More than a hundred students pooled their petty cash and trekked to the Maintenance Shop for the Drag Show last Thursday.

Hosted by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Ally Alliance, the sold out Drag Show was part of the events contributing to National Coming Out week, which starts today.

“The past two years, both shows have sold out,” says Jennifer Sanford, the former president and current cabinet member of the LGBTAA.

In the hallway of the Memorial Union, a full hour before the show started, people had started to arrive, lining up outside the door. By 8:30 p.m., the entire hall in front of the M-Shop was packed, and the stairs leading to the next floor were nearly impassable.

“We sold out – 190 tickets plus all of the performers and staff,” Sanford, a senior in political science, says.

Female and male impersonators – known as Queens and Kings – performed 25 different acts, all of them dance numbers of various genres. Most of the acts were performed by a single impersonator, though some acts involved two or three people.

From “Material Girl” to “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy,” all the songs were lip-synched and danced to with a range of audience involvement – from members simply walking up and tipping with dollars to some people even dancing to the side of the stage with the money.

Some performers even brought audience members on-stage and danced with them.

The acts were both sexy and fun, with outfits ranging from stylish ball gowns to outfits that looked like they were pulled from rap videos.

The LGBTAA holds two shows a year, one for National Coming Out Day in the fall and one for National Awareness week in the spring. People weren’t only scrambling to attend the show – many people were drawn to perform in it as well.

“It’s the energy that people bring to the show. I love being on stage. There’s a rush when you do this,” says Nikie Noland, who uses the stage name “XL” – a King who dressed similar to a pop star. “Once I got up on stage, I wanted to do it again and again. It felt awesome.”

“The crowd energy is second to none,” says Ross Wallace, a Des Moines resident known on the stage as “Selena Sakowitz.”

Selena’s outfits kept changing throughout the night, even if she appeared in the crowd and wasn’t performing. Her costumes for the acts ranged from a formal black and white dress to a leopard-print one-piece.

“I’m not a power dancer, I really just like to stand and model,” Wallace says. “This is the only crowd that gets me to even attempt to dance, beyond the basics. You can’t keep me away [from this drag show].”

Mook Bascomb has been the Master of Ceremonies for the past three years.

During the show she made people laugh, covered for small goofs made in scheduling or music selection and worked to include the variety backgrounds in the show. She says she enjoys the job because the crowd has so much energy.

“I just keep the crowd entertained. I don’t have much of a job – I just go out there, act the fool and have fun,” Bascomb says.

Throughout the show, Bascomb urged audience members to both tip the dancers and the bartenders of the M-Shop. Some of the performers are professionals and rely on the tips for their livelihood. Others simply perform in a lot of drag shows every year, or they only have time for once or twice a year.

Wallace performs in 10 to 15 shows a year. He also puts together a lot of other shows and pageants.

“It’s like the National Guard – one weekend every month, and two weeks out of every year,” Wallace says.