12^th Street Bar and Huntsville Texas Pride hosted the first public drag show, “She’s Kind of a Big Deal Drag Show Production” presented by DJ Kory with a K, on Aug. 31. Performances starred Autumn Elise Taylor, Stakka Ca$h, and Huntsville native Emerald Van Cartier. The event was packed and the excitement of the crowd set the mood.

I’ve never been to a drag show and only knew somewhat of what the night was to entail. I went in with the mindset of experiencing something new and seeing if it could be a possible event I would want to go to in the future. When I arrived, it was pretty full but there were some open spaces for more people to come along. The bar was decorated with lights and feather boas and tables with plastic candles, pride flags and bead necklaces. The bar also had a special drink called “The Big Deal” which entailed coconut rum, blue curacao, pineapple juice, sour drink and a type of soda.

The event began with DJ Kory with a K playing music as people purchased drinks and mingled a bit. As the night progressed, the place had filled up even more and there was a great excitement among the crowd. When the first performer, host Autumn Elise Taylor, started her dance, the excitement grew and continued through each performance. Autumn was entertaining and in between performances she would interact with the crowd and go up to tables. Even with a small feedback error on the microphone, she would make a joke about it being her and make the crowd laugh. There was even a surprise burlesque guest dancer from the group “Prison City Follies.”

The event went well and the crowd seemed to enjoy the show. From the reaction of the crowd, any future public events held at the 12^th Street Bar will continue to grow in productions and growth of the audience.