San Antonio drag artist and hairdresser Aaron Andrews remembers seeing late Tejano star Selena Quintanilla perform at the Alamodome when he was a kid. It was March 18, 1995, nearly two weeks before her death, and Selena was headlining a “Stay in School” jamboree with the San Antonio Spurs.
“She came out in her famous purple outfit,” Andrews, 43, told MySA during a recent interview. “I was starstruck because she was different. She was timeless.”
That day left a lasting impression on Andrews, who started performing as Selena in drag about 10 years ago.
“I liked her presence and her costumes and the way she engaged with her fans,” he said. “She could see through the spotlight. You could lock eyes with her, and she would perform for you.”
On March 29, Andrews will take the stage as Selena for the Selena & Jenni Rivera Drag Brunch at the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club. The show is for adults 18 and older.
Andrews’ career in drag spans 15 years. It started as a dare, but he took to the performance art naturally and never looked back. He’s portrayed a host of celebrities and fictional characters over the years, including Madonna, Cher, Jessica Rabbit, and the DC villains Poison Ivy and The Joker, plus “a lot of Latin artists” he considers personal heroes.
Andrews said he is also part of the “ballroom” scene, which is drag performance influenced by voguing, runway and ballroom aesthetics, and does as many Broadway-themed shows as possible.
“I do a lot of Bob Fosse stuff,” he said. “I have an eclectic and weird taste when it comes to my acts.”
Whoever Andrews performs as on any given night – whether it’s at San Antonio’s LGBTQ hot spot Pegasus or another venue – he said he always wants to ensure his audience experiences something unique. He doesn’t want to take the easy route and do something seen on a reality TV series like RuPaul’s Drag Race.
“That’s reductive and boring and repetitive,” Andrews said. “I’m in this business to be sought out. You can do the same thing as everybody else, but it cancels you out. You can’t do the same high-kick split as the next girl. You have to do something different!”
Andrews does give RuPaul’s Drag Race credit for at least one thing: creating a bigger platform for drag performers to shine.
“Drag has always been the best kept secret, and now it’s mainstream,” he said. “But you have to have the skin and the talent and all these things to be a successful queen.”
As for the political climate surrounding drag performances in Texas and beyond, Andrews said it’s not something he worries about. Senate Bill 12, which went into effect last week in Texas, prohibits drag performers from performing in front of children.
“We don’t invite children to our brunches,” Andrews said. “They just show up with their parents. It should be a law for them. We don’t get naked or do anything provocative. But it’s so easy to blame the drag queen even though we’re just doing our job.”
Andrews hopes people who have never been to a drag show understand that it’s just like any other form of entertainment.
“It’s like going to a Broadway play,” he said. “There’s no difference. Drag is theater. It’s like going to watch a movie. Sit down and enjoy the show and then go back to your daily life.”
The Selena & Jenni Rivera Drag Brunch takes place at the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club (618 NW Loop 410) on March 29, 2026, at 2 p.m.