Senior theater arts student Patrick Mayoral did not think he would become an executive producer of a drag concert series.
Mayoral calls acquiring the show a “happy accident,” and the show has now earned them the title of one of the Allies for Health + Wellbeing’s Bright Young People.
When Mayoral first entered college in the fall of 2020, the lack of stage productions and places to go dancing on the weekends made him “very eager” to get on stage.
“In the late summer of 2021, I started venturing into drag venues to try and throw myself on a public stage again and regain my sea legs as an entertainer,” Mayoral said. “Through that process, I found and slowly fell in love with drag, and I am happy to report I’m coming up on two years of studying the craft.”
And so, their drag personality, Miss Demeanor was born.
However, Miss Demeanor noticed a lack of queer spaces for college-aged students in Pittsburgh. Many queer spaces, like bars, are ages 21 and over, and in other 18+ spaces, LGBTQIA+ acceptance may not be as prevalent.
In June 2022, a performance slot opened at the Thunderbird Cafe and Music Hall.
“With two weeks and no budget, my friends and I posted all over the city,” Mayoral said. “We printed 400 flyers and posted them everywhere from Shadyside to Lawrenceville to Millvale. We were lucky to move about 200 tickets for that first show.”
Mayoral said they loved producing a show and knew they had to do it again.
“The show’s called ‘Be Gay [Do Crime]’ as a call to action for queer people to be unapologetically themselves,” Mayoral said. “The show itself comes at a time when threats to gay rights, culture and basic federal protections for queer people loom large over the community.”
While the title may sound edgy, Mayoral said it is not an invitation to create harm, cause misdemeanors or actual instruments of crime.
“It’s a manifesto for not just queer people, but all people, to be whoever they so choose and to fight for the right for all people to be whoever they choose to be,” Mayoral said. “Because the second we the people stop actively making that choice, it will become a crime.”
Like every college student, Mayoral said they can find it hard to balance being a student and a drag series producer, but he even performs at his shows.
“Drawing the line between being the director and ‘Demeanor’ can be very blurry at times,” Mayoral said. “Luckily, I have a dedicated team of associate producers who help manage the production workload, so I can focus on the overall vision of the show we’re creating.”
Mayoral said producing a show starts months in advance due to venue availability and coordinating community partners.
“It takes a team of dedicated peers and members from the queer community to go through the motions of creating the physical production,” Mayoral said. “That involves casting, writing the show’s overall concept, forming the creative team, and much more.”
Mayoral said their show is just getting started and has many plans for future shows.
“Making spaces for my friends to go dancing is the coolest thing I have ever done,” Mayoral said. “I’m thrilled that so many people also see the need for this, and I am proud of our work over the past year and a half to make the series accessible regardless of financial barriers.”
Be Gay [Do Crime] held its most recent show at the Mr. Smalls Theater this past Friday. The theme was house party and starred drag queens Belair Banks, Leshy, Savannah Ray, Snoozy Q, Miss Wonda and Pittsburgh’s Best Comedy Troupe 2022: JoeMyGosh & Jaxa Froot. Musical guests were Sunny Daze & the Weathermen.
