The Drag Show returns
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- 3 min read
Hamilton (OH) – One definite article. One telling description.
The THE in The Drag Show tells a story all by itself. Capping the 2025-2026 Jazz & Cabaret season series at the Fitton Center for Creative Arts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, The Drag Show is the preeminent event of its kind in the region.
Coming on the (very high) heels of the Covid-delayed Drag Show 2.5 in 2022 and Drag Show 3: Through the Decades in 2024, the 2026 incarnation introduces a whole new cast of queens to the Fitton Center audience.
“I don’t want to keep on doing the same old thing,” said Brooklyn Steele-Tate, the capital Q Queen among queens who selects the cast and emcees the show. “I have a lot of entertainers who tell me, ‘I want to go back there.’
“They love the room, love the experience. But I keep telling them I want to change things up every time and keep introducing new entertainers to the Hamilton area.”
Steele-Tate has a deep roster of talent from which to choose. The Drag Show features 11 entertainers, including one who has performed on national television in “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” as well as a tandem act that performs in duet.
“They’re all seasoned entertainers,” Steele-Tate said. “We’ve got pageant winners. We’ve got people who have been doing this for 30 years. We’re bringing some up from Lexington and some down from Columbus, so they may not be as familiar to an audience in this area. But they will entertain.”
Steele-Tate said she enjoys the sophistication of the Fitton Center, both in terms of its patrons and the Carruthers Signature Ballroom itself.
“The biggest part of it is the audience,” she said. “They know they’re coming to a show, they’re coming to be entertained, they know they’re supposed to tip the entertainers. We don’t have to spend a lot of time or energy on instructing the crowd, which frees us up to be more in the moment, more spontaneous, more interactive.”
For the uninitiated, though, Steele-Tate warns there may be some – ahem – colorful language involved. The show is recommended for ages 21 and up.
“It’s just a character,” she said of her periodic f-bombs. “You’re playing it over the top. It’s like acting without having to act. You’re expressing how you feel in the moment and sometimes that moment calls for some swearing. There’s a truth to it, but it’s also just an act.”
Prior to The Drag Show, the Fitton Center celebrates the gallery-opening celebration for the 10th Biennial Member Show art exhibition from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, the Member Show features 112 pieces by more than 60 member artists – including Fitton students, instructors and family members – on view through June 26.
Both the Member Show and The Drag Show will have a cash bar with beer, wine, mixed drinks, soda and bottled water available.
Tickets to The Drag Show are $41 for Fitton Center members, $51 for non-members, and are available online right here, by phone at 513-863-8873, ext. 110 or in person at the Fitton Center box office. Seating is general admission, but guests may reserve tables of eight and half-tables of four in advance of the show when ordering by phone or in person.
Representatives from Hamilton Pride and Lebanon Pride will be on hand in the ballroom with information tables to detail their organizations’ activities for Pride Month in June and beyond. Additional organizations may join the roster as well.
The Fitton Center for Creative Arts is located at 101 S. Monument Avenue on the Riverfront in downtown Hamilton, Ohio.
Building Community Excellence through the Arts and Culture
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