A full house, loud music and drag royalty took over Bush Ballroom as Spectrum capped off Coming Out Week with their annual Professional Drag Show.

The highly anticipated professional drag show continues to be an incredibly popular event with the Hamline student body. Alyssa Volkmann (’17) of Spectrum’s Exec Board believes that students keep coming due to the high energy and diverse performers.

“I think the drag show is such a huge event because it is so over the top and entertaining,” said Volkmann. “It feels amazing to see so many people come out to this event because we as a board, as well as the performers, put in a lot of work and time to make the show happen and it wouldn’t be a success without the audience.”

Each performance elicited enormous cheers, applause and, of course, tips from the audience. They were ecstatic to see the performers back at Hamline University and many were more than happy to play along with some performers’ flirting.

This year’s performers included Sundai Savage, Ty Torres Jackson, Julia Star, Ethoncé Gold, Riley Rae Pretty Man and, for the fourth year in a row, Christina Jackson.

Performances ranged from Ty Torres Jackson using real fire during a performance of Fall Out Boy’s “My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark,” Christina Jackson performing her signature song “Beaver” (A parody of Peggy Lee’s Fever) and Julia Star’s emotional performance of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful.”

Among the lively and outrageous performances, Christina Jackson took time to address the audience with an important message for Hamline’s students.

“You don’t have to be blood to be family,” she said.

“Stay true to you. Be who you are. It doesn’t matter what gender you identify with. It does not matter what class you want to step yourself into. It does not matter. Stay the beautiful person you are.”

Her message was met with enthusiastic support and applause from the audience. Christina’s words encourage support and acceptance much like the goals of Spectrum.

It’s moments like these that ring truest for Volkmann.

“Sometimes I think folks have the idea of Spectrum being exclusively LGBTQIA,” she said, “[but] we encourage folks of all identities to come out to our meetings and events to learn and grow with us.”

If you missed the professional drag show, you can look forward to next spring when Spectrum will be hosting their Amateur Drag Show during Rainbow Week. For those of you who will be going for your first time and are not sure what to expect, Volkmann has some advice.

“I would say to make sure to have an open mind, respect performers and their art, and take care of yourself. Sometimes it’s a lot to process because some pretty intense things can happen during performances, so it’s important to just relax, enjoy the show and to be open to the art, but also mindful of your needs as an audience member. Also, remember your one dollar bills!”

Adam WhittTamasin Draughon