The Stylus


By Nicholas Serrata, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Counter-clockwise from top: A drag queen performs a rousing Tina Turner-esque number in the second half of the show; Dave Lehman (far left) and Darnell Pierce as angels in the opening dance; the evening’s host, Miss Fanta-see Island, reminded the crowd that “Tipping is not a city in China,” and raked in the cash; one of the few blondes who made an appearance.

If you didn’t attend SOUL’s eighth annual drag show March 3, you missed quite a unique experience. As you walked into the Seymour College Union Ballroom an hour before the doors opened, you would be amazed by the decorations and the energy of everyone involved.

Everyone had a job to do and a place to be. Fountains rained pools of punch, ice sculptures gleamed in spotlights, and two massive screens towered over the runway and dance floor. The decorations and the energetic vibe set the mood for a night unlike any other.

“That stage is fierce, really!” declared Aneal Pleasures, a drag queen who came to watch the show. “This place is fabulous! Very organized, really.”

With that statement she captured the thoughts of all who were involved in putting together the evening of men in wigs and girls with sideburns and ’staches. DJ NICKL, who performs Saturday nights at TiLT Nightclub and Ultralounge in Rochester, has turned down numerous offers to DJ for other universities. However, after noticing how the Brockport SOUL (Sexual Orientations United for Liberation) club was “far more organized than most other colleges,” he enthusiastically accepted its offer.

SOUL President Josh Sliker, the organizational guru behind the drag show, assured himself aloud moments before the doors opened that there was nothing to worry about. “Tonight is planned like a military operation; everything should go great,” he said.

It should be acknowledged that Sliker’s sense of security was not just the product of meticulous planning but also an advantage of the massive funding the SOUL club received. The drag show’s cushy budget of $8,000 most likely relieved a lot of stress for SOUL, especially compared to $1,250 the club had to fight for last year.

SOUL secretary and Assistant Production Coordinator Sara Butryn voiced the importance of SOUL. “The GLBT [Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender] community at Brockport is not just ignored, but because students are coming from mostly rural areas and entering a rural school, the GLBT community is all but invisible.” The drag show was a perfect opportunity to make the presence of the GLBT community more apparent and its voices more audible at SUNY Brockport.

This year’s event was not without drama. Miss Pleasures said timidly that she was not performing in the show because “they only picked Buffalo girls. There are no Rochester girls here tonight.” Suddenly her tone gained assurance: “It seems to me that the person who was in charge of picking the performers [Darnell Pierce] was very racist. You will see no white or Asian girls on that stage.”

Pierce, the talent coordinator for the drag show, responded, “Rochester girls are not that good … I didn’t pick race, I picked talent. Two years ago all the performers were white, and I was the talent coordinator that year as well.”

During the show, two flaws were evident in Miss Pleasures’ accusations. First, the evening’s host, Miss Fanta-see Island, was white, as was Olivia Lee-Shine (Dave Lehman). Miss Lee-Shine’s debut performance as a queen was to a techno version of Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U,” and she managed to collect several handfuls of dollar bills.

At the end of the show everyone seemed to enjoy the event. As the crowd emptied out of the ballroom, positive comments could be heard above the laughter and music. With the exception of a couple bad jokes on the part of Miss Fanta-see, and a few not-so-engaging monologues during the second half of the performance, the drag show ended leaving spectators wanting more. One can only imagine what colorful extravagances SOUL will hustle in next year.