UWM Drag Show Auditions Kick Off

The 2014 UWM Drag Show is beginning to pick up steam – with the auditions that took place on the night of Thursday, Dec. 11 now over, people are beginning to get excited for the main event, which will be held at a soon-to-be-decided off-campus location on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015.

Some of the queens who auditioned included Dita Von, Morgan Monroe, Toyota Corona, Kiki Kardashian, and Melee McQueen. Professional queens were also allowed to audition, such as Windy Breeze and Kalia Devereaux.

Five Judges, including Duane (Dee Jay) Johnson, assistant director for the UW-Milwaukee Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Resource Center, and Caity Hummel, 22-year-old social work graduate student, scored the queens based off of qualities such as uniqueness, charisma, and interaction with the audience and judges.

“I think the auditions were a great preview for the show,” said Hummel. “I was pretty surprised by the professional queens’ performances. I’m excited to see them in the show.”

Hummel, who has never been a judge before, says she had an absolute ball with the auditions.

One of the spectators, Resident Assistant Josh Greenwald, a 20-year-old junior studying communications, thought that the auditions were highly entertaining and eye-opening.  “It was great, and I’m excited to see the show because it’s a great time, and the tips go towards a good cause, Project Q Youth.”

Project Q Youth is a non-profit Milwaukee organization whose goal is to help homeless LGBT youth get off the streets.

“My favorite queen who auditioned was Toyota Corona. She was a hot mama!” said Greenwald. “The UWM Drag Show is great fun, but it also brings acceptance and education to campus. It shows that UWM is an inclusive university.”