By Brianna Holcomb - Arts and Entertainment Editor
The Student Center Theater was filled to the point where it was standing-room-only for the Pride Network’s “Drag Show” last Monday night.
The Pride Network sets up this show in order to educate the community of not only the LGBTQIA life but the artistry of drag as well.
This year they had a long list of stars appear for the show. Contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race, Phi Phi O’Hare and Harmonica Sunbeam, co-hosted the show. Other outside acts included Daesha Richards, Kandy Ho, Godfrey Arbula Applegate, Ivana Black, Caracol Richards, Papitto Richards, SuggaPie Koko and FiFi Dubois.
With a long list of outside performers, the Pride Network did not forget to incorporate the Hofstra community into the show as well. Hofstra’s dance teams TranscenDance and Imani both performed, as did the step team Strictly Steppin’.
As the Pride Network’s eighth annual Drag Show, there were some obvious crowd favorites out of the performers. A personal favorite of mine is Godfrey Arubulu Applegate.
Godfrey Arubulu’s set included complete lip sync to Beyoncé’s top songs. Applegate also chose to perform in Beyoncé’s famous Bulls jersey bodysuit from the “Feeling Myself” music video. The performance was one that even Queen Bey would be proud of.
To step away from the drag queens, Papitto Richards, the only person that night who performed as a man, did a song and dance number. His performance had many people in the crowd screaming as he danced around the stage.
The show lasted over two hours and many members of the audience opted to leave when the speakers blew out during one of the performances. Despite this mishap, the show did go on after all and the audio was then played from a boom box for the remainder of the program.
The Pride Network’s Drag Show does a great job at bringing drag to the Hofstra community. Besides bringing drag to the attention of Hofstra students, the drag show also hosts a rally to support the LGBTQIA community.
The show even incorporates the audience members giving out a poster signed by the members from RuPaul’s Drag Race. The audience competed in a twerk competition in order to win the signed poster.
Watching each contestant participate was a hit with the crowd. Everyone clapped and cheered as each person took their turn ultimately picking a winner using the audiences judgment.
The acts were entertaining despite the lengthy show, and the hosts kept the crowd laughing all throughout the night. The Pride Network’s annual Drag Show is one show you just have to attend.