Young people from The Attic Youth Center will take the stage to support their upcoming participation in a national LGBT youth conference.
The Attic will host its second annual “Sweethearts and Redhots Drag Extravaganza” from 6:30-8:30 p.m. March 2 at Broad Street Ministry, 315 S. Broad St.
Proceeds from the show will support The Attic’s upcoming trip to the True Colors LGBT Youth Conference in Connecticut, at which a number of Attic youth are presenting.
Last year’s inaugural fundraiser grew out of the recently launched drag group at The Attic.
“A lot of the youth were following ‘Ru Paul’s Drag Race’ and were excited about performance and costumes and wanted to try out drag in a more formal way,” said Tara Rubenstein, Attic life-skills specialist. “They had so much fun doing the show and it was a really huge success, so we decided to bring it back this year.”
The 2011 show raised about $1,500 for the trip to the conference, and Rubenstein said organizers are hoping to top that figure this year. The total cost for the 12 youth and staffers to make the trip to Connecticut in mid-March is about $4,000.
The youth have been involved in every step of the planning process for both the show and the conference, Rubenstein said.
About 15 youth will participate in the show, and they have been rehearsing twice weekly, with more rigorous rehearsals as the show date approaches. Each performer designs his or her own routine and costume and receives feedback from the other teens and adults at the rehearsals.
Last year’s show was held at William Way LGBT Community Center, and this time the youth and Attic staff explored a number of possible performance venues.
“We looked at a lot of different places this year and Broad Street Ministry has done a number of really successful drag events that have been intergenerational,” Rubenstein said. “It felt like a really comfortable space and they were very positive, welcoming and supportive of us doing the event there.”
While the youth are preparing for the show, several of them are also gearing up for their presentations at the conference.
Attic youth submitted seven workshop proposals to conference organizers and, in an unexpected but welcomed surprise, everyone was accepted.
Topics range from music as a form of expression to safe sex to art and mythology to LGBT activist parallels with the “Zombie Apocalypse.”
Rubenstein said Attic staff have been working with the teens who are facilitating sessions on their presentation and public-speaking techniques, and the entire process has been instrumental in teaching all of the youth vital life skills.
“This is project-based learning which has been proven to be one of the best models for teaching youth skills without them really noticing that they’re gaining these skills,” she said. “So we had them look at the timeline and determine what needed to be accomplished, what we needed to do with fundraising and all that it will take to get us there, with details like booking the hotel and setting up vans for transportation. We had them work step by step, so one week they would need to complete the introduction to their workshop and the next their core activity.”
The conference also affords the youth a chance to evaluate the experience The Attic affords them, Rubenstein said.
“Nowhere else has a place just like The Attic that is not just encouraging their identity but also allowing them to participate in skill-building, community-building and creativity to hone their interests and their skills.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].