by Marcella Ortega
Daily Lobo
This year's Come Out show was more than just a masquerade.
"We try to educate people," said P.J. Sedillo, MC of the show and a UNM student. "We all have masks that we need to take off and reveal. That's what the performers do. They are who
they are."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Sinatra-DeVine Productions hosted "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are: Paris is Burning ... Life is a Masquerade" at the National Hispanic Cultural Center on Saturday. Sedillo, aka Fontana DeVine, said it was the show's second year at the center.
"There are a lot of drag shows that happen in bars," Sedillo said. "We wanted to take it out of the bar and make it more available for friends and family. It's more spectacular. Everything there is new. It's a beautiful theater."
Sinatra-DeVine is a nonprofit organization founded by Sedillo, Dino Leyba, aka Lana Taylor-Sinatra, and Tony Ross. Sedillo said the show's proceeds go to charities for breast cancer, AIDS and children's organizations.
He said each performer chooses what they will perform.
"I think that's what makes the show so special," he said. "It's their creation. What they do is a real glimpse of them and what they created. They pay for their costumes, props; everything comes out of their pockets."
Paintings by artist Ginger James were displayed in the lobby before the show.
"It's interesting how other people see you through their eyes," Sedillo said.
James said she paints a collection of men each year.
"This is my drag queen year," she said. "I painted them because they are artists. I love the art of their makeup and clothes. I'm painting beautiful men of our time."
Sedillo and Leyba improvised when hosting the show.
"It's like live TV, because we don't know what's going to happen," Sedillo said. "We work so well as a team, because we can read each other's minds. The majority of what we say is what we experienced throughout the year."
Student Christine Sanchez was a backup dancer for a Cher impersonator.
"It's been so fun," she said. "Everyone is positive. There is a lot of energy going on."
Student Brenda Dunagan was a dancer in a performance called Jazz Hot.
"I really love working with these guys," she said. "They are so much fun. I would say that the cast is really supportive - more than any other show I have been in."
Student Charles Garcia performed with Mariachi Orgullo de Nuevo Mexico. He said it is the only gay Mariachi group in the world.
"We went out there with confidence," he said. "We all pulled together. We're a team. We're a family."
Sedillo said the show has made at least $15,000 in the last eight years, and the cast continues
to grow.
"Every performer on there is proud of who they are," he said. "It's interesting, because the people try to figure out who's the man and who's the woman, and after a while, it really doesn't matter."
