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| Emi Grate, Poppy, DJ JClef, Untitled Queen // photo by Michael Block |
Day: Tuesday, January 30th
Show: Last Month Tonight
Location: The Rosemont
Queens Seen: Emi Grate (@emigrate_drag), Poppy (@thecolorpoppy), Untitled Queen (@untitledqueen), Sassy Frass (sassyfrassmeaner), Glace Chase (@glacechase)
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| Poppy // photo by Michael Block |
To round out my month, I visited The Rosemont in Brooklyn for the very apropos Last Month Tonight. Hosted and curated by Emi Grate, the evening is broken down into two parts. Well, three if you count each time we took a smoke as a new part. This is Brooklyn so smoking is part of the charm. Anyway, Emi invites a pair of queens to her live podcast to discuss the state of the world. With the State of the Union, wrapping up, Emi decided to forgo the politics and keep the evening’s discussion about drag. Joined by one of the most brilliant minds you could imagine, DJ J Clef, Emi and her panel of Poppy and Untitled Queen, discussed fashion in drag and their artistic evolutions. The second portion of the show was the performances. As Dorothy famously might have said, “Toto, we’re not in Hell’s Kitchen anymore.” While Emi, dressed as a drag king with a teal glitter goatee and brows, opened with a French opera number, she ironically discussed Brooklyn being an escape from Top 40, proceeding to serve One Direction and Ed Sheeran later on in the night. Untitled Queen looked ravishing in her square mod look, providing some more subdued numbers. Poppy, who’s quote of the night was “China has the best stuff ever,” proved to Brooklyn that she is a queen who can transcend boroughs. This also happened to be Poppy’s Brooklyn drag debut. The crowd was small for the interview portion of the night, but grew in size and rowdiness for the performances. Stopping by to do numbers as well were Sassy Frass, who may have had a bit of a stumble at the end of her number, and Glace Chase, who has become an instant favorite of mine.
Last Month Tonight certain has that Brooklyn vibe to it. That “too cool for school” aura. Even if you aren’t part of the Brooklyn drag scene, Emi was pretty welcoming to us newcomers. Emi has a great concept in theory, but the reality is, her audience showed up for the shows. Perhaps a slight restructuring, with the interview sandwiched between performances, will entice a crowd to actually show up and listen. You might just learn something if you do.
