There was a pageant of sorts at the Round-Up Saloon last night.
I have attended many gay bar employee drag shows, but this was by far the most entertaining. The event was hosted by Anesta Roches and one of our favorite bartender as “Peaches.”
There were inventive costumes, high-glamour, a bearded queen, and a lot of surprisingly good live singing by the employees who normally host the Round-Up’s karaoke nights.
All of the contestants at the 2016 Round-up Saloon employee drag pageant.
We go to a lot of drag pageants, but few are this good.
As a charity pageant, the expectations were very low – most employee pageants are half-assed comedy events featuring a lot of burly guys in Goodwill dresses. That is why we were pleasantly surprised by the effort that everyone put into their looks and acts.
I think it helped that several of the participants appeared to have some type of professional training that they wanted to showcase (such as singing and dancing.) A few of the performances were even better that what we typically see at Station 4’s Rose Room, which is the premiere drag venue in North Texas.
Gloria Devine at the 2016 Turnabout Pageant.
The best part of Round-Up pageant was that it was fun.
Most “real” drag pageants are tense events where you can sense how nervous and competitive the contestants are.
The Turnabout pageant had a more relaxed atmosphere because the goal of the event is solely to raise funds for the Round-Up Employee Benevolent Association. The audience was also comprised of bar regulars who wanted to support their favorite bartenders, which created a dramatically different vibe than the intense people who attend typical drag pageants.
There were even a couple of drag queens from neighboring bars, which shows a level of community solidarity that I didn’t often see back in Minneapolis.
Contestants singing live at the Roundup “Does your mother know?” pageant.
Donations and fallen breast pads at the Round-Up pageant.
A few parts of the event were confusing for us newcomers
Specifically, several of us did not know whether the pageant was called the “Round-Up Turnabout,” “Does Your Mother Know?” or something else. The hosts, website, and pageant flyers also did not do a great job of explaining what exactly the Round-Up Employee Benevolent Association actually does. It’s apparently a “shit happens” fund for Round-Up staff – which is great – but it would have been nice to hear a few examples of how the fund has helped employees in the past.
Perhaps the examples were not necessary however, because everyone gave generously anyway.
The minor confusion aside – it was a fun event, and we’ll be back next year!
Crowning the winner of the Round-up Saloon’s employee drag pageant.
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