By Dane Secor
The only warning people had Friday night was a bright-yellow sign that read: “Warning: Strobe Lights in Use During this Event.”
Two hours to show time, the tension and excitement filled the air of the Trabant multipurpose rooms, as people in street clothes sang and danced around the room every time the DJ tested the speakers.
Behind the scenes, performers got into character. Rainbow feathers floated around the room and landed on garment bags stuffed with a cornucopia of colored scarves, and ranks of styrofoam heads were lined in formation on tables, each with a different elaborate wig. The aroma of different perfumes filled the hallway.
“Girl needs to put her body on,” echoed down the backstage corridor from one bathroom. “I got to get myself together, girl.”
Further evidence of last-minute preparations could be heard coming from various rooms.
“Girl, shave that back,” one contestant said enthusiastically. “Honey, you need to Nair that.”
Outside, an hour before show time, students lined up outside the doors, chatting excitedly about what they could expect from the show.
This Friday, students and community members were treated to the third annual HAVEN Drag Show. First-time attendees were in for an experience unlike anything they had ever seen.
Christine Mancini, emcee of the show, successfully stoked the energy of the crowd, getting them ready for a night of dancing divas in drag.
“Sorry I’m late, I was fixing my breasts,” she said as she took the stage.
Freshman Lauren Little, member of HAVEN, worked an information table where people could find facts about the organization and pick up complimentary condoms.
As the stage lights dimmed, Little’s eyes lit up.
“This is so exciting and vibrant,” she said.
Before performers took the stage, senior Kelly Enfield described her excitement at the coming show.
“I’ve never been to this before,” he said. “But I heard you put money in their pants.”
The show opened with an energy-filled dance number from former Miss Delaware International, Sierra Mist. Mist successfully set the tone for the event, with flying splits off a stage that had trouble containing performers all night.
The eight contestants in the show battled it out for the title of Miss Delaware International 2007. They competed in a evening gown competition and a talent section, which was filled with energetic show tunes and monster ballads.
In between acts, Mancini joked about keeping the show tame for the university.
“If Janet Jackson can show her titties, I can certainly say ass,” she said. “I want you to get cut up, act a fool, scream and holla, if I can’t hear you in the back, I’m going to come back out and be angry.”
After a particularly risqué performance from Amaya Mann, who danced in a dress and wig that screamed Beyoncé, Mancini came back on stage fanning herself.
“Baby, she needs to find God and she needs to pray,” she said.
The show had a few wardrobe malfunctions.
Wigs fell off and skirts rode up as performers rolled across the stage, which garnered extra cheers from audience members.
Mancini re-entered the stage between performances wearing her dress backwards, but she played it off well and diverted attention to her hair.
“I need my migraine medicine, this wig is so tight,” she said. “Soon as I find a Denny’s after this, I’m going to eat.”
Senior Jared Lander, co-president of HAVEN, said there was enough room for 400 people to attend and last year the show sold out. This year, the show was officially sold out 30 minutes after it started, and there were approximately 425 tickets sold.
“That’s not even including the people standing,” Lander said.
Public safety had to turn many students away, and Lander said people were switching wrist bands and trying to sneak into the event.
The $5 entrance fee went entirely to HAVEN. According Sophomore Kate Mallary, social chair of HAVEN, the money will be used to produce HAVEN’s drag show in the spring. Proceeds collected there will go to AIDS Delaware.
After nearly three hours of performances, contestant Luscious Williams, dressed in a vintage wedding gown, said she was exhausted.
“I have three pounds of garland on,” she said. “I look like a giant party favor.”
Senior Lauren Stephenson, vice president of HAVEN, said she wanted people to have fun and see the event as a learning experience.
“It’s not just a spectacle,” she said. “It’s an entire sub-culture.”
Junior Stacey Furtado, who was also manning the HAVEN table, agreed.
“Tonight’s just about having a lot of fun,” she said. “That’s why so many people always come to this.”
