Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 17, 2004)
* 1 - decamber 17 2004 » Dragging out the family tTberga^y Cabaret subverts gender—and sibling rivalry by A aron S c o tt A string-bean-thin drag queen in w orkout gear jazzercizes with a sim ply m arked fitness bible: A tkins. Suddenly, a drag king dressed as a giant slice o f white bread bounds on stage an d desperately sings “1 W ant You to W ant M e ." N o t to be forsaken, another drag king dressed as a T-bone steak appears, an d a battle for the worship o f the weight w atcher ensues until the inevitable happens: Like all A tkins defectors, the drag queen ends up on her knees, going down on the iibersexy piece o f W onder B read. While food has no doubt played a signifi cant role in filling out many a drag queen’s gown, few drag acts have involved food, let alone intelligently and humorously explored its fetishization. But then, Ubergay Cabaret, the culinary experts behind this piece, is not your average drag troupe. While its five core members have begun to make a ruckus in the Portland queer scene during the past two years, sibling founders Claire and Devan McGrath-Riecke, who play twins Max Voltage and Pollyanne Marie on stage, have been collaborating together for life, literally. Ever since Claire first applied lipstick to Devan’s 18-month-old lips. “We dressed up every holiday and put on skits,” explains Claire, 23. “Devan always played the girl because he was shorter. It seemed natural.” Gender-swapping would not strike most parents as natural, but Sue McGrath says she and Bob Riecke “nurtured imagination in their children” and accepted their drag as “the the atrics of childhcxxl.” Still, Bob preferred that Devan didn’t wear dresses in front of guests at their Lake Oswego home. Like many kids, Devan and Claire took to performing at an early age. From a room filled with costumes and props, their self-directed productions would often go until an ending was parentally decreed. (Each skit had to have “a beginning, a middle and an en d ," the two quote their mother.) However, their perform ances differed from most kids in their extrava gance and costume choice, which ranged from odd, genderless disasters to straightforward, inncxent drag. “Their choices were always very fluid,” Sue recalls, although she admits most of Claire’s princess dresses ended up showcasing Devan, who admired them more. Regular characters included Mr. and Mrs. Zorro (Claire in black, Even as children, Claire (left) and Cevan were deconstructing the gender binary Devan in pink), Thundergirl and Superkitty. “We were always subverting gender,” admits Devan, 21, facetiously adding, “I guess we were ahead of our time in performance art vision.” A projected home video records two grade schcxilers perform ing a choreographed dance to “G rn n a M ake You Sw eat ( Everybody D ance N ow ) . ” The boy w ears a black athletic jacket, while the girl is in a turquoise sports bra. Pollyanne M arie an d Max Voltage jum p on stage, having sw apped costum es so that Pollyanne is in the bra and M ax is in the jacket, and they break into the sam e dance. Although there is nothing pnxligious in the choreography or scandalous in the concept, the piece is revolutionary fo r the audience, which is given an inspiring and wholesome understanding o f ‘‘We Are Fam ily" by a sibling drag duo playing each other as they dance along to a 15 -year-old home video shot by their mother. Claire and Devan McGrath-Riecke will welcome 2005 as Hansel and Gretel troupe has stripped gender like a Silverado dancer to create politically provocative and chal lenging pieces. “Through the use of drag, we The drag-tinged theatrical exploits of the want to deconstruct the gender binary and the pair “grew more sophisticated,” Sue remembers, politics of sex,” they state, and few of their pieces “until they stopped with junior high, when the escape some commentary on the gender and sex two drifted apart.” Devan came out to support ual inequalities slithering through our scx:iety. ive although admittedly surprised parents the Often they go one step further and explicit summer before eighth grade. Their experience ly address the conservative policies of President with Devan prepared them to recognize queer Bush and supporters of so-called “family val signifies so that when Claire told them she ues.” One of their most complicated perfonn- had a girlfriend during her senior year, Bob ances, set to Billy Idol's “White Wedding,” turned to Sue and simply said, “Well, honey, it involved a drag king Dubya’s attempt to break lcx>ks like we’re two for two.'’ up a gay couple and enough subsequent gender While studying gender theory at Santa changes to bring the whole house of gender to Clara University, a crumbling min. Claire states, “I “But drag and politics is only a became more starting point,” Claire qualifies. intellectual about “We consider ourselves a theater my identity and troupe that does drag.” found the lan “Entertainment is our first guage and fluidity goal,” Devan continues her to deconstruct thought (which they are prone to and play with do). And each show is better for gender.” But the the infusion of intelligence, wit, Claire gives Devan his first taste of drag drag started theatricality and raw sex appeal through activism. that makes not only for good drag, “I organized the first drag show to address queer but good performance. invisibility,” she recalls. “It was huge; I got Sue says the straight friends she brings to addicted.” shows agree that Ubergay Cabaret has hit a Although the Jesuit administration was not pleasure nerve anyone can access, whether as pleased, Claire and Devan agree that her stranger, family or fam ily. The parents have success was a reconfirmation of their childhcxxl seen every performance since their children gender-play. She went on to win San Francis built the Uberheroes set in the garage. co’s Drag King 8 title. Sue even attended a show in drag as a char acter named Red Hots. She hopes one day her D ressing and m ovm g like he belongs kids will script her alter ego into a number. in a boy band, M ax Voltage unzips his fly an d, puzzled by the empty space U bergay C abaret presents Jack’s Off the between the zippered teeth, starts into Beanstalk: A Mish-Mash Fairy Bash D ec. 31 at the soliloquy o f one-hit-wonder K ing M issile's ‘‘D etachable P erus." A s he searches under the table, a heavier-set, am biguously gendered perform er w ear ing black spandex, a flesh-colored skull cap and two m elon-sized testicles at w aist level tiptoes on stage, hands curled at chest level like a chipmunk. The two play a slapsack gam e o f cat-and-m ouse until M ax locates his penis, gnnds it into his hips and priKeeds to literally interpret the song's clim ax while the perus sprays Silly String on the audience. N octu rn al, 1800 E . Burnside S t. The evening starts with a dance party from 8 p.m. to midnight featuring D J Yeah Yeah, radical drag troupe Sissyboy and young drag perform ers Jm kx M onsixm D uB ois and Kinetic. The pop-drag-opera begins at 12:15 a . m ., when H ansel and G retel (C laire and D evon) throu queer twists on childhtxd favorites, including an S/M Sn ou White and a multimedia Three Little Pigs. Tickets are $ 8 in advance from Jackpot Records and $ 1 0 at the dixrr. JHI Since Ubergay^ first Portland show, Uberheroes, at Klub Z, the Voltage. She's not buying. Please contact him at aaronxscott@ yahix) .'com. A aron S cxttt is a free-lance journ alist. H e is trym g to am vin ce his sister— a student at San ta C la ra U niversity— to carry on the legacy o f Max 37
