Seventh Biannual Drag show to take place Friday

Factoid:The show will be held in the Student Center Ballrooms C & D. Tickets will cost $3. For more information visit their website at www.siucstudentcenter.org or call SPACE at 536-3351.

The Saluki Rainbow Network and Student Programs and Center Events will sponsor “Untucked,” the seventh biannual Drag Show at 8 p.m. Friday.

The seven participants of this semester’s first show will be dressed head to toe in drag, and lip-synch and dance to a song of their choice. Following their acts will be the notorious “Suicide Drag.”

Leah Reinert, co-director of SRN, said when the audience pays the entrance fee, they have a choice of entering themselves in a lottery to become a part of the show. A male and a female will each be chosen for a chance to be transformed into a drag queen or king and strut their stuff on the stage.

“The best part for me is seeing someone who is hesitant about it in the beginning say at the end of experience how much fun it was,” Reinert said.

Reinert said around 20 to 25 people usually place their names, or their friends’ names, in the “Suicide” lottery.

Reinert said she is kept busy all night and gets to see the show from all angles. She described the event’s atmosphere as “very energetic” and said the audience’s response to the performers is usually enthusiastic.

The last Drag Show, held in February, brought in a crowd of more than 500 people.

“It’s kind of cool to see a lot of people at an event that we’re putting on, because that doesn’t happen to often,” Reinert said.

Reinert said she was hoping for a repeat of last year’s ticket sales.

“We sold out last year,” she said. “We actually had to turn people away.”

Reinert said most of the people who come to the event are heterosexual, and the show has less stigmatism because of its popularity.

“It doesn’t matter what you identify yourself as,” she said. “This is entertainment, and it’s something you relax and enjoy.”

Bradley Wilkins, co-director of SRN, said he would like everybody to have fun and become more aware of the gay community.

“Our goal is to make just one person look at our group differently,” he said.