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When Freddy Toglia signed up to perform in the 2023 Pride Union Drag Show, they were blown away by the performance quality and overall energy of the crowd. They performed at the preliminaries as a drag duo and while they didn’t make it to the finals, they still wanted to come to the show and support their fellow performers.

“They all pulled out the stops, but everyone’s (drag) was very different and everyone was absolutely playing to their strengths and they killed it,” Toglia said.

On Tuesday, Pride Union hosted its annual Drag Show Finale in Goldstein Auditorium. The event was hosted by former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants Mo Heart and Crystal Methyd. The competition was between four drag performers who were chosen by the crowd at the preliminaries, which were hosted on March 23.

The event was themed goths versus bimbos, and audience members did not disappoint. From fishnet stockings to bright pink crop tops, they showed up in their personal version of the themes.

Mo Heart started the show off by performing to the Glee version of “Hate on Me.” Both Mo Heart and Crystal Methyd were dressed to a tee in elaborate and colorful costumes. Methyd performed later in the show and shocked the crowd with a striptease.

The audience loved Mo Heart and Crystal Method as they cheered them on whenever they hit the stage. Toglia said they appreciated being able to have events to this production degree. They said they know that their friends who go to other schools usually only have events like drag brunch, which made them appreciate the efforts that go into the show.

After their introduction, Heart and Methyd explained how the rest of the night would run. All four finalists would perform their number, then the audience would choose the top two to move on.

Megan Jonas | Staff Photographer

Sir Gabriel Googlygoo takes the stage. She wore a gold vest, a gold-painted cardboard robot head and later, a strap-on.
Megan Jonas | Staff Photographer

Drag king Sir Gabriel Googlygoo, a persona created by Olivia Dalfino, strutted on stage to “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, wearing a gold vest and a gold-painted robot head made out of cardboard. Her over-the-top performance ended with her removing the strap-on from her pants and putting it on display for the audience.

Next, Dirty Lucciano took the stage in ripped jeans, a black crop top and a slicked-back high ponytail. She started her performance to “Treat Me,” by Chloe Bailey. Lucciano used props as well — midway through her performance, Lucciano had someone bring out a pink puffer jacket, sunglasses and a microphone as her music transitioned to a rap song. She ended her performance with a third song “I’m a Slave 4 U” by Britney Spears, giving some audience members lap dances as people waved dollar bills.

Following Lucciano, Austin Rose took the stage as Vera Kewl. Kewl shocked the audience as she started singing “Sweet Transvestite” from the musical “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” She threw off her jacket to reveal a black corset, cheeky panties and a bedazzled face. Although he has performed online, the Pride Union Drag Shows were the first time he’d performed drag live.

Senior Hunter Kusak is behind drag king Quirt Taylor, who finished the night with horror-inspired drag. Taylor took the stage with a face painted with black makeup, a baseball jersey and jeans with a performance that brought an old-school R&B energy to the show. Keeping to the horror theme, Taylor killed his partner in a sexual act at one point in the number, bringing them back to life at the end.

Their music choices did not go unnoticed, especially by Mo Heart, who made it a point to note the Little Kim songs Kusak used in their performance. After all of the performances, the audience decided Dirty Lucciano and Vera Kewl should advance. The two were sent to prepare for a lip-sync battle.

Lucciano and Kewl came out to lip sync to “Telephone,” by Lady Gaga featuring Beyoncé. Dirty Lucciano came out with a complete costume change, donning black pants and a sequined off-the-shoulder black crop top. While Kew didn’t have a costume change, she came out with what looked like a red cake on a silver platter.

The minute the music started the two were off dancing and strutting up and down the stage. As the song came to an end, Kewl picked up her cake-like prop and ripped it in half as it sprayed red liquid on the crowd. Both performers went out into the audience and danced with screaming audience members.

In the end, Lucciano was crowned the ultimate queen. After being crowned, Allen thanked his team, his co-workers and his fraternity brothers in Sigma Alpha Mu. He said he was happy to see everything come together in just the right way. While he enjoyed participating for the first time last year, he’s glad his hard work got him the crown this time around.

“I feel grateful. I feel like this is my year. This is my Jordan year, ‘23, so it’s all about abundance and it’s all about snatching these girls and getting them in check,” Allen said.

Published on April 26, 2023 at 11:40 pm