The Alumni Hall in the HUB hosted Kierra Darshell’s 8th Annual Professional Drag Show this past Friday night. The show was the kicker to this year’s Pride Week at Penn State and drew an impressive turnout, filling nearly every seat and leaving crowds of students standing in the wings.

Following the event, Joe Pratchenko, a junior-theater major, said:

It was lesbians, gays, transsexuals, all together and all accepting and no issues. It was perfect.

Lianna Newman, President of the Penn State Undertones, the organization responsible for coordinating the event, said:

We had the biggest turnout this year. I believe we continue to bring [the show to Penn State] because drag is part of the LGBTA culture and when we talk about Pride, we have to talk about all aspects of the LGBTQQIA community. One of the things I love about the drag show is how it addresses the transgender community, which I feel is often overlooked by heterosexual society. When they talk about LGBT, rarely do we hear much about the “B” and the “T”  and in my opinion the drag show is all about the “T,” which is absolutely wonderful.

The night started off with Kierra Darshell, who performed Beyonce’s “If I Was a Boy.” It was Anne Sue Young’s last performance with the show because she was moving to Las Vegas, and she performed “3” by Britney Spears. Ms. Sascha Fierce performed another Beyonce song, “Crazy in Love,” and Ms. Veronica performed a Liza Minnelli hit.

[Photo Credit: Melanie Versaw]