Coral Collective Creates More Drag Show Opportunities Outside of QASU for Students, Alumni, and Duluth Community Members

More Mauve, played by UMD student Shea Callaghan, was the first performer to go. Drag performers Sir Vex (left) and The Fool of Hearts (right) hold up the television screen that More Mauve poses behind. Photo by. Valencia Ruprecht

Coral Collective and the Wired Whisker Cafe celebrated creativity and connection on Sept.13, during their second-ever collaboration on a drag show. Past and current UMD students performed alongside Duluth community members for an outdoor, family-friendly drag show.

“Wired Whisker’s owner has been great to work with,” Jace Abbot, the founder of Coral Collective, said. “The employees are great, too. They were bringing more chairs out and making an insane amount of drinks during intermission.” 

In the past, Abbott would participate in the yearly drag show that the Queer and Allied Student Union hosted. After graduating from UMD, Abbott noticed there weren’t a lot of accessible options for continuing drag. Jace wanted to create a drag company that would be a space for new performers who could join without barriers and find support for their passion.

The performer, The Fool of Hearts, emotes and dances for the audience in the costume they created. Photo by. Valencia Ruprecht

“Jace reached out and invited me to perform with Coral Collective,” said Zawadi Mwabury. Mwabury isn’t currently a member of Coral Collective, but is a current UMD student who knew Jace from last school year. Mwabury performed with Coral Collective last week as their character, the Fool of Hearts, which was a character inspired by their previous work at UMD.

“In my class, Audition Technique One, we did an alter-ego project,” Mwabury said. “During the alter ego project, you have to create a character that acts the opposite of yourself. You make a costume and you lip sync to a song in front of the class. One of my classmates pointed out how we were basically doing drag.”

Mwabury has had one previous drag performance before working with Coral Collective.

“Last spring, I was thinking about how I wished I could do the alter ego project again for Audition Technique Two, and then I thought, wait, maybe I can just do it now.” Mwabury started coming up with ideas for the QASU drag show and performed for the first time. “My friend Shea Callaghan also supported me and inspired me to do drag.”

Current UMD student, Alivia Lor, performs and gestures as a Matryoshka who transforms into the Wolf Cowboy Sir Vex. Phot by. Valencia Ruprecht

Shea Callaghan also performed at the drag show last Saturday as the character More Mauve.

“We did our makeup in the same room together, and we were hyping each other up. When we entered the space together, everyone was so nice,” Mwabury said about the Coral Collective company and the Wired Whisker staff. “The other performers get excited about your work and your costume, which is really nice.”

“No one tells you what you're supposed to do after you graduate college,” Abbot said. “So it's like, you kinda have to build your own community in a way.”

Coral Collective’s next drag show will be at the Wired Whisker again on Oct 25th and will be sporting a Halloween theme for the performance. They are planning to provide extra seating and space heaters to keep everyone comfortable.

Drag kings and queens celebrate the end of the performance. From left to right are John DesBebe, Sister Francis Beaverhausen, Sir Vex, Cupid’s Heart, Percy, DemonKingVick, and Parisa Paradis. Photo by. Valencia Ruprecht