DRAGARET: QUARANTINE QUEENS, Yale Cabaret, 2021

A note from the show Team: “By the power vested in me…by me…” –RuPaul We gather here today on screens across this digital universe to celebrate in confinement.

DRAGARET is an annual tradition celebrated at the Yale Cabaret and is a source of joy and release for the New Haven and YSD community. The pandemic is real and frightening, but the power of these gorgeous Quarantine Queens will be the light we all need when the end is in sight. This year we celebrate our lewks through cameras, and DAYUM do we look FINE. We welcome you to feel freedom with us tonight. Take a step away from the mundane, away from the pain. This year we’re doing things differently and we’re going to have fun while we’re doing it!

Drag is a practice rooted in the lives of LGBTQ+ artists. Celebrating drag means honoring this community. We are today marked by two wounds: the recent federal administration, particularly harmful to the most vulnerable citizens, especially in its most targeted intersections; and a pandemic that has taken more than 500,000 lives in the US only, one that affects some communities much more than others, and that leaves us isolated, making community building very difficult. DRAGARET doesn’t turn its back on this. We want to generate a space to come together to celebrate, and bring some joy that bonds us together.

Resistance comes from collective action, and we look to the power of drag to guide us in this journey.

We believe Drag is for everyone and we encourage everyone to come play RESPECTFULLY with us. To quote Joe E. Jeffreys, a drag historian and videographer, “Drag isn’t just buying the markers. Drag is sincerely invested in it.” Explore the self you can’t show every day, feel beautiful. Drag has become mainstream in the media over the years and that is wonderful. We also lift up and cherish the Drag that is private, just for you and your friends. Tonight, open yourself to let strangers be friends, and in friendship let us celebrate as a supportive community. So get that Cash App and Venmo ready, because these Queens and Kings are ready to work. Feel generous tonight. Let’s not send any of our performers to bed without some bills in their pockets!

-The DRAGARET Producing Team

DRAGARET Locked Up in Locked Down

Creative Team Creative Producer Sebastián Eddowes Vargas* Producers Natalie King Cameron Frostbaum* Executive Director of NHV Pride Center Partick Dunn Directorial Consultant Garrett Allen Stage Manager Charlie Lovejoy Assistant Stage Manager Andrew Petrick Sound Designer/Consultant Joe Krempetz Props Designer/Consultant Abby Entsminger* Video Designers/Consultants John Horzen Sam Skynner Lighting Designers/Consultants Yichen Zhou* David DeCarolis* Fairy Drag Mother David Mitsch Dramaturg Hannah Gellman Communications Manager Jacob Santos YSD Performers CT Performers Kiki Lucia Cooper Bruhns* Frizzie Borden Chava Burgueño Lotus Queen Maeli Goren Bella Noche Ethan Heard Loosey LaDuca David Mitsch Ray Decorazón Emma Pernudi-Moon Xiomarie LaBeija Riw Rakkulchon (‘19) Tiana Maxim Rose Matthew Sonnenfeld Rory Roux Lay Nahuel Telleria Mia E Z’Lay Linda-Cristal Young *indicates a Yale Cabaret Debut

Special Thanks: Brita Filter, New Haven Pride Center, Wine 101, ActOUT

A note from the CAB TEAM: The Annual Yale DRAGARET is always one of the most beloved events that the Cabaret puts on each year. We knew that trying to transfer this lively and often improvisational weekend to the virtual world would be a challenge. Thankfully, through the expertise of the lovely Partick Dunn at New Haven Pride Center and under the creative and logisitcal guidance from the fantastic producing team, we hope to bring you a DRAGARET like no other before. Our virtual platform this year has allowed this event to expand and we are so lucky to be able to feature not only performances from YSD students and local drag performers, but also alumni, faculty, and staff performances.

This year’s DRAGARET will have it’s own unique style, inviting Quaratine Queens from near and far to put on their highest heels and experience a virtual night of queer joy.

We are so glad that the tradition of the DRAGARET can continue even during these uncertain times and we are very thankful to everyone who has helped make this year’s DRAGARET a reality!

-Cab 53 Leadership Team Maeli Goren, Jisun Kim, Nicole E. Lang, and Matthew Sonnenfeld

A Special Thank you to:

Wine 101 in Hamden

New Haven Pride Center

Brita Filter

More to Explore Cab Gallery- Black Theater Festival Exhibit In December, the Yale Cabaret was honored to host our first Black Theater Festival, curated and produced by Ashley M. Thomas and Faith Zamblé. The festival now lives on in the Cab Gallery!

Visit the BTF Exhibit, a virtual celebration of Black artistry. From complete works to works-inprogress, from theatrical experiments to guided meditations, it centers and uplifts the voices of Black creators across the diaspora. The spectrum of Blackness is infinite.

New Features- Black Women and Trans, NonBinary, and Gender Nonconforming Creators The artists featured on our Works by Black Women and TNBGNC Creators page inspire us, challenge us, and invite us to imagine what theater can be. Visit our website to learn about their work and experience interviews with the artists conducted by the Cabaret. We are excited to welcome Nakia Montgomery & Briantria Smocks and S.C. Murray to the space!

Community Spotlight- People Get Ready Books For your Black History Month reading, consider a visit to People Get Ready, a neighborhood bookspace that is grounded in respect for the dignity of all beings, the importance of reciprocal relations, and the transformative power of radical love. Visit our Community Spotlight page to learn more and read our interview with founders Lauren Anderson and Delores Williams.

Visit www.yalecabaret.org for more information!

What’s Next March 18th-20th Expats Anonymous A Play for Zoom, Written and Proposed by Rachel Chin In the midst of a pandemic, thousands of unemployed expatriates in Singapore face deportation. A young Malaysian-Chinese woman must compete with other “foreigners” for a single job opening and the chance to stay. Created and performed by an international team of artists, Expats Anonymous asks what it means to belong… and what it costs to survive.

There will be a live talkback after each performance.

Expats Anonymous is an international collaboration with artists in Singapore and the United States.

Mission and Values Yale Cabaret is an artistic community that invites students from the Yale School of Drama and our neighbors throughout greater Yale University and New Haven to imagine utopia. We artist-explorers join in spirit and space to make theater that manifests our wildest collaborative visions. Fueled by the values of symbiotic collaboration, neighborliness, accountability, and wonder, we discover how much we can make, experience, and imagine together.

The state of Connecticut and Yale University occupy the ancestral lands of the Mohegan, Mashantucket Pequot, Eastern Pequot, Schaghticoke, Golden Hill Paugussett, Niantic, and Quinnipiac and other Algonquian speaking peoples. We honor and respect their stewardship of this land.

Symbiotic Collaboration.

Neighborliness.

We approach each collaboration in pursuit of our utopian ideal- that every team member is fed and fulfilled artistically, intellectually, and spiritually. We will pursue new channels of collaboration and support artists in our community to develop sustainable and generative ways to work together, because that creates JOY.

The Cab is a space for learning, growth, and the joy of storytelling for current YSD students as well as for our neighbors at greater Yale and throughout New Haven. The stories and artistic approaches on our stage will be inclusive and accessible to all in our community.

Accountability.

The Cab has a responsibility to foster open and direct communication between our leadership, artists, and the communities we serve. Each member of our community is empowered to contribute to its betterment, and every member makes a difference.

Wonder.

The Cab will cultivate surprise and artistic innovation. We are explorers in search of “wow”.

Pushing the boundaries of theatrical expression and innovation with a well-proportioned season of courageous new plays, reinventions of established plays, and devised and multidisciplinary works, design-driven explorations, and work that is non-text-driven, The Cab strives to ignite our community’s imagination.

Please visit our website to see more about our advocacy work including our community spotlight and our features on Black Women and TGNBGNC playwrights www.yalecabaret.org

Leadership Team Co-Artistic Directors Maeli Goren Jisun Kim Nicole E. Lang

Managing Director Matthew Sonnenfeld

Staff Technical Supervisors Nic Benavides Cameron Waitkun

Cabaret Assistants Jake Hurwitz A.J. Roy

Graphic Design Mikayla Johnson

Website Design Camilla Tassi

Accessibility Assistant Rebecca Satzberg Accessibility Researcher Madeline Charne

Preshow Design John Horzen

Artistic Associates Collaborative Leadership Maeli Goren

Design- Lighting Graham Zellers

New Works Benjamin Benne

Communication Management Edmond O’Neal

Design- Projections Henry Rodriguez

Performance Tavia Hunt

Community Collaboration Madeline Charne Eliza Orleans

Design- Scenic Miguel Urbino

Producing Annabel Guevara

Design- Sound Bailey Trierweiler

Storytelling Faith Zamblé

Design- Costumes Phuong Nguyen

Imagination Manifestor Laura Copenhaver

Board of Directors Matthew Suttor, Chair Benjamin Benne Sami Cubias

Kelvin Dinkins, Jr. Anna Glover Reed Northrup Linda-Cristal Young

Our Donors Since its founding in 1968, the Yale Cabaret has been a place where Yale School of Drama students can experiment with new theatrical forms and develop our artistry outside of the classroom.

With the generous support of our donors, we build on our rich legacy to make space for students and the greater New Haven community to grow together through self-expression and artistic exploration.

Cabaret PartnerS Nina Adams & Moreson Kaplan Ann Judd & Bennett Pudlin Eric Nold & Ramond Curtis^ Santino Blumetti Matthew Suttor Cabaret Show Sponsors David Budries Joan Channick & Ruth Hein Schmitt Betty & Josh Goldberg Molly & Matthew Goren Latiana “LT” Gourzong Bill & Sharon Reynolds Sylvia Van Sinderen & James Sinclair Ken Sonnenfeld & Peg Brivanlou Paul Walsh Yale Center for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, and Transnational Migration

^ indicates the show sponsor(s) for this Live Production

Cabaret Enthusiasts Pamela C. Jordan Patrick T. Seaver Cabaret Supporters Donald & Mary Brown Liz Diamond Leon & Megan Doyon Andrea Graham Ellen Lange Lockheed Martin Amy Povich & David Agus Kevin P. Rogers Bob & Theresa Simon

Cabaret Friends Jessica Armstrong Maggie Lally Joanie Banks-Hunt Ann Lobdell James Ball Mary-Margaret McLeod Christine Barker Janet Miller Laurie Beitz Jim & Eileen Mydosh Martha O. Boateng Jenny Nelson Katherine & Chava Burgueño Shawn Polizzi John Carlson Katherine Ann Profetta Gretchen Carvajal Oakton A. Reynolds Rhona Ceppos Andrew Scharenberg Katie E. Chipungu Bryn Scharenberg Theodore M. Cruz Rachel Shuey Lissa M. Drewniak Jennifer Sims Monica Fennell Audrey Sostak Dianne Moira Hamilton Evelyn Spann James Hannaham R. Lee Stump Colleen M. Hyche Carolee Walker Amy Marotta Katz Walton Wilson Jordan Katz Marilyn G. Zieserl Benjamin Kent Mary Zihal

Thank you for your generous contributions!

Our Donors Continued Cabaret Contributors Samuel Lopez Jaylen De’ A ndre Eashmond Erica Adarkwa Erin MacDonnell Elizabeth Emmanuel Terrease Aiken Joan MacIntosh Christopher Ewell Igor Akimushkin Hannah Marsh Hugh D. Farrell, Jr. Dani Barlow Amanda Martinez Cassie Fraser-Ball Chad S. Birmingham Gary Marx & Helen Haje Amy Boratko & Alex Speiser Donna Sonnenfeld Maurice L. Harris Brian Boyd Giulia Mascali Laurie Heineman Molly Boyle Jacqueline Ann Mastrianni Sanelma Heinonen Nicole Brewer Bryan Mcgill Robert Homer Ruth A. Brown Vestak McIntyre Winston Hovekamp Sharon Brown Daphne Milner Melanie Adele Hyche Edwin Buckingham Max Monnig Gabrielle Jackson Bobby Burvant Kenneth Morford Angeline Jones Katina Calakos Walter Lynn Mosley Beth A. Jones Aaron Calrderon Vivien Ng Melissa A. Kaplan Rhona Ceppos Ellen Novack Fran Karliner Rebecca Cramer Cleo M. O’Brien-Udry Katherine A. Kay Roze Czekala Joshua Olin Karen A. Killeen Janet E. Davidson Rene Manuel Otero Irwin Krieger Jen DiBella Andrew Paton Ernest Kwarteng Katherine M. DiGiulio Sarah Paoletti Raphael Lecat LaRaisha Dionne Ryan Richard Petersburg Melissa Lemons Moira Donovan David Porter Thaihera LeSian Nurse Claire Dunnet

Nora Proops Suzanne Sherman Propp Nabil R Maggie Ramseur Gabi Rubenstein Elizabeth Schell Thomas Seller & Gideon Lester Lois Shaukat Nomè SiDone Laura Silvestri Robert Stubbs Annie Stutzman Michael Tayag Ricarda Tomlin Philip Toop Elizabeth A. Tullis Jenny Weiss Michelle Welsh Noelle Wiggins Sarah P. Wilson Darron Leigh Wolf Jessica Wolf Scott Zotto Rachel Zwick

Giving Levels Cabaret Season Sponsors $5000 • • •

Recognition in the footer of our website Recognition in all pre-show reels Plus, all the perks below

Cabaret Champions $2500 • • •

One Full Season Membership Dinner virtually with the Artistic Directors and Managing Director Plus, all the perks below

Cabaret Partners $1000 • •

Recognition in all pre-show reels Plus, all the perks below

Cabaret Show Sponsors $500 • •

Recognition during your show’s curtain speech & preshow reel Plus, all the perks below

Cabaret Enthusiasts $250 • •

Personalized thank you video from the Artistic Directors and Managing Director Plus, all the perks below

Cabaret Supporters $100 • •

Invitation to all Cabaret donor parties throughout the season Plus, all the perks below

Cabaret Friends $20 • •

Listing in the Cabaret progams Plus, all the perks below

Cabaret contributors <$20 • Listing on the Cabaret website **Corporate matching gifts are also a great way for you to double your contribution to Yale Cabaret. Check to see if your company has a gift matching program.

For more information, please visit our website, www.yalecabaret.org or call the Managing Director at 203-432-8338.

217 Park Street, New Haven, CT 06511 203-432-1566 www.yalecabaret.org