Bloomington took a journey to Middle Earth with two dazzling “Lordt of the Rings” drag performances Saturday, Dec. 7 at the John Waldron Arts Center. Drag kings and queens took to the stage in Lord of the Rings inspired garb for Oriana Perón’s World of Fantasy premier show at the Waldron. There was an all-ages performance at 2 p.m. and an adult-only version at 8 p.m. Both were co-hosted by drag queen Oriana Perón and drag king Verna Vendetta.
Verna Vendetta spoke to the crowd in a Smaug dragon onesie briefly before 8 p.m. to introduce the show and gave a brief summary of what the audience members should expect.
“This is gonna be drag but also intimate, but also a slumber party, and also Lord of the Rings,” they said.
The event was ticketed, and tips were generously accepted throughout the show by a “show kitten” dressed as a halfling, or beings that are half the height as men in the Lord of the Rings universe. All proceeds went to the performers and workers at the shows.
Oriana Perón, Bloomington native, has been performing as a Midwest drag queen for 12 years and described feeling tired of only performing in alcoholic spaces for late-night crowds.
“For a city as open and accepting as Bloomington is, we should have more drag venues,” she said. “I’m looking forward to expanding spaces for more people to perform and be seen on stage.”
The funding for this performance was partially provided by a grant from the City of Bloomington to support smaller shows by helping groups get into theaters across town. Drag shows in Bloomington are typically exclusive to bar-scenes, particularly The Back Door, a local queer nightclub.
The show took place in a small basement level room, with around 40 chairs circling a stage with a singular microphone against a black velvet curtain. To the side, merch for local artists and the drag performers was being sold.
Right after 8 p.m., co-host Oriana Perón asked the audience to wait for the performers to finish getting ready and played a Lord of the Rings parody video on a projector screen.
“If you don’t know anything about Lord of the Rings, this video won’t tell you anything accurate,” Oriana said, “but it will tell you things that are true.”
The lights dimmed and a YouTube video titled “The best of Teh Lurd of The Reings” played for 16 minutes for the almost 30-person audience. Eruptions of laughter and applause mixed with the video’s music and sound-effects.
Once the audience was fully immersed in the fantastical universe, the first performer, Willie Touchit from St Louis, pranced onto stage and danced to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” for the crowd, ripping off his green cape and white button-down.
More acts followed, with performers Verna Vendetta and Derek Von Zipper presenting as Legolas and Gimli. They gave a homoerotic flair to the dwarf and elf relationship, under the music of The Proclaimers. Juniper Perón, Oriana’s “drag daughter,” presented two characters, Arwen and Éowyn, in whimsical fashion under dreamy blue lights.
During intermission, Oriana Perón invited audience members with recent birthdays to the stage and encouraged everyone to sing happy birthday as loud and as off-key as possible.
The show concluded with Oriana Perón herself in Éowyn inspired drag, wielding a sword and sitting on audience members’ laps.
After the show, audience member and Lord of the Rings fan Logan Hunter was impressed by the diversity of the performances and appreciated a new genre of drag show in the Bloomington scene.
“Number one, this was hilarious,” Hunter said, “but really, I would recommend this to anyone, these thematic shows are really great and leave more room for comedy”
Oriana Perón has more thematic drag performances planned with the John Waldron Arts Center, including Regency and Anime themes coming this spring and summer. More information can be found on Oriana Perón’s website.
