Drag queens throughout the tristate area are gathering in an attempt to set a new world record — and raise money for charity while they’re at it.
Philly’s own drag queen superstar, Brittany Lynn, is leading the pack for Night of 100 Qweens, to fundraise for Metropolitan Area Neighborhood Nutritional Alliance and Out Philadelphia Athletic League. The participants will also attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records’ current record for the most drag queens to perform on stage at the same time.
Doors open at 9 p.m. and the show starts at 10 p.m. Dec. 12 at Trocadero Theatre, 1003 Arch St.
Besides doing drag, Lynn, aka Ian Morrison, spends a lot of time doing promotional work for various organizations and recently became event and marketing manager for Tabu. Shortly thereafter, Morrison said Tabu owner Jeff Sotland challenged him.
“He had received news that this group of queens out in Cleveland had set a record with only 40 girls or so,” Morrison said. “‘Are you going to let them get away with that?’ he asked me. So naturally I accepted the challenge.”
The roster of drag queens includes: Drag Mafia, Sinful Sundays, the girls of Bob and Barbara’s (Philly’s longest-running drag show), La Cage Aux Beach from the Venture Inn, the former contestants of Miss’d America, the Ladies of New Hope, the Leggs of NYC, the ICandy Girls, the girls of Miss Everything and many more, totaling to 100.
The event will culminate in a grand-finale performance with all the queens on the stage performing “I Sing the Body Electric” from the original version of “Fame.”
“It’s probably the gayest thing I will have ever done,” Morrison laughed. “But I think it really shows the struggle all performers — actors, singers, models — go through. Everyone, with all his or her struggles, comes together for this big moment. It kind of reflects what I have gone through in gathering the girls for this event. We are all finally coming together despite our differences.”
Morrison has never been a part of something this big or this significant before, he said.
“At ‘Dragapalooza,’ we have had 30 girls on the stage for a finale and opening number. But this is on another level,” Morrison said. “It’s going to be amazing to see us come together and sing, as one big drag family. I have been doing this for about 18 years now, and it’s amazing that I can count most of these girls as friends, and that they are all going to be able to come.”
Yet it has not been a cakewalk for Morrison to manage each girl’s requests in the weeks leading up to the event.
“I’ve spent the last four weeks trying to accommodate each queens’ sometimes diva-ish needs,” Morrison joked. “But it’s all for a good cause, so I don’t mind.”
The two charities the event will benefit, MANNA and OPAL, were easy choices for Morrison.
“I’ve done a lot of work with MANNA in the past, especially whenever I do a big event here in town. And with the creation of OPAL this year, I was like, Why not?”
Regular tickets are $20, and VIP balcony tickets are $35 and include VIP seating and a meet-and-greet with all the performers.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the Trocadero website, www.thetroc.com.