkshake in seven seconds, reading “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss and playing the ukulele. Each performance was met with bursts of applause, laughs and cheers from the crowd.

The interview portion of the show allowed the contestants to flaunt their creative thinking skills, as well as reveal the true colors of the winner-hopefuls.

Each contestant chose a question at random out of a bucket to which they had to respond with an award-winning answer.

“What is the perfect date?” host Marilyn Miller asked Tim Cannon, whose stage name was “Teddy.”

“The perfect date is April 23rd,” Teddy said. “It is not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket.”

Miller made her way to Keith Russel, whose stage name was “Roxie,” to ask him what his favorite word is.

“Tyrannosaurus rex,” Roxie answered. “It is actually two words, but I like dinosaurs.”

After the question portion, contestants pranced one by one on stage to give the judges a final taste before deliberation.

During the intermission, Trixie hit the stage in a floor-length silver dress with a high slit and long sleeves.

Her wavy black wig tossed about as she danced to Beyoncé’s “Grown Woman.”

Halfway through the performance, Trixie snatched off her silver gown to reveal a gold leotard, which she used to collect tips from members of the audience.

All of the contestants returned to the stage at the sound of the song “It’s Raining Men” by the Weather Girls to dance freestyle, have accidental wardrobe-malfunctions and do the limbo.

Once the results were in, contestants lined up on stage to be crowned, many of them fanning themselves in anticipation.

“Dixie Normous” (Tyler Allen) was crowned third runner-up, “Orgasma Sanchez” (Grant Henry) was crowned second runner-up and “Sheyonce’ Fox” (Tim Panchari) was crowned first runner-up.

The crowd became quiet before the announcement of the winner of the drag show while the rest of the contestants stood hopeful in anticipation.

“The winner of the Phi Sigma Sigma Drag Show is,” Miller said, “Sunset!”

The room rattled with cheers and hollers as the electric-orange haired contestant made her way to the front of the stage, dancing about and crying as she was crowned and sashed.

When asked to say a few words, Tom Fizzano, whose stage name is Sunset, appeared to be overcome with emotion and babbled unintelligible sounds of excitement into the microphone before thanking the crowd and the judges.

After the show, student Barbara Brinton remarked on the passion of the contestants.

“The guys were really prepared,” Brinton said. “They really got into the spirit of it.”

Share