Hailey Stewart | Rawr
About 10 minutes outside of Moscow sits the BellTower in Pullman where Tabikat Productions hosts their monthly drag shows. From the street, the BellTower may look like a small multi-purpose building, however, once a month, drag queens and kings put on a big, memorable night of performances.
On Jan. 30, Tabikat Productions celebrated its 21st year of creating outrageously fabulous and energetic drag shows with local drag queens and kings.
Owned by Tabitha Simmons and Kathy Sprague, TabiKat Productions celebrated the birthday of Kathy right along with the 21st birthday of the drag show itself. Simmons, Sprague and each of the performers made their January drag production an unforgettable night all around.
The doors to the BellTower opened at 9 p.m. and the dance floor was packed with TabiKat Production lovers from beginning of the night till the end. A dance-club atmosphere is what the environment of the anniversary show felt like. The disk jockey played an assortment of great music that included genres such as pop, EDM and rap. With a collection of songs from the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s there was a track for everyone who attended.
Before the actual show of the night began, attendees enjoyed an hour or two of dancing and mingling with those who are long-time attendees of the production and so-called “virgins” or first-timers to the drag show.
Perhaps the best part of the TabiKat Production atmosphere was that it felt safe. Declared a judgment free zone, the production provided a night of fun and entertainment for all gender identities. Although the crowd gets a little large for the space, the owners, staff and performers of the show made sure that everyone felt secure in the environment.
The host for the night, Aquasha DeLusty, brought both the comedic and entertainment factor to the drag show production. She emerged in a bright, tight dress, big hair and stilettos, which brought the night to a fabulous start. As well as hosting the event, she also performed three times throughout the night in between announcing other performers and amusing the crowd with hilarious stories of past productions.
With 15 performances in the entire show, there were almost two hours of fantastic drag performances. The first half of the drag show consisted of eight performances from both drag queens and kings, and each performance became more outrageous and energetic as the show progressed.
In between the performances both the host and the owners would exchange banter and talked with the audience making for an interactive experience no matter where you were sitting.
After the first part of the show, the dance floor reopened for another half hour of great tunes and socializing.
The second half of the show brought out even more creative performances. A sultry, magical music number, a country inspired routine and a hilarious pop selection made for the perfect ending to the drag portion of the show.
With a fabulous set of performances, a fun environment and wonderful drag queens and kings, there is no better place to be on a Saturday night than a TabiKat drag show.