In Drag City, D.C.'s drag queens perform on-stage and off
January 10, 2011 - 12:00 PM
By Amanda Hess
http://www.tbd.com/blogs/amanda-hess/2011/01/drag-city-dc-queens-reality-performance-6993.html (http://www.tbd.com/blogs/amanda-hess/2011/01/drag-city-dc-queens-reality-performance-6993.html)
"Be in pain, girl, be in pain!"
Backstage at Town Danceboutique last Friday night, six drag queens have gathered in a mass of heels, hair, and prosthesis, all held together by a bit of eyelash glue and a whole lot of Spanx. As two cameras flash, the queens take turns dragging each other across the floor, grabbing each others' inflated backsides, launching into impromptu versions of Madonna's "Like a Virgin," and shouting directions. Two queens pose back-to-back and raise matching finger guns to their heavily-lined lips. The others call out: "More original!"
These are the stars of Drag City DC: Hair And Paint Make a Man What He Ain't, the District's latest stint under the reality television lens. And like the Real Housewives before it, Drag City has enlisted a handful of divas to play an enhanced version of femininity for the cameras. These queens will apply an additional layer of artifice to the D.C. reality TV scene: District residents performing performing women.