They wear sparkling leotards, sequined dresses, have extravagantly styled hair and wear six-inch heels – they’re the epitome of showgirls, but they bear a different name – drag queens.

Drag queens have been popularized by the rise in support of the LGBT community and the continued success of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a VH1 competition show that searches for the best drag queens in the country.

Point Park’s Campus Activities Board (CAB) brought some local queens to campus for their annual drag show this past Wednesday, featuring some alumni and a current student. Drag is all about entertainment, and these queens entertained.

“It’s my fourth year coming, I’m a senior this year, and honestly [the show] never disappoints,” Juliana Ross, a senior sports, arts and entertainment managment major, said. “It’s a different theme every year. And every single time it amazes me that they can dance like this.”

The host for the evening was former Point Park student, Bambi Deerest, a drag queen known for her work across the Pittsburgh scene, including hosting Open Stage every Wednesday at the Blue Moon Bar in Lawrenceville, where drag queens from all over can participate.

“I hate the word moist,” Bambi declared to the room of excited students. “That, and COPA. Hey, I went here, I can say that.”

The line-up included local queens such as Phoenix Fatale, Alora Chateaux, Dixie Surewood, Tootsie Snyder and Niona Skyler with a guest appearance from Point Park’s own Alexa Chapman Killer. 

The pre-show line trailed out of the Lawrence Hall ballroom, past the elevators and began looping, garnering attention from students of all majors and years. One student, Kayla McDonald, was very excited at the sight of drag queens and was found taking selfies with them after the show.

“It was absolutely incredible,” McDonald, a freshman criminal justice major, said. “I have no words other than I’m shook. This is my first time.”

McDonald was drawn to the show after meeting Bambi in an elevator earlier and immediately came down to see what the show was all about.

“This needs to come back every year,” McDonald said. “I met some of them on my way up, but I did not expect all of this.”

The show featured queens of many backgrounds and the song selection came from every side of the spectrum from “Aura” by Lady Gaga to “Never Enough” from the movie “The Greatest Showman,” the queens showed all of their talent and the crowd’s reactions reflected that.

“It was so fun and really interesting,” Donnie Burney, a freshman business management major, said. “The death drops and jumps off chairs definitely stuck out [to me]. The host was amazing. I didn’t expect it to be this good, honestly, but it was.”

Drag queens use a combination of pop culture and high-energy performances to keep audiences coming back for more.

“I’m gonna need you all to react to what I say,” Bambi said to the audience. “How about Donald Trump? Booooooo. That’s right, this is a liberal arts college, he hates all of you.”

It’s an event that continues to draw a crowd, and many of the students in attendance hope that it keeps coming back.

“There is definitely excitement whenever we announce this event, and it was very evident with over 150 people attending,” Matt Spadaccia, vice president of programming for CAB, said. “All the Queens love working with us. It is really exciting to see our committees work really hard on an event, and have it turn out to be a huge success.”