Claire Smith
Staff writer
Photo by Richard Thompson/The News
FAME, a drag show that takes place on campus once a year, provides people with a space safe to be themselves.
This year’s show took place on Tuesday, March 12, in the Curris Center Ballroom.
MC Lampe, LGBT programming coordinator, has been with the LGBT programming office for a year and a half.
“The drag show has been happening longer than I have been here,” Lampe said. “For a long time it was put on just by Alliance, the LGBT student group on campus, but since the LGBT programming office has come into being, we have teamed up.”
The event used to take place twice a year, but recently condensed to only one show a year to allow the event to go all-out.
“We put out an open call for anyone on campus or the community who want to perform,” Lampe said.
The show is an amateur show, and doesn’t feature professional drag queens or kings.
“I think having a student show is really powerful because it gives people a chance to bring a new sense of self to their community,” Lampe said.
FAME is Alliance’s biggest fundraiser of the year and allows them to send student leaders to conferences and plan social nights. Audience members can tip throughout the show and buy concessions.
Tessa Sipe, senior from Louisville, Kentucky, enjoys participating in the drag show because it brings the community together for a night of fun. She also enjoys performing in drag as Eliot, her drag king persona.
“Eliot is quite a character,” Sipe said. “The name for me kind of reminded me of someone who enjoys life and takes what he wants.”
She worked on choreography starting two months in advance of the show and worked in the campus dance studio once a week.
“I have been doing drag for three years, but have been appreciative of the art for quite some time,” Sipe said. “I enjoy the energy and the community getting together for a night of fun.”
Matthew Allen, a graduate student from Murray, has been into drag for the last six years.
He began watching “Rupaul’s Drag Race” with his best friend when he was in high school.
“My freshman year at Murray I went as a girl for Halloween because my best friend had asked if she could put me in drag for her birthday,” Allen said.
He volunteered to help with the drag show during his first semester and the following semester he became a participant.
Allen’s persona Mia Mann is going through a “mid-life crisis.”
“I am kind of trying to channel aspects of influential women for me that I see in everyday life, and finding a balance between that and aspects of myself that I may be a bit more reserved in day to day,” Allen said. “When you’re trying to develop your persona, you’ll know when it’s right.”
He often practices makeup for weeks, but most of his performance routines are made up on the fly. Getting ready for a performance can take up to four hours including breaks, which he considers part of his process.
“My favorite part of the show is being able to play a role in creating a safe place that people from marginalized groups will be able to feel like they are welcome and wanted,” Allen said.
Allen enjoys being able to get on stage and use positive energy to allow the audience to forget their troubles for a few hours.
“At the end of the show, when the performers go out and take pictures with the audience, the ability for me to see people having a good time and smiling reinforces why I continue participating in the show,” Allen said.
If you are looking to participate in next year’s drag show or have a question about anything LGBT related on campus, contact MC Lampe.