Cultivating Community: Springfield's Drag Scene
The first time I ever saw the Emmy award-winning show, “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” I knew I wanted to be a part of the culture. The glamour, humor, performing, and extravagance was so enticing I couldn’t resist the overwhelming need to be a drag queen. When season twelve of the show was airing, I saw a queen by the name of Crystal Methyd on the show, and she just so happened to be from Springfield, MO. I was planning on going to Missouri State University in Springfield the same year to pursue a higher education, so I knew that was my queue to get in the drag scene as soon as I could.
Under the stage name ‘Just Jessica,’ I won the drag pageant on campus, “Good Queen Fun,” before being invited to perform at the local club, Martha’s Vineyard. Since then, I’ve met many Springfield drag performers who have been so kind and astounding to work with, and I hope to highlight some of them in this article.
The first drag queen I ever met in person goes by the name Queen Lasagna. The first weekend of college I went to Martha’s Vineyard and watched her perform. I routinely saw her as I was becoming a bit of a regular at the club, and when I was at “Good Queen Fun,” Lasagna was the host of the show. While we were backstage, Lasagna was the person who pushed me to go to the club that night and push my name to the show director. Lasagna has been doing drag for three and a half years. She started out doing her makeup in her dorm room at Missouri State. Jokingly, Lasagna said, “I am the old Lady now!” She spoke to me about how excited she is to be watching this new wave of local entertainers grow and prosper.
“I started watching Drag Race and that introduced me to drag, and now that I’m doing drag I am so inspired by strong anime women,” Lasagna said. “Something about the fashion, the body, and the attitudes of them has made me want to be a busty anime woman.”
After our interview, I realized Lasagna is always unapologetically herself which is something I believe we should all take notes on.
While I was at “Good Queen Fun,” I was also fortunate enough to meet Jolene, who was the first runner up at the pageant (yes, I love to poke fun at her for beating her in the pageant). Jolene is one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, and I’m sure many others agree. Jolene has been doing drag for about three years now, getting her start in Springfield and also working in Kansas City.
“I love just getting on stage and being an idiot,” Jolene said when I asked her about her favorite part of being a drag performer. “I love being stupid.”
Jolene feels as though Springfield’s drag community is nicer than previous drag scenes she’s been a part of because many of the performers are also college students or started out when they were students.
“We all feel the same way and make an effort to make sure everyone feels connected,” Jolene said.
I had the pleasure of meeting Khadijah Mornett-Carrington while working on Halloween weekend. Khadijah has been doing drag for around a year and a half and started performing at Martha’s Vineyard on a Thursday. Our conversation quickly shifted to a chat about her drag families. Drag families are typically when a group of entertainers come together and support each other as a chosen family, whether it’s borrowing clothes, wigs, or just showing up for support.
“I personally love being in drag families,” Khadijah said.“The security and validation that my family has given me is amazing. I never felt like I fully belonged in any other aspect of my life until I started doing drag and realized there were a ton of people around me just like me.”
This was a perfect description of the drag scene in Springfield. We all are one big family. Part of the reason we have such a family-like bond is because of people like Khadijah who make sure everyone feels welcomed and loved.
My first booking at Martha’s Vineyard was from a wonderful performer that goes by Mia Gunn Mornett. Mia’s punk-goth aesthetic is juxtaposed with her bubbly and loving personality. There’s genuine love for every performer that she lets go on the stage on Tuesday nights. Mia started doing drag on December 7, 2012—over nine years ago. With Mia’s drag history, she’s taken a lot of inspiration from Dr. Frank N Furter from “Rocky Horror Picture,” Divine from John Waters’ “Pink Flamingos,” and Marilyn Manson.
When asked what her favorite aspect of drag was, Mia said, “I love that it’s an escape of sorts; it’s a persona. Having a bad day? Get into that character and let the bad stuff go. It’s like I’m my own rockstar.”
The sense of belonging within the drag scene is echoed through Mia’s experiences as well. She said the scene houses a “diverse and family-like group of performers.”
Bella Donna is one of the prettiest performers in Springfield, in my opinion. The first experience I had with her was on Halloween weekend. We were in the dressing room, and she didn’t skip a beat to come talk to me. She asked for my name, how I was, how long I had been doing drag.. Bella’s energy captivates any audience she steps foot in front of regardless of the fact she’s been doing drag for a measly three months.
“I love how energetic it is,” Bella said. “Whether it’s a Wednesday night or Saturday night, the people that come out to these shows are ready to see a show, and you’ll definitely get lots of feedback.”
As you can see, the local drag scene is home to some amazing artists, and there are multiple ways to support our local performers. I asked Bella how others could support local entertainers, and she suggested that one way to make performers feel supported is to talk to them after the show.
“If you ever want to come to talk to one of the drag queens, just do it,” Bella said. “All of us love the compliments and casual conversation we have with fans.”
Another simple way to support local drag performers is to spread their name.
“Always, always, always, support your local performers,” Bella said. “Simply sharing their Instagram post on your story is so easy and fast, but it still means the world. Post videos of us when we perform, follow these venues, and tip these performers!
Mannastetic is another queen who has been nothing but kind. She’s quick to come out and support all of the queens, no matter the day or occasion. She never fails to greet every performer and will always have a nice conversation with you. Manna has described her drag journey so far as, “seven long, very colorful months,” and shares that she started drag when a handful of her friends put her in makeup. The rest is history. “I have always enjoyed entertaining people.” Manna said. “I love making people laugh, smile, and feel good! I started to fall in love with drag from an early age but wasn’t very vocal about it because I come from the South and it wasn’t as mainstream as it is now.
At the end of the day, drag is all about entertainment and making people feel what you feel when you’re on stage. When the conversation shifted to the local scene, Manna had a lot of good things to share.
“I think the best part of the local drag scene is the variety of talent,” Manna said.“There are girls who have amazing voices. There are girls who can dance at professional levels. There are girls who can make wigs and outfits out of the most unconventional materials. It’s really crazy that Springfield drag is slept on because it has a set of some of the most amazing queens I’ve seen.”
Nikotine is a self proclaimed “drag clown.” Nikotine and I met at the 2021 Halloween pre-show at Martha’s Vineyard. She is yet another extremely kind person completely contrasted by her style. Two years into drag now, her style has formed into a punk-grunge aesthetic. Nikotine’s bold style does not mean she did not experience nerves in the beginning. After seeing a local drag performer and newly announced “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestant named Daya Betty perform a live show, Nikotine knew she wanted to join the scene.
“I was really scared going into it because I was afraid I wouldn’t be accepted by the community, but when I talked to Daya, she was nothing but supportive and heavily encouraged me to try it out,” Nikotine said. “If it wasn’t for her I probably wouldn’t have even given it a shot.”
This is how most starters feel, I was also terrified to start doing drag. However, once you get into your groove, it’s stellar. I know I’ve talked a lot about Martha’s Vineyard, but Nikotine shared where else Springfield residents can see drag performances. Her list includes The Outland Complex and Cellar +Plate which mostly does drag brunch numbers. It’s great to go out and support more than one bar and share the love with local queer spaces!