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Drag king host VERA! dressed as Mr. Spock (Photos by Maya Reyes)<\/p>\nUnder the planetarium dome on Friday evening, Chabot Space & Science Center hosted the third annual space-themed drag show \u201cScience is a Drag!,\u201d which featured performances from Bay Area drag kings and queens, interactive science experiments and pre-show access to the center\u2019s exhibits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Science is a Drag was hosted by VERA!, an Oakland-based drag king and co-host of the drag troupe Rebel Kings of Oakland. This year\u2019s event also included performances from Sally Lim\u00f3n, Helixir, Jota Mercury and Ryder Die.<\/p>\n
Drag king host VERA! dressed as Mr. Spock (Photos by Maya Reyes)<\/p>\n
Drag kings and queens in fantastical, feathery and futuristic outfits danced up and down the auditorium to \u201cGood Luck, Babe!\u201d by Chappell Roan and \u201cA Day in the Life of a Tree\u201d by The Beach Boys, while galaxies unfolded on the planetarium screen above them.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aFor those of us who are passionate and love science, it provides us a way to kind of combine not only the science but also the drag aspect. Like, drag brings joy, it brings excitement, it brings entertainment,\u201d said Marcelo Quijano, a science teacher who was among the 150 or so people in the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ryder Die opened the show wearing a white lab coat and performing to \u201cShe Blinded Me With Science\u201d by Thomas Dolby. She was formerly the lead public programs developer at the Chabot Space & Science Center, and founded the event three years ago as a way to create a space for \u201cqueer joy and self-expression\u201d at Chabot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Jota](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Chabot_Science_Drag7-1024x683.jpg\")
Jota Mercury performs at Science is a Drag!<\/p>\n
Jota Mercury has been a drag king for 10 years and, with VERA!, co-hosts Rebel Kings of Oakland, which performs every first, third, and fifth Wednesday at Oakland\u2019s\u00a0 White Horse Inn. This was his first year performing at Science is a Drag. The outfits he prepared for the night included a headpiece made of olive tree branches from his backyard, and an oversized pink, feathery cape.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can all acknowledge that things are kind of crazy and hard right now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can all still gather and get behind real science and learning, and still support queer rights and existence just by attending events like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nate Elwood, who grew up in the Bay Area, said events like this provide important representation to the queer community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of representation of queer people in the wider hard sciences,\u201d he said \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people in sociology and that kind of thing, but in stuff like physics, math, chemistry, there\u2019s a lot of cis male dominance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throughout the night, drag performances were interspersed with science lessons on the planetarium stage, allowing audience members to participate in experiments ranging from mixing chemicals and creating different colors, to showing how electricity travels. Experiments were led by Daniel Erenstein, a science instructor on the center\u2019s museum programs team. Erenstein was dressed in drag as Miss Sizzle Ph.D., a play on Ms. Valerie Frizzle from \u201cThe Magic School Bus,\u201d complete with an orange wig and long blue coat.<\/p>\n
![\"Participants](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Chabot_Science_Drag2-1024x683.jpg\")
Participants hold \u201cboo bubbles\u201d created with dry ice and warm water.<\/p>\n
Science is a Drag ended with a final routine from VERA!, who wore a Mr. Spock costume, held large red feather fans in each hand and performed to the song \u201cFinale\u201d by The Cher Show Ensemble. The show closed to applause and cheers from the audience, as the cast held hands and bowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t do drag myself, but to be able to watch someone express themselves freely through their drag and incorporate science into it just feels like seeing someone live their passion on a stage,\u201d Quijano said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mercury enjoyed seeing parents attend Science is a Drag with their kids. Such events, Mercury said, are an important way for \u201cfolks who are fresh to this kind of crazy adult world\u201d to enjoy both queer performance art and education.<\/p>\n
\u201cScience is always changing. There\u2019s always new discoveries. So we have something like that, and we combine our art with it,\u201d Mercury said. \u201cI just think it\u2019s really awesome and engaging, and it\u2019s just a new, fun way to learn. <\/p>\n