Vermont鈥檚 drag scene has been around for decades, but now a generation of drag queens and drag kings are breaking stereotypes and finding new ways to play with gender on stage. We're talking about how Vermont's drag scene is evolving with new kinds of drag performances.
Joining Vermont Edition to discuss their approach to drag and performing gender are:
- Taylor Small, performing as , one half of the who host drag shows and events and bring Drag Queen Story Hour to libraries across Vermont.
- Shani Stoddard, performing as , winner of the who brings a background of musical theater and dance to his drag performance.
- Mel Deflorio, performing as , the drag king winner of .
Also featured on the show is part of an interview with Miss Sophia, a cis-gendered female-identifying drag queen who experimented with gender during the popular monthly drag shows at the now-closed gay bar in Dummerston known as the Rainbow Cattle Co. The bar closed in 2005, but photographer Evie Lovett and folklorist Greg Sharrow with the captured interviews and photographs with the performers for a project called .
Those interviews are collected in , the first episode of a new monthly podcast by the Folklife Center.
Broadcast live on Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
