Balls to the Wall: Reann Ballslee Returns to Host Annual Drag Show

Students and members of the Mason community filled the Johnson Center for this year's Pride Week Drag Show. Last year's Ms. Mason, Reann Ballslee, emceed the event. (Ezekiel Watkins)
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UPDATED 3:30 p.m. 

The lights dimmed in the Johnson Center atrium. The stage lit up as Reann Ballslee walked up the steps and back into the spotlight.

Reann Sassie D'Loceanono Ballslee sparkled in a green, black and white dress, silver heels and her Ms. Mason 2009 sash and tiara. She captivated the cheering group of students, family members and friends who lined all three levels of the Johnson Center. She readied the crowd for a fierce and fabulous night of performances and fashion as she kicked off the 2010 Pride Week Drag Show.

Better known during the day as Ryan Allen, Ballslee returned to host Pride Week’s main event after graduating last year. She has been a crowd favorite since she first appeared in the drag show four years ago and has hosted the annual event ever since.

Ballslee gained international media attention after being crowned Mason’s Homecoming Queen last year. Friday night, she told the audience that she was updating her Wikipedia page to reflect that she is also George Mason University’s final Homecoming Queen, since the competition was redesigned this year to be more inclusive and featured only one winner crowned “Mason Majesty.”

Usually a festive event, Friday’s show began on a somber note as Ballslee took a moment to remember and honor her “drag daughter” Brianna Spice who passed away last fall.

“I’m only going to be serious once tonight,” Ballslee said as she dedicated the show to Spice, also known as Brian Picone, a Mason student who graduated last May.

“She’s with us in our hearts,” Ballslee said. “She was always the light of our drag show, and we dedicate all of our performances tonight to her.”

Picone’s mother and father sat in the front row at Friday’s show to show their support for Mason’s drag community and the show he performed in for two years.

As in years past, the 2010 show included a mix of student performances and professional performances from the female impersonators at Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, which Ballslee described as Northern Virginia’s only gay bar.

A crowd favorite was professional impersonator Destiny B. Childs who was the first to perform. She came on stage in a gold sequined cape with a fur collar and began to sing a slow version of Ke$ha’s “TiK ToK” before the music returned to its normal beat and she threw off the cape, revealing sparkly black undergarments and knee-high black boots.

After Childs’ initial performance, Ballslee reclaimed the stage to tell the crowd that tipping the queens and kings is not only polite, it’s expected. Ballslee said that anyone attending the drag show and not tipping the performers would be immediately de-friended by her on Facebook.

“If [a man is going to] put on some hip pads, more tummy tuckers than you and your mother own, fake boobs, and paint his face for two hours, you give ‘em a dollar,” she said.

However, Ballslee had to instruct the crowd of first-time and returning drag show attendees about how to properly offer the money to the performers.

“You fold it hot-dog style and hold it between your fingers like chopsticks,” she said.
When Childs performed later in the evening to a mix of Lady Gaga songs like “Telephone” and “Bad Romance,” people lined up in the aisles to tip her. In true Lady Gaga fashion, Childs wore a red and black cape and cigarette glasses before revealing her body covered in caution tape.

Ophelia Bottoms, another professional performer from Freddie’s, performed in a sparkly tank top and top hat covered in multicolored sequins and a fake leather jacket and black boots. She performed to “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas. When an audience member came up to tip her with a dollar, he ignored Ballslee’s earlier instructions and offered the money to Bottoms by putting it in his mouth. Bottoms knelt down and took the entire dollar in her mouth before resuming her performance.

“That was Black Eyed Pea-licious!” Ballslee declared after her performance.
Regina Jozet Adams, referred to by Ballslee as the “queen of comedy” at Freddie’s Beach Bar, performed two numbers. “She makes me want to pee my tights,” Ballslee said. After coming out in a feathery black ensemble, Adams threw it off to reveal black undergarments covered in rhinestones.

Adams first performed a parody of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance" called “Shittin’ My Pants” that had the audience laughing. Later in the evening, she returned in a black and white animal print dress to perform in an operatic style.

The student performers launched the second half of the evening. “These next performers all come from Amateur Drag Queens-R-Us,” Ballslee joked.

Two of the highlights from the student performers included Roxy Cotton performing to Britney Spears’ “3” and Adrienne Fury performing to Priscilla Renea’s “Dollhouse.”

While none of Ballslee’s “drag daughters” performed this year, Ballslee said that she helped all the student performers apply their makeup in the 30 minutes before the show began.

Another feature of the evening was the drag kings — women who perform as men. Two professional performers, E-Cleff and Xavier Bottoms, impressed the crowd. E-Cleff performed to a mash-up of Drake and Justin Timberlake songs and Bottoms to “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” with an inflatable woman on the toy tractor behind him.

Ballslee, who performs regularly in the Richmond area, prepared two lip-sync performances for the show. After her first performance, she was so out of breath that a student sitting in the audience had to give her a bottle of water. She blamed her exhaustion, in part, to the corset she was wearing.

As promised, the second performance by Ballslee had her “dressed up like Elvis,” wearing a jumpsuit covered in multi-colored rhinestones and gold glitter as she strutted up the aisle, past the audience and onto stage, singing Marc Cohn’s “Walking in Memphis.” When she got on stage, she switched songs and began singing to Katy Perry’s “Waking Up in Vegas.” Her outfit was accessorized with “your class ring” from Perry’s hit song.

As Ballslee thanked the audience for supporting the show, she encouraged everyone to attend the afterparty with extra student performances in “Dragberry” Hall.

Student reactions to the show were positive. “I think it’s great that Mason has been so accepting of the LGBTQ [community],” Lisa Buzzelli, a senior communication major, said. “It speaks highly of our diverse background.”

Senior communication major Jess Moore agreed. “I think it’s great that the [drag] show exposes people at Mason to a culture they might not be familiar with. That’s what college is about — challenging your perception of what is ‘normal’ and broadening your beliefs and opinions.”

In response to Ballslee’s outgoing personality, Moore added, “I also feel like you haven’t had a proper Mason experience until Reann Ballslee has made fun of you.”

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C2M's Matt Loffman contributed to this report.