The 19th annual Birdcage sponsored by Individuals Respecting Identities and Sexualities and Carolina Productions was anything but a drag with its loud music, bright lights and fabulous entertainers.
Carolina Productions and IRIS brought together the greatest drag talent from South Carolina to entertain the students of USC in a night of glitz and glam. The event featured "RuPaul’s Drag Race" star Latrice Royale along with other notable drag queens, a drag king and USC’s own Miss Gaymecock.
Patti O’Furniture, a local drag queen, took the stage as the event’s master of ceremonies and pumped up the crowd with her sense of humor and southern charm.
The first act O’Furniture welcomed to the stage was Delighted Tobehere. Tobehere is an Upstate native, but has followed her calling to New York City, where she has been recognized as Broadway’s Best in Drag.
Tobehere took the runway to perform Adele’s hit song, “Hello.” She strutted around the stage in a long-sleeved gown as she gave an incredibly convincing impression of Adele.
In between acts, IRIS and Carolina Productions presented several “commercial breaks” where they introduced and promoted different local LGBTQ organizations. Some of the featured organizations were the Harriet Hancock Center, South Carolina Pride and South Carolina Equality.
One of the crowd favorites was definitely the lovely Brooke Collins. When Collins took the stage for her second number in the show, she appeared with a large, colorful, peacock-like headdress and performed Jess Glynne’s upbeat hit “Hold My Hand.”
Birdcage veteran, Samantha Hunter, has been performing in USC’s annual show since its inception in 1997. Hunter got the audience up and dancing with her performance of Mary J. Blige’s “Dance for Me.” She even pulled four attendees on stage for their own chance at the spotlight.
Of course, Royale was a huge hit with her “large and in charge” attitude. She commanded the audience’s attention with her big hair, sparkling gown and performance of the song “And I’m Telling You,” which was featured in the movie "Dreamgirls."
The crowd even got a bit of life advice from Royale. She spread the inspiring message to the audience to follow their passions, believe in themselves and always be their own boss.
“I thought it was a phenomenal show. I was so excited to get to see all the talent that we’ve been putting together over the past few months really come to life on stage,” said Kaitlin McClamrock, second-year political science student and President of IRIS.
Allison Hill, a third-year experimental psychology student, summed up the show perfectly when she said, “Amazing, wonderful, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
If you didn’t get a chance to see the Birdcage this year, it’s definitely something to put on your to-do list for next year. The show had audience members laughing, singing and dancing all while promoting advocacy for an underrepresented group in South Carolina. Is there any better way to spend a Tuesday night?