Yale School Of Drag Sashays Into Community

From previous Yale School,of Drag show at Yale Cabaret

The New York Times just declared this “the golden age of drag,” and judging from the offerings around, it would be hard to disagree.

It seems you can’t swing a pair of stilettos without hitting someone on stage looking fem fab, lip-synching, and showing sass.

Prepping for Yale School of Drag in 2015.

RuPaul’s Drag Race on VH1 has become an Emmy Award-winning hit and just launched a new all-star edition featuring some of the series’ favorite non-winners from seasons past. Yes, there’s been Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Kinky Boots on Broadway and Goodspeed had a hit with La Cage aux Folles a few seasons back. But closer to home there’s a thriving drag community sashaying on stages throughout the state.

As for high-profile shows, there’s Bianca Del Rio—who was a winner on the sixth season of the show—who will bring her chops to The Bushnell’s Belding Theater in Hartford on Thursday, March 22.

And starting Friday, March 16, Hartford’s TheaterWorks will begin performances of The Legend of Georgia McBride, a Matthew Lopez comedy that centers on a straight man who turns to drag when his Elvis impersonation act wanes.

More immediate, however, is the fifth annual edition of Yale Cabaret’s School of Drag in New Haven, which this year has expanded the number of performances of three nights, one by Yale School of Drama students, another for alumni and faculty, and a third featuring performers from the area’s drag community. The shows will be presented in the basement theater at 217 Park Street on Thursday and Friday, Feb. 15 and 16 at 8 and 11 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 17 at 8 and 10 p.m. and midnight.

“We decided we wanted to give it a full weekend,” says Rachel Shuey, managing director of the Yale Cabaret.

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