Editor’s Pick: The Boulet Brothers’ ‘Dragula: Titans Tour’
The Boulet Brothers descend on The Lincoln Theatre with live show based on the duo's Dragula: Titans, last fall's special all-stars edition of their hit series.
“Growing up as a gay freak in D.C., the only place I ever felt comfortable was the DC Eagle,” the performer known as drag queen Dracmorda, or Drac, told Metro Weekly three years ago.
Back then, he wasn’t actually “a biker or a leather person or anything like that, but I had a giant mohawk. I was so weird looking. And that’s the only place that people just wouldn’t look at me like a total freak.”
Several decades later, Drac is still weird looking compared to your average drag queen. He’s one-half of the Boulet Brothers with Swanthula, or Swan, his partner in life and drag — and his brother only in a nominal sense.
The duo is chiefly known for creating and hosting the popular alt-drag reality competition series The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula — a show derived from a popular punk drag party the duo previously threw at a Los Angeles leather bar.
The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, both the party and the show, were launched partly in reaction to the type of drag that has become mainstream almost to the point of ubiquity over the past dozen years with the rise of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Broadly speaking, that show largely features well-established gay men presenting in an exaggeratedly pretty, glamorous, feminine, sassy yet non-threatening and often predictable style — all inspired by today’s most popular artists, shows, and entertainment brands.
By contrast, The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula presents a wilder, edgier, riskier, and more surprising and shocking drag, from a wider range of both LGBTQ-identified performers and allies, many of whom came from the underground or alt-drag scene, and with inspiration from more niche genres of horror, fantasy, cartoons and the graphic arts. As Drac put it, “I feel like we’re giving a safe home for outcasts and freaks.”
With their strong affinity for and connection to horror, the two have been dubbed “Horror’s New Icons” by the horror magazine Fangoria. They’ve also been tapped as commentators for programming produced by Shudder, AMC’s horror and supernatural streaming service, which has also become the home of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula.
Next weekend, Drac returns to his D.C. hometown for a live show based on the duo’s The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, last fall’s special all-stars edition of the series.
Billed as a “never-before-seen theatrical display of horrific artistry,” the tour features a rotating cast of standout contestants from previous seasons, along with fan favorites and surprise guests — but the true star of the show, other than Drac and Swan is Victoria Elizabeth Black, who won the all-stars round and along with it the title of Supermonster, the Titan of all Titans.
The D.C. show will also feature the two finalists and runners-up Koco Caine and HoSo Terra Toma, as well as contestant Melissa Befierce.
Thursday, April 13 at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Doors at 7 p.m. Tickets are $40 to $70. Visit www.thelincolndc.com or call 202-888-0050.
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