One of the best things about Dallas is that we have drag 7-days a week. On Mondays, the place to be is Marty’s LIVE in the Oak Lawn neighborhood.
Marty’s has its weekly “Drag on Tap” show starting around 10pm every Monday night featuring some of the most talented queens in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. On a recent Monday, we were able to catch these shots of La Juana Velez on the stage. La Juana Velez is the vintage glamazon of the D-FW and always has very lux looks.
One of the hardest-working drag queens in Dallas recently hosted an epic quinceañera-style birthday bash at the Round-up Saloon and Dancehall in Oak Lawn. Mayra D’Lorenzo’s birthday party was filled with friends, family, and huge cast of performers.
It was an amazing Texas-style spectacle and a sign of just how much support this popular drag show host has in the LGBT community.
Houston entertainer Chevelle Brooks, Raquel Blake, and Mayra D’Lorenzo at the Round-up Saloon.
The event also demonstrated how this iconic Dallas venue has grown to embrace both drag and its increasingly-diverse clientele.
Although we’ve never been to a real quinceañera, this seemed pretty close to the real thing — just slightly more fabulous and with men in heels. Hopefully everyone gets at least one birthday like this.
Here are photos from the event!
We recently made it to Fort Worth for the monthly drag brunch at The Bearded Lady.
This drag brunch is always on a Monday, which makes it perfect for those who work on the weekends (or just have extra time off). The venue boasts a gorgeous patio and some pretty decadent food.
Chicken Biscuit at The Bearded Lady in Forth Worth.
The cast featured queens from all over the metro, including:
On Saturday April 10, 2021 the Dallas LGBTQ community hosted a massive fundraiser for a local family coping with tragedy.
The “Love for Lemmon” fundraiser was organized to benefit the longtime owners of Lemmon Beauty & Wigs. On March 26th, Cece Davenport, the daughter of the wig store owners, was critically injured in a car accident in Florida.
Dallas drag queen Raquel Blake organized the fundraising event to help the family with Cece’s medical expenses.
Dallas Drag queen Raquel Blake hosting the Love for Lemmons fundraiser.
Lemmon Beauty & Wigs, which is in the heart of Dallas’ gayborhood, is a popular local business frequented by everyone from professional drag queens and cabaret performers, to those buying their first wig for Halloween.
Although Raquel Blake now headlines shows at the Round-up Saloon and JR’s Bar & Grill, her first job in Dallas was working at Lemmon Beauty & Wigs, where she became close friends with Cece and the Davenport family. The wig store is a fixture of Dallas’ drag community, and maintains a wall display with photos of its drag queen customers.
San Antonio drag queen Miss Kendoll is in Dallas this week and letting the girls have it!
This pint sized performer is “the hair-whipping queen” of Texas and doesn’t disappoint. We’ve caught Miss Kendoll at several shows already and learned that one of the best things about a Kendoll performance is watching the off-duty girls glare from the side of the stage. (She’s probably used to this though.)
Here are some photos of Miss Kendoll performing Saturday night at Havana Lounge. Showtime is every Saturday around 10:30pm, and there’s no cover. Be sure to get the early so you don’t get stuck in line — and bring a mask!
Nayda Montana is one of the most colorful performers in town — imagine if a Lisa Frank trapper keeper was a drag queen.
These photos are from the Round-up Saloon’s Sunday drag show, which usually starts at 7:30pm. Definitely a good way to end the weekend.
I recently got to photograph Serene Storm at the Dallas Virgin Hotel drag brunch.
Serene is Dallas’ fashion queen — you can typically find her in very lux costumes and expensive-looking heels. She’s also one of the few queens to put her name in her music mixes. (Gotta respect the hustle).
The bar of the Virgin Hotel’s Commons Club has gold piping that made an amazing backdrop. The amazing lighting doesn’t hurt either.
Here are photos from brunch!
One of my favorite things about the Dallas Virgin Hotel’s bimonthly drag brunches is the opportunity to see Queen Duvet’s performances.
Each of Queen Duvet’s numbers is very high concept and usually has an amazing horror/comedy element.
During this recent performance, Queen Duvet dragged a dummy bag throughout the restaurant. Everyone found it hilarious. Well, everyone at brunch found it hilarious. The poor hotel guest who found the prop after it accidentally got trapped on an elevator was less amused.
Apparently they called the cops.
I believe the buzz (and police reports) that Queen Duvet is generating will get her booked at more venues around town, and I’m excited to see her more often.
Here are photos from the show!
Last Friday we managed to get great seats for Marissa Kage’s drag show at Havana Lounge. It was a great show with some of the most booked-and-blessed drag queens on Cedar Springs.
You can catch Marissa show every Friday night at Havana’s with a showtime around 11pm.
The cast for this show was:
One of my favorite things about Havana’s is that it has managed to keep a nightclub-like atmosphere while operating as a socially-distant restaurant. However, because of the table-service and strict capacity requirement, it is very important to get there early if you don’t want to be stuck outside in line.
Most people arrive about 20 minutes before showtime, so 10:30pm is the safest bet. Arriving early also gives you time to chow-down on their amazing menu before you have an audience.
Here are photos from the show!
We recently wrapped up Christmas with one final drag brunch at Mr. Misster in Oak Lawn. The cast featured some of Dallas’ most popular performers and the audience definitely got into it.
For this brunch, I shot photos almost exclusively with my portrait lens, which gave me some very interesting photos that I am excited to share with everyone!
The cast for this final Christmas show was:
As always, the brunch starts at 2pm on Saturdays. Tickets are available at the Mr. Misster website.
Here are photos from brunch!