Chi Chi and Chonga at September's Disco Miss Thing. Photos courtesy Just Out
Emerging from an occasionally painful adolescence Portland is finally enjoying the freedom of young adulthood (and college parties, whew!) and there’s no better example of this than our catty but loving drag scene. This year saw one the introduction of a truly well crafted drag competition called Miss Thing and this Friday brings its outrageous finale.
“I think drag has gotten somewhat of a bad name in Portland because there is so much sameness and traditional drag going on,” Co-creator Heklina Heklina has said. “Audiences and performers want to be challenged by ideas—another great thing about Miss Thing. There are no rules—no rules as to gender, what you need to look like or how you dress. All that matters is what you do onstage.”
Not that we’ve ever cared about a bad reputation, but we’re happy that now it’s a thematic, originally bad rep. And it’s all coming to a climax when the year’s best of the best take the stage to win 500 dollars and a trip to San Fran to perform with Trannyshack. And competition is fierce.
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