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Drag In LA: From Sunday Brunch To Downtown Brewery, Get Your Dollar Bills Ready
A drag queen performs at El Indio in Santa Ana.
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Veronica Lechuga
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Drag is more than just putting on makeup and a dress and lip-synching songs. It’s an art form that has continued to evolve for centuries and now has a home in various locales and in the hearts of those who find joy through connection and transformation. L.A. drag is happening all around, so why not catch a local show and support this ever-evolving art?
Redline: A newfound home for L.A.’s drag community
The sparkle of a disco ball reflects onto a red curtain backdrop and illuminates the rest of the room's interior. It’s a Thursday night, just a little past 10 p.m. and patrons are lined up at the bar while others take their seats.
The music fades out as a performer wearing a loose, curled blonde wig and a pink floral embroidered Mexican-style dress takes to the stage accompanied by a Juan Gabriel cover of the song, “Querida.”
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With eyelids dabbed by a touch of lavender and lips shimmery with purple, C–––osaurus Rexxx is the drag alter ego of Antonio Ramos, tonight’s host.
The evening features six performers, split into two acts with a five-minute intermission that allows for a costume quick change.
Ramos announces three rules to the audience: Give off high energy, have dollar bills already for tipping and don't unnecessarily touch each act.
It’s showtime.
The evening’s performers croon Spanish language songs that are both contemporary and current and offer a touch of nostalgia. Drag has been able to bridge generations through a shared love of music and culture.
Oliver Alpuche owns the Redline in downtown L.A.
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Veronica Lechuga
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That connection is something that bar owner Oliver Alpuche has taken great pride in since first opening Redline eight years ago.
“Redline was never supposed to be a drag bar or a club. It was supposed to be just a community space,” said Alpuche, who is also the founder and president of DTLA Proud, a nonprofit organization and festival that supports the queer community of downtown L.A.
“But, you know, opening Redline opened my eyes up to how important the drag community is and the representation that it brings," Alpuche said. "We need more spaces to have different forms of drag, especially that are POC [people of color] friendly."
A drag performance at the Redline in downtown L.A.
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Veronica Lechuga
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for LAist
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Redline has become a home for many in L.A.’s drag community, especially for up-and-coming acts. Different shows and performances are curated to offer something unique and authentic to both performers and audiences alike. From Disney vs. A24 night, K-pop performances, and a crowd favorite, Black Girl Magic, there’s a little bit for everyone.
The diverse drag selection is what keeps Cyndy Hexx of South L.A. coming weekly to Redline.
“There are no boundaries for L.A. drag," Hexx said. "They don’t care. They just do. It’s not just throwing on a dress and heels. If you want to see what L.A. queens are like, come to Redline."
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Redline
131 E. 6th St., Los Angeles, CA 90014
Drag at the brewery
Located near the Arts District, HiDef Brewing has been a place for beer lovers to come out and enjoy what this downtown local brewery has to offer. While breweries and beer culture are often considered hypermasculine, on this particular Friday night, drag takes center stage.
Antonio Ramos is here, hosting as C–––osaurus Rexxx, this time sporting a sparkling maroon slit dress and long, voluminous brown hair, accented by various shades of purple eyeshadow and black lipstick.
Ramos was inspired to set drag shows in breweries as it’s a reflection of both his masculine and feminine style.
Portrait of Antonio Ramos aka C–––osaurus Rexx inside of the Redline in downtown L.A.
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Veronica Lechuga
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LAist
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“I'm trying to bring drag shows to breweries that are not catered to the LGBTQIA community, but they're open to trying to bring queer activity,” Ramos said.
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It hasn’t been easy. He is gradually making a comeback to the brewery scene as this past January, he, along with other fellow drag queens and a brewery owner, faced backlash — including death threats — for hosting an all-age drag show at Beer Thug Brewing in the city of Bell.
“When I do brewery shows, I am picky since it’s a straight environment and I want to make sure that people are going to get a really good introduction to drag,” Ramos said. “I try to bring at least four top-notch performers and then two that are newer to the scene just for the people that are not familiar with drag and its various styles.”
Tonight’s drag show included six queens with performances that span genres: pop, show tunes and even Spanish ballads. The queens were well-received as they walked past fermentation vessels and interacted with patrons. Many in the crowd held up dollar bills as they tipped each queen.
HiDef Brewing
1203 S. Olive St., Los Angeles, CA 90015
Drag’s forever home: brunch
While drag may not be traditionally found at breweries, there is one place where it will forever have a home: Sunday brunch. The late-morning festivity includes never-ending bottles of mimosas, great food, and of stellar drag performances.
Noches De Aay Tú is a monthly drag brunch that takes place in the L.A. and O.C. area and was inspired by a specific brand of the cabaret movement that originated in Mexico City.
Joaquin Gutierrez hosts the Noches de Aay Tu Drag Brunch in Santa Ana, CA.
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Veronica Lechuga
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“I think there's obviously a lot of things going on right now politically when it comes to drag events and drag performers,” said founder Joaquín Gutierrez. “It is also very white-centered, and it is very centered around West Hollywood and Long Beach, these traditional spaces that people know as queer, but we don't include POC.”
Gutierrez is the director of events at Somos Loud, an organization that works to fight against HIV/AIDS in underserved communities. He is also one of three hosts for the podcast, Three Brown Jotos.
“I think, for me with our Noches De Aay Tú brunch, it's really about highlighting our Latinx experience through music and drag,” said Gutierrez.
I went to the brunch held at El Indio Botanas y Cerveza in Santa Ana, a pueblo-inspired Mexican restaurant featuring an outdoor patio. There were three performers while Gutierrez served as the host.
Amor Hex performs at Noches de Aay Tu Drag Brunch in Santa Ana.
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Veronica Lechuga
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LAist
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Dressed in a black Charo-inspired dress, a strawberry blonde performer with sparkling pink eyeshadow and long eyelashes walked out to the patio.
Natasha Hundreds is the stage name for Raul Pacheco, who belted out a Spanish grito to the opening lines of Alicia Villarreal’s “Te Quedó Grande La Yegua,”
The crowd sang along heartbrokenly as they sipped on mimosas.
Attendees at Noches de Aay Tu Drag Brunch throw money at the drag performer.
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Veronica Lechuga
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“I just want to invite people that have never been to a drag show to attend one,” Pacheco said. “There's a lot of rhetoric and there's one literally every single night of the week in L.A.. So just attend one with an open mind so you can be a part of the art form and be a little bit better informed on what it is.”
That art form took Pacheco at least an hour and a half to do makeup, and another hour to put on a wig and dress for this Sunday brunch. Most of the costumes are also handmade and tailored to each performance. It all comes down to that moment when he struts out into the crowd and is greeted with applause and showered in dollar bills.
Check out Noches De Aay Tú for locations.
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