\n<\/p>\n
One<\/span> might<\/span> think<\/span> a drag version of a baroque oratorio with lyrics taken entirely from the King James Bible would be <\/span>something out of a fever dream. But Creatine Price (the drag persona of opera singer Jordan Weatherston Pitts), recently pulled off \u201cThe Drag Messiah\u201d for the second year in a row at New York City nightclub Red Eye. I was lucky enough to catch the show this time and witness Price\u2019s alchemizing of loud, sexy, queer art with centuries-old sacred Christian music. It was nothing less than electric.<\/span><\/p>\n After encountering \u201cDrunk <\/span>Messiah\u201d<\/span> bar events that combine varyingly tipsy soloists and choruses of gleeful, inebriated attendees, Price created her exuberantly gay version of 18th-century composer George Frideric Handel\u2019s \u201c<\/span>Messiah<\/span>.\u201d Co-produced by nonprofit classical concert producer ChamberQUEER, Price\u2019s version allows for church musicians, professional singers and instrumentalists \u2014 people to whom the \u201c<\/span>Messiah\u201d<\/span> can feel \u201clike work,\u201d according to Price \u2014 to let off some steam. \u201cTo make it raunchy and fun like that is just the best,\u201d says Price.<\/span><\/p>\n The performances on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 featured soloists Devony Smith and Teresa Castillo, as well as instrumentalists Danny Zelibor (piano), Mercy Be (violin), Anthime Miller (cello), Brahms StrokeHer (viola), and Val Voyle (trumpet). Price, who grew up singing in a boys choir in the Episcopal Church, performed the tenor solos. <\/span><\/p>\n To kick off the performance, Price appears onstage in a golden, halo-like headpiece and veil for a number she referred to as a perennial favorite: the aria “Ev’ry Valley Shall Be Exalted,” modified to “Everybody Shall Be Offended.”<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n As a queer person who grew up in a Catholic family, I\u2019ve struggled constantly with contradictions. How does one reconcile the principles of universal dignity, love and justice that the religion touts with the pain the institution has wrought on those it has colonized, marginalized and deemed unworthy of belonging or God\u2019s love?<\/span><\/p>\n I also find the idea that God is reserved for white, straight, cisgender people completely absurd. In drag, I find transcendence and creation of the divine. The first time I saw an Asian person do drag was years before I realized I was queer. But something broke open in my mind when I stumbled on a performance by The Illustrious Pearl (the drag persona of poet Wo Chan) that transformed my understanding of what was possible.<\/span><\/p>\n Price (center) playfully nudges the audience, which included many singers familiar with Handel’s oratorio, into participating. If they thought they were here to sit back and enjoy, she corrects them, “You’re about to work!”<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n I was delighted by lines tailored for those who were in the audience. In one aria, Smith, dressed as a heavily pregnant Virgin Mary, encouraged those of us in long-distance relationships: \u201cO thou that telleth good tidings to Zion\u201d became \u201cO thou that come all the way from Fort Tryon, get high on poppers and mount him!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n Biblical lyrics were reworked to make a queer audience giggle: After all, \u201cWhy do the lesbians rage so furiously together?\u201d derived from Psalm 2 resonates far more, to some, than Psalm 2\u2019s \u201cWhy do the nations rage so furiously together?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I was caught most off guard by a lyrically unchanged rendition of the aria \u201cI Know That My Redeemer Liveth.\u201d Before this particular performance, Price urged the audience to be mindful of consumption as the holidays approach. \u201cWe all have enough stuff. There\u2019s only one Earth,\u201d she said. \u201cWe gotta protect it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The genre-defying, gospel-tinged piano accompaniment lent sincerity and a strikingly emotional tone to the baroque piece. It made the aria, which references resurrection and the listener\u2019s subsequent redemption, disarming in its earnestness. For me, it conjured both serenity and resolve.<\/span><\/p>\n This year, the conservative federal government has wielded religious rhetoric as a blunt instrument to constantly menace the vulnerable, including transgender people and the queer community. In this age of brutality, I received Price\u2019s \u201cRedeemer\u201d as an expression of steadfastness, and of faith \u2014 faith, that is, in our solidarity with one another, in our inalienable holiness, and in the potential of the more loving world we hope to build.<\/span><\/p>\n See more images from the performance below:<\/p>\n From left: Price, soprano Teresa Castillo, and mezzo-soprano Devony Smith perform. Price urges audience members to their feet, gesturing for them to join in the piece’s culminating \u201cHallelujah\u201d chorus.<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n Price makes an appeal for tips for the performers.<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n Left: A golden headpiece worn by Price sparkles backstage. Center: Price, who grew up singing in a boys choir in the Episcopal Church, poses for a portrait backstage. Right: Price stands onstage in a pink ensemble resplendent with beads, satin and feathers.<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n From left: Danny Zelibor, Anthime Miller, Smith, Mercy Be, and Price perform. Dressed as a pregnant Virgin Mary, Smith begins the traditional second portion of the oratorio, renamed “The Virgin.”<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n Clockwise from top left: Smith, Castillo and Price stage a birth scene as Smith begins the traditional second portion of the oratorio, renamed “The Virgin.”<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n Left: During the season’s second performance of \u201cThe Drag Messiah,\u201d Miller performs on cello, Brahms Stroke Her on viola, and Mercy Be on violin. Right: Castillo performs during the third part of the piece, “The Angel.”<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n From left: Zelibor, Miller, Price, Mercy Be, and Val Voyle perform the third part of the oratorio.<\/p>\n Sam Hsiaomei Lee for HuffPost<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One might think a drag version of a baroque oratorio with lyrics taken entirely from the King James Bible would be something out of a fever dream. But Creatine Price (the drag persona of opera singer Jordan Weatherston Pitts), recently pulled off \u201cThe Drag Messiah\u201d for the second year in a row at New York<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[9287,7521,5504,19233,686,11927],"class_list":{"0":"post-36774","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social-issues","8":"tag-centuriesold","9":"tag-christian","10":"tag-drag","11":"tag-glowup","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-sacred"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}