Editor’s note: This event has been canceled.
The Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University invites members of the university community to a drag brunch at Music Box Supper Club to celebrate Cleveland Pride and support the CWRU Pride LGBT Alumni Network.
Scheduled for Sunday, June 4, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the event will feature performances by Dr. Lady J (GRS ’17, musicology) and Veranda L’Ni.
CWRU student tickets cost $25 and must be purchased with a @case.edu email address; a CWRU student ID will be needed for entry. Student tickets include general-admission seating.
For others, general admission costs $75, and VIP tickets cost $150. Those with VIP tickets receive two drink tickets (21+), seating at the front of the house and a complimentary gift. For all others (21+), a cash bar will be available.
All ticket levels include admission to the event, brunch and seating to enjoy the performances from Dr. Lady J and Veranda L’Ni.
All ticket proceeds will benefit the CWRU Pride LGBT Ohio Leadership Award, which is given to an undergraduate or graduate student who is working to make impactful actions and advance the mission of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community at Case Western Reserve University, in the Cleveland community or nationally through scholarship, research or leadership activities.
About the performers
Dr. Lady J is a nonbinary trans woman, public speaker, activist, educator, curator and, above all else, a drag queen from the backwoods of East Tennessee who now calls Cleveland her home. She is the creator and host of the Untucking the Past podcast and has a PhD from Case Western Reserve University with a specialization in drag history. Her dissertation, “From the Love Ball to RuPaul: The Mainstreaming of Drag in the 1990s,” has now reached more than 5,000 downloads and was featured as a ProQuest Success Story. Her most recent essay, “Experimenting with Lady J: A Trans Take on Drag,” will be featured in the textbook Dance in US Popular Culture. Leading through activism and education, Lady J received the 2022 Trans Educator Award from Margie’s Hope and was voted Cleveland’s Best Activist of 2021 by Cleveland Scene readers. She has also been featured as a headliner at Austin International Drag Festival and the Hostess City Hoedown and was recently a selected artist for FRONT: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, collaborating on a costume and performance to accompany an installation by tufted textile artist Loraine Lynn.
Dubbed the “Giant Redwood of Drag,” Veranda L’Ni is Cleveland’s tallest drag entertainer and emcee, standing over 7 feet tall from hair to heels, making her quite the bedazzled addition to the Cleveland skyline.
Veranda is the creator of the drag pride flag, an international symbol of solidarity for the drag community, and has helped generate hundreds of thousands of dollars toward local LGBT nonprofit organizations over their career. Named one of Cleveland Magazine‘s Most Interesting People of 2021, Veranda is the administrator for the Cleveland chapter of the national Drag Story Hour program and was the director of drag for The Legend of Georgia McBride at Beck Center for the Arts. Music Box Supper Club is her “performance home” for drag bingo and drag brunch.