Drag Show: Resurrection

Colorado State University’s annual drag show returned to campus after a two-year hiatus April 16.

The Pride Resource Center worked in collaboration with RamEvents to bring back the long-standing tradition. The show was free and open to the public and featured student, local and statewide drag artists. Tips were accepted, all of which were used for the CSU LGBTQ Scholarship Fund. The show had around 1,200 people in attendance and collected more than $4,000 dollars in tips.

MaveRick Smith

Before Colorado State University’s annual drag show begins, Drag King MaveRick Smith prepared backstage to perform April 16. 

Smith has been an active member of the drag community since 2015, participating in many shows throughout Colorado and the CSU drag show since 2016. Smith’s costume during the show was initially intended to be their costume for the 2020 show but was canceled due to the pandemic.

“You’re kind of living an alter-ego through that character,” Smith said. “For some drag performers, their performer, or stage persona, is vastly different than their muggle life. But for some people, that’s not the case…I find that to be the case for myself. MaveRick is MaveRick. Other than some makeup there’s not a whole lot of difference there.”

Smith comes from a theater background and believes those experiences helped them enter the drag scene. 

“It’s an art form, it’s an expression,” Smith said. “You have that option to play around with things and screw with people’s heads in a way…I’m going to display a very feminine side and then I’m going to display a very masculine side at the same time.” 

To Smith, the most meaningful aspect of CSU’s annual drag show is the chance for students and other young people to see drag artists embracing their most authentic selves. 

“I was not able to fully come out until I was in my mid-thirties,” Smith said. “Had I had a better face of representation of who part of the LGBTQIA community was out there, I think I would have come out a lot sooner and I would have lived a more authentic life for longer.”

Event Coverage Training Video

Watch a behind-the-scenes look at my coverage during this event.

shot and edited by Owen Johnson; sound by Max Straub; produced by Jill P. Mott & Peter Waack