Under dimmed lights, the catchy lure of pop anthems and excited crowd cheers, five of Hamline’s own drag queens and kings transformed Anderson 111/112 into a stage for creativity and queer joy. 

Spectrum hosted their amateur drag show on April 14, continuing an annual spring tradition. Hamline first-year, co-organizer and Spectrum Vice President Valentina Hernandez opened the show with a flirty dance, singling out crowd members as Daddy Pedro, the internet’s favorite not-really-a-father, Pedro Pascal.

 In planning for the event, the intention was “for everyone to come out and have fun,” Hernandez said. 

“With so many political conflicts with drag performances, I thought it was best for the show to go on,” Hernandez said. “We have to show our perseverance towards the government. Nothing can stop us from having fun.”

Following Hernandez, Hamline senior, host and Spectrum president Kimia Kowsari introduced first-year Thorne Sandstrom McGuire, the standalone singer of the night, with a performance of “People Are Strange” by the Doors. 

First-years Raine Lentz, Lucy Severson and Naiya Laskin performed as Tampon Tony, Pad Trick and Dame Fatale respectively, to Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger,” bringing down the house with their choreographed performance and lip sync of the 2000s pop hit.

Essence Boe, a senior who was also featured in last year’s amateur drag show, evoked cheers from the crowd with a sensual performance as Miss Mischief. 

Valentina Hernandez returned to the stage to close the night as another online icon, Sexy Luigi. 

Drag shows can be a space for both performers and onlookers to celebrate being themselves, and this one was no different. 

“It makes me happy when I’m at a drag show because that’s one of the times that I am like, okay I fit in here for sure,” first-year Gabe Fleischhacker said. 

Performer Essence Boe had similar feelings about participating in this event. 

“Growing up, you hear things like ‘you’re weird’, or ‘you’re strange’[but] here with my community I get to be loud and proud,” Boe, a Hamline senior, said. “You cannot silence this electric feeling I have within me.”

Despite the aggressive political climate facing drag once again, the theme of the night was joy. 

“It made me happy, to see everyone so happy,” first-year Ari Howey said. 

If you missed the drag show and want to celebrate your favorite queer seniors, Spectrum is hosting the Lavender Gala on May 2, which is open to anyone who RSVPs at the link in Spectrum’s Instagram bio, at https://linktr.ee/huspectrum.