“Masculinity can be just as broad and exciting and glamorous as femininity, but we don’t talk about it that much because it’s seen as taboo and othering,” VaLone adds. He is also a member of the House of Velour, RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9 winner Sasha Velour’s drag house. A gregarious presence, VaLone, who works as a nanny by day and has a background in teaching, has been doing drag for three years and running BEEF for two. “I call it a drag king show, but really it’s just a critique of masculinity and how we can mess with it,” VaLone, 30, says over drinks at Bizarre a few days after the show. And Vic Sin who, in an oversized power blazer and teetering white platforms, performed a pitch-perfect, quivering rendition of the Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer,” ripping off the blazer to reveal neon-pink painted nipples. There was Dorian Gaye as a cowboy type, line-dancing across the stage to a Garth Brooks mash-up. There was Maxxx Pleasure, wearing tight, striped pants and a furry white coat Keith Richards might envy he rocked out to Foxy Shazam’s “The Only Way To My Heart Is With An Axe,” at one point tearing his teeth into a bouquet of red roses and spitting it into the audience. Across the night, performers presented wildly different interpretations of male drag. I call it a drag king show, but really it’s just a critique of masculinity and how we can mess with itįlesh and fantasy-the reimagining and interrogation of it-is BEEF’s bread and butter. He runs his fingers through it while flipping a middle finger to the now crumpled pile of hair on the floor, right as Dion sings of “the flesh and the fantasy” all coming back to her now. And as the song hits its last explosive chorus, VaLone tears off the untamed wig to reveal his short, natural mohawk underneath. And to a cheering crowd, he lip-syncs along with Dion, running his fingers through the wig’s platinum strands, slowly tearing off pieces from his ensemble as the song’s momentum builds.īut the wig grows longer, and more voluminous, as VaLone twirls on stage. The crowd here tonight, eagerly waiting to see the venue’s drag king performance show BEEF, is practically spilling out into the cold, rain-slicked street.ĭrag king Lee VaLone, in a bulky coat and a long, blonde wig peeking out from a black felt hat, steps onto the spotlit stage, looking like an old-timey chimney sweeper. The Missy Elliott that was just coming from the speakers has died down, as well as the chatter of young people around the bar ordering absinthe cocktails and burgers. From the front of Bushwick’s tiny Bizarre bar, the first piano notes of Céline Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” begin to play.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |