One of my favorite parts about living in Washington D.C. was participating in Stonewall sports — billiards, darts and flip cup.
I often felt ridiculous rushing out of the office to pre-scheduled recreational sports, but it was a great way to meet new people. D.C. is also unique because there are so many young professionals interested in networking.
The final Nellie’s Drag Brunch diva of the day is, of course, Chanel Devereaux!
Chanel is the longtime host and HBIC of Nellie’s Sports Bar drag brunch. She is a powerful performer, popular costume designer, viral TikTok star, and a much-loved icon of the D.C. drag community.
Chanel’s impact extends far beyond Nellie’s — her brunch is a platform that helps support many local LGBTQ artists who go on to inspire and support others. Chanel’s investment in her community has a positive rippling effect that cannot be measured in ticket sales or a day’s tips (although those are plentiful!) Chanel’s work is one of the reasons why D.C. remains a top city for drag performers in the U.S.
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch diva of the day is Celestia Cox!
Celestia is a Richmond-based drag queen who performs all over Virginia and frequently in Washington DC. I always enjoy seeing Celestia perform because she brings big hair and show-stopper outfits when she makes the trek up to the District.
In addition to the bright outfits and feathers, Celestia adds interesting variety to Chanellie’s brunch with country numbers (probably because she feels like a woman! 🎶🎶)
You can keep up with Celestia’s bookings and charitable work on her website, Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch diva of the day is LaBella Mafia!
LaBella is one of the first performers that I met in Washington, DC and I have always looked forward to seeing her at different venues like Nellie’s. Her style is ever-evolving, and LaBella is never afraid to try a new music genre, costume style or dance routine.
LaBella has a fiercely loyal fan-base that won’t hesitate to take a 2-hour road-trip to Delaware to watch her perform. Labella Mafia also remains one most-booked queens in the city because she is well-respected by other performers and somehow avoids the drama that DC’s drag scene is known for.
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch performer is Deja Diamond Jemaceye!
From music selection to outfits, Deja knows exactly what she’s doing. Deja is gorgeous and has the unique ability to give the essence of a celebrity impersonation while retaining her own unique style. I particularly love her Whitney Houston and Mary J Blige numbers.
Keep up with Deja’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch performer is Savannah Rae Kelly!
Savannah is one of Nellie’s dancing divas — known for splits and drops. She’s a very technical performer and always thinking about how to improve each number. Savannah is also one of the most interesting performers to watch because she constantly experiments with different costume styles and music genres. This keeps her shows fresh and exciting for the audience.
You can keep up with Savannah’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Today’s featured Nellie’s Drag Brunch performer is Holly Whatt!
Holly is the pink princess of Chanellie’s brunch. She’s known for well-made costumes, blonde wavy wigs, and lots of bright colors. Holly also does a tumble-move that is straight out of Tomb-Raider. Somehow she never seems to lose a wig or rhinestone during her Lara Croft tumbles, which is some sort of witchery.
You can keep with Holly’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Indiana Bones is today’s featured performer in my ongoing photo gallery series of Nellies Drag Brunch stars. Indiana is one of the newest performers in D.C.’s drag scene and has already secured bookings that other queens wait years to get.
Indiana’s obvious edge over many performers is her tiny stature and natural beauty. This is how Indiana Bones can perform Ariana Grande numbers without looking ridiculous.
One thing that must drive the other drag queens crazy is that in addition to being petite and beautiful, Indiana Bones is also one of the nicest people you can meet. You have to love her!
You can keep up with Indiana’s bookings on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are photos from brunch!
Continuing my photo gallery series on the stars of Nellie’s Drag Brunch, today’s featured performer is Synchottia Diamond Blue.
The strong main cast of Chanellie’s Drag Brunch is why it remains one of D.C.’s most popular shows (and why there is little turnover). However, there are always rotating Washington D.C. performers on cast that I want to see more of. Synchottia Diamond Blue is one of those special performers.
I am always glad to see Synchottia at brunch because she delivers classic, put-together drag and always knows her angles for photos (and more importantly, the words to the songs). You can find Synchottia on Instagram and Facebook.
I hope to see more of Synchottia at Nellies and at other bookings around town.
Here are photos from brunch!
For today’s photo gallery of Nellie’s Drag Brunch superstars, the featured queen is Angelle Zhané!
There are many dancing divas at Chanellie’s brunch — some grind with audience members, others swing from the ceiling, but Angelle Zhané will hit the kicks and splits until her costume falls off — and no one cares because everyone’s too busy screaming!
Nellie’s is not a huge space, but Angelle can somehow do vertical slides and death drops in the narrowest of spaces — Marie Kondo stunts! Angelle Zhané also perfectly mixes the stunts crowd interactions, so she can collect her tips while keeping everyone entertained. Getting the mix right is truly an art.
Here are photos from brunch!
This week, I am posting photos of the amazing performers at Nellie’s Drag Brunch. Today’s featured performer is Alexa Shontelle, who is known for high-energy performances, taking her drag show onto the streets in front of the bar, and literally hanging from the ceiling during numbers.
A crowd favorite at Nellie’s Drag Brunch is Sapphire Ardwick Ardmore-Blue, a D.C. drag powerhouse known for her crowd-work, short wigs, high boots, and of course, that Khia number.
You can keep up with Sapphire’s bookings and “Motivation Monday” shenanigans on Instagram and Facebook.
Here are some photos from brunch!
Nellie’s weekend drag brunch was one of my go-to events before everything shut down for quarantine.
There are a lot of drag brunch options in Washington, D.C., but what keeps me coming back to Nellie’s is the consistently strong cast of performers with fresh songs and outfits every week. Out-of-town performers also often supplement the regular cast, giving me the opportunity to see new talent.
For the last two years, Nellie’s Sports Bar hosted the most diverse drag show in the D.C.-Baltimore area. “Snatched Wednesdays” celebrated its two year anniversary last week, which was also the last show.
Hosted by Baltimore’s Brooklyn Heights, this show featured a strong core cast that was augmented by talented queens from across the metro. The Snatched Wednesdays audience also reflected the diversity of the performers: you could find all ages, races, genders and orientations.
Classes started and I am already well-acquainted with the law library.
The LL.M. program is going to be challenging, but it’s also a luxury to focus on nothing but tax law for two semesters. My J.D. program felt like a hodgepodge of different topics at times, whereas my LL.M. classes are clearly interrelated and cover much deeper material. We’ll see how I feel in a few weeks.
Buildings along the National Mall in Washington D.C.
Washington D.C. is beautiful and dense. The lack of tall skyscrapers for landmarks makes it difficult to navigate at times. I’ll eventually figure out the grid system.
The streets are very diverse and busy without being crowded. There are tourists with cameras, people wearing suits, baseball jerseys, children running on the subway, and very aggressive panhandlers.
Many areas of town are busy late into the night, but there’s always the looming threat of getting mugged — so I guess it’s like any other large American city, just with more museums than most.