03063: One Scale of Drag

I've previously tried to roughly categorize the different types of performances you might encounter at O Bar, and I've waxed somewhat poetic about the mic stand ballad in particular. But my brain is kind of hardwired to continue to study the many performances we experience at O Bar and try to analyze and study them further. I claim no degree of expertise or authority in this area, so all this is largely from my perspective as a member of the audience and someone who patronizes different performing arts. 

What's been rattling around my brain as of late is how drag performances tend to fall somewhere along a scale that I think starts with impersonation and ends in a vague area I'm calling inspiration for now. This is hardly an all-encompassing way to classify drag performances, as there are countless ways to do drag, as it's one of those highly mutable and constantly evolving art forms. But it's a potential starting point - although this may apply more to the Philippine (or even just the Metro Manila) drag scene, so your context may vary. Let's get into it.

Impersonation

More than just imitation, a large segment of drag performances aim to bring to life a popular figure, typically a music artist. This is one of many ways, but a lot of it relies on capturing the look of the artist using makeup, wigs, and costumes. But just looking like a famous singer is just cosplay stuff. Bringing that musician to life through a performance is what makes it drag. Some focus on capturing the feel of an artist - their mannerisms and little gestures that help sell the idea to the audience. While others go to the extreme and try to recreate entire performances - typically using a music video as a reference or a live performance at a concert or similar venue. 

What makes such performances most interesting to fans is how well the drag artist is able to recreate that experience. Do you believe that's Cher performing on stage? Did the performers manage to capture the "official" choreography of the original performance? Have they demonstrated near-perfect memorization of what the featured artist did in their concert or live performance? There's a general focus on a sort of accuracy, or at least leaving the audience feeling convinced of the living tribute the drag artist has become for the span of that number. And repeat performances of the same number open the doors to refinement and further mastery - or, at times, surprise and subversion.

There are a lot of queens whose very identity is tied to a particular music artist - look at the likes of how Chad Michaels is closely associated with Cher and Derrick Barry is associated with Britney Spears. We have similar local drag artists whose drag personas are closely tied to famous figures like Lady Gagita or even Taylor Sheesh. Impersonation was a much bigger deal in the early 2000s when I first strarted watching drag performances on a more regular basis. 

But others are more about the performance and don't closely tie their personal branding to the artists they like to bring to life on the stage. Many of the O Divas go into this territory when they try to recreate key live performances as part of a big event night like a birthday show. Think of the many Super Bowl Halftime Shows that have been recreated as drag performances at O Bar. I've seen many O Divas perform the lead role in the same halftime show performance and bring their respective interpretation to things while still trying to follow the same steps and recreate the same moments. And there are the many stage musical performances they've staged with different queens performing different parts. That's something that I particularly love about how O Bar celebrates drag. 

And we've seen many O Divas go on to new heights largely based on the strength of their impersonation skills. Precious Paula Nicole is one of the best impersonators of artists like Beyoncé and Regine Velasquez. Popstar Bench rose to fame initially because of Sarah Geronimo, but in more recent years has taken her love of the likes of Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa to near extremes, including recreating large portions of their concerts as large drag productions. Bernie's take on Whitney Houston is one of the best as well, as she brings a unique power to the stage well become her physical stature.

Inspiration

As you move away from impersonation, you end up deeper in the realm of inspiration - when it's more about the drag artist imbuing more of themselves into how they perform the song. So they may look nothing like the artist whose music they're lip-syncing to, but the way they perform the song still moves you. Even when the song isn't in English, the drag artist is able to convey the meaning of the song to you through their actions and gestures. 

This includes the many performances that delve deeper into the realm of interpretative dance. Turing always comes to mind here, as she has such a unique physicality where the slightest twitch of a finger is part of the performance. Think about how she'd perform "Buwan" by Juan Karlos - that's the true miracle of drag right there. 

Performances more about inspiration can also be technical in their own right. The rise of a proper ballroom scene in the country means more drag artists are able to bring those moves to the stage. They use the language of ballroom, with its dips and duck walks and old-way movements, to celebrate the music of singers and peformers that they love with their own unique flair. O Bar has Manza leading the charge in this area, and the latest season of DRPH are shining a light on artists like Merckz as well.

On the whole, Inspiration means you're not limited to how the original artist performed the song. The drag artist takes greater liberties and really exercises creative freedom. And I feel more drag performances are in this style in recent years. It's why the term "female impersonator" has fallen out of favor, as drag is so much more than imitation.

Comedy

But where does comedy lie? I didn't want to give it an absolute part of this scale, nor did I want to assign it to a scale of its own (although this is possible). And the reason I feel this way is that comedy tends to crop up just about anywhere in this basic scale of drag. I've seen great impersonations that remain respectful but also get the audience laughing with a notable gesture. I also made mention of how there's also room to subvert expectations when a impersonation performance is repeated enough. I like to joke about the Eva Papaya Multiverse as she has on more than one occasion surprised audiences by walking out when you expect someone else to perform that number more often than not. 

Naturally a lot of numbers in the Inspiration range lean into comedy. Think about the many drag perfomance that incorporate puns into the numbers like how the O Divas bring out Angels' burgers and Angel's Pizzas when they perform Angels Brought Me Here or Precious performing Regine's cover of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" involves sachets and packets of TANG. Oh, and don't get me started on the performances of "Thunder" that involve Mama LetLet coming out during the chorus. It's hard to explain in words. Filipinos love a good pun, and so many drag artists demonstrate their creativity in this manner.

Interpretation

I almost tagged the "end" of my scale as Interpretation instead of Inspiration. But that felt wrong since all of drag is about inpreting their original piece in their own way. Even when it comes to impersonation, there's still a lot of the drag artist in the peformance. Even when they're following the same choreography and dance steps, no two drag artists will perform a particular song in exactly the same way. 

And that's a key aspect of drag and why it's a performing art form and not just a seemingly shallow form of entertainment. The drag artist takes a song or performance and makes it their own. They decide how much impersonation they want to do and how much they want to take liberties and just enjoy themselves. Then they have to figure out their costumes, which wig to use, how they want to style themselves - the list goes on and on. How they interpret a number is seen in both how they look and what they do on stage. 

It's why drag is so magical.