On Friday, the University Activities Board, RING and the Residence Halls Association hosted their eighth annual drag show in the International Center. Drag is the practice of impersonating a person of the opposite gender, but the impersonation is more of a parody, highlighting certain traits about the gender and exaggerating them to over-the-top proportions. Nine queens and three kings performed for an audience of about 1,000 students.

Drag queens and kings don’t wish they were the opposite sex, said Monroe resident Sedret Whitfield, one of the drag queens who performed. Most of the kings and queens are performers who used to be or still are involved in theater, choir or dance.

Communication senior Justin Ford, who helped organize the evening event, said the glamour for some is the chance to step into a different skin.

“You create this character that has a larger-than-life personality,” Ford said. “For entertainment’s sake, that’s what you are for one night, an outlet of things we can’t be day-to-day because we have to be professional; we have to polite and do things that are socially acceptable. When you assume character, you get to be outlandish and say and do fun things — things that are out of the ordinary in the name of fun without necessarily negative stigma attached.”

Zamora knows this transformation well. An actor who has long been involved with stage shows, he began drag five years ago.

“I would never say some of the things I say in my everyday life that I say in drag,” said Zamora. “I’m an outgoing person, but it’s a whole new persona. I put on heels and I alter my body and I am a woman as opposed to a man.”

Between drag shows, pageants and Tuesday performances at The Chrome Cat, a nightclub in Lansing, Zamora has fully come to develop the character of Aaliyah Martinez.

“Over the years, I’ve just kind of added and added on different things,” Zamora said.

Aaliyah Martinez came into being in a friend’s living room when Zamora decided he wanted a name that was feminine as well as Mexican.

“I never want her to be a mean person,” he said, “But fun, flirty and energetic.”

The physical transformation from Michael Zamora to Aaliyah Martinez took around an hour and a half Saturday, each layer bringing him a step closer to his diva alter ego. Between powders, eyeliner, eye shadows, blush and a variety of other makeup, Aaliyah Martinez’s face costs between $60 to $80. Nails can be about $6 a pack. Lashes are $3 each, but another drag queen named Eva Angelica said you often have to wear two sets of lashes.

Beneath Eva Angelica’s makeup is Okemos resident Nick Steele. He said the most expensive part of this transformation is the hair, as he makes his outfits for shows himself.

“I originally was going to school to be a fashion designer, so I knew how to (sew),” Steele said. “My grandmother taught me.”
Both queens were met with a roaring crowd and several dollar bills.

For mathematics senior Kelly Thompson, the drag show offers something new each year.

“I’ve seen the past four years and I’ve always like it,” said Thompson, who attended the show. “It’s been really good this year.”