Yes! Yes! Yes! DKR gives yet another spectacular performance. I think that by the end of the night, everyone who attended had a crush on at least one of the dancers. My crush is on A-train, who’s birthday was actually the day of the show. “A” received a good spanking for each year of his life, including a few from a vicious lovely with a riding crop.
I realize that a lot of people don’t know who DKR is, so I will give a brief description of the group before moving on to the performance. Drag King Rebellion is a gender performance group that began here in Ann Arbor but now performs all over the state of Michigan. Each entertainer has a unique drag name and sometimes their own persona. The group dances and lip sings to a variety of different songs, from Broadway and Michael Jackson to Lady Gaga and N’SYNC. The show includes solo and group acts, displaying several different forms of contemporary feeling. Some of the acts are sad and political, some are funny and energetic, and some are romantic in a gushy kind of way. I love them, and so does their crowd of adoring fans!
To get to the show I had to ask people at the Spectrum Center (an excellent on-campus resource) where Sh/AUT was located and how to get there. My friends and I arrived, never having been there before, and were immersed into a sea of costumed Halloween goers and beautiful drag queens. So much fun! Everyone should visit at least once in their life.
The show started off with a upbeat funny song from the Broadway show “Altar Boys.” They had the crowd rolling in laughter and cheering. Later there was a very deep number that showed us the affects of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy on a relationship. Perhaps everyone’s favorite act was the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Fish net stockings and lacy corsets really bring out the Rocky/Franky/Columbia/Magenta in all of us. The dancers had so many great acts that I can’t describe all of them. The concert started at 10:15ish and went till 1:00am. Songs like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Backstreet Boys’ “Incomplete” received shouts of enthusiasm as people recognized them, while lesser-known songs were used to convey certain messages. One dance, I can’t remember the name of the song for the life of me, was about a couple in love in a park. We had to listen to the words and watch the dancers to understand. It was a very passionate and lovely display of talent by Manny Schevitz and I believe Ridn Handlebars.
I didn’t realize that it would be this hard to write about the performance. This is just one of those shows that you have to see for yourself. Everyone who goes has a blast and we even receive a little education/awareness on the subject of gender identity and expression. I know that I love them, and now my friends do too. So you should all definitely try to stay up to date on their events (I’ll help the best that I can) and make sure you go.
The show ended with a fantastic “Thriller” act, but then as they started walking away, some angel in the crowd shouted “ENCORE!” and we all repeated the cry. The troupe came back for one last dance, and of course the finale was Rocky Horror’s “Time Warp.” Everyone got in on this dance. I love the Time Warp! And so did most of the crowd.
It was sad to say goodnight to the performers, but they were exhausted, A-train a little sore, so we all returned home with smiles on our faces. I’m sure many of the newcomers, such as the people I took, will be returning to the next show. Make sure you stay up to date by visiting DKR’s website at http://dragkingrebellion.webs.com/ . I hope to see you at the next show! And you have a, what is it that A-train said, “A Happy Halloweener!”
Here’s the description of an event from last year at UM, organized by F.O.K.U.S., in which the Drag King Rebellion had performed.