{"id":356538,"date":"2026-09-25T09:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-25T09:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/356538\/"},"modified":"2026-09-25T09:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T09:12:09","slug":"student-activities-and-swag-bring-curbside-queens-to-the-odeon-for-drag-and-donuts-the-bowdoin-orient","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/356538\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Activities and SWAG bring Curbside Queens to the Odeon for Drag and Donuts \u2013 The Bowdoin Orient"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\/Andrew Shi<\/a>DONUT FEAR, THE QUEENS ARE HERE: Chartreuse Money of the Curbside Queens strikes a pose during last Friday\u2019s Drag and Donuts event in the Odeon.<\/p>\n

Last Friday night, students crowded in the Odeon for Drag and Donuts, hosted by the Office of Student Activities in collaboration with the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center (SWAG). The show featured drag queens Arabella LaDess\u00e9, Bunny Wonderland and Chartreuse Money of the Curbside Queens, as well as a food truck run by Morning Moose Coffee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Attendees formed a line from the Smith Union entrance to the end of the Dudley Coe Quad, ready to collect their donuts as they waited for the show to begin. Settling into the amphitheater rows, audience members donned glow-stick accessories and waved light wands provided by Student Activities.<\/p>\n

Each queen performed three numbers in alternating order. Chartreuse Money started the show strong with her signature barrel roll while \u201cButtons\u201d by The Pussycat Dolls played in the background. Arabella LaDess\u00e9 vogued to \u201cCrazy in Love\u201d by Beyonc\u00e9, with a break dance interlude to \u201cIt\u2019s Tricky\u201d by Run-D.M.C. eliciting enthusiastic applause. Bunny Wonderland lip-synced to Josie Geller\u2019s self-revelatory monologue from the 1999 romantic comedy \u201cNever Been Kissed\u201d before breaking into song.<\/p>\n

The performances were interspersed with chatty intermissions where the queens shared personal anecdotes and reflections on drag. Knate Higgins, the performer behind Bunny Wonderland, contemplated his nearly two decades in drag, highlighting his undiminishing passion for the art form.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always said I\u2019ll stop doing drag when it stops being fun. And it\u2019s never stopped being fun,\u201d Higgins said.<\/p>\n

Higgins also emphasized the importance of drag in educational spaces, pushing back against rhetoric framing drag as indoctrination. Instead, he emphasized how his identity supports his role as a pre-kindergarten educator, a message that resonated with audience member Nick Colby \u201929 as a queer student planning to major in education.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important \u2026 how queer art can be expressed in educational spaces without it being seen as indoctrination,\u201d Colby said. \u201cI love the way education was brought into the performance in a playful, fun way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, Director of SWAG Natalie Turrin underlined how the event combined community building and cultural education to serve the center\u2019s mission of fostering a safe environment for women and LGBTQ+ people on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of our mission is about building community around queer culture and joy, and I think an event like this does that in a really fun, low-pressure way,\u201d Turrin wrote in an email to the Orient. \u201cAlongside drag\u2019s historical context and cultural significance that students learn about in the classroom, this kind of event gives any student a chance to experience drag firsthand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assistant Director of Student Activities Brandon Rogers-Reed emphasized that the event was many students\u2019 first encounter with drag.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you come from \u2026 a small town in the middle of nowhere, you might not have been to a drag show before, so it\u2019s cool to be able to provide different types of events,\u201d Rogers-Reed said.<\/p>\n

Although Drag and Donuts wasn\u2019t Colby\u2019s first encounter with drag, it was one of his first experiences seeing a drag show in person. Having first discovered drag during lockdown, Colby shared how transformative it was to participate in a show.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore this, my only experience going to drag shows in person was last year [at] Bowdoin through Drag Fest,\u201d Colby said. \u201cIt was nice to be in the presence of it rather than observing it through a screen.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Curbside Queens have been hired for past College events, this year was their first time performing in the Odeon, a location that experiences significant foot traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince it was outside, it was really easy for students [to join]. Even if they didn\u2019t know about the event, they heard it,\u201d Rogers-Reed said. \u201cEven one of our coworkers that lives nearby was like, \u2018Yeah, I could hear some of the stuff going on.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another new development was this year\u2019s collaboration with Topsham-based business Morning Moose Coffee, new to the food truck game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was cool to support a local business and create that relationship because we\u2019re always looking to diversify from who we usually work with,\u201d Rogers-Reed said.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the event, Turrin expressed her hopes that students left with a newfound appreciation for and curiosity toward drag.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrag is genuinely fun to watch, even if you\u2019ve never seen it before. I hope people left [the show] curious to see and learn more about it,\u201d Turrin said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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