Driveway Drag Show
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if drag queens got together by the van load on weekends and did shows in people’s driveways” – Michelle Livigne
What started as a silly and fun Facebook post has led to the most incredible thing ever, according to Michelle Livigne. Livigne has been a drag queen for 13 years and could usually be found Thursday nights at Babes of Carytown with her drag group, Triple X Divas, but everything changed after the pandemic. Livigne said restrictions were rough on the bar as the layout doesn’t allow much room for social distancing and adequately making enough money to stay open.
Staying home wasn’t a viable option for Livigne, who started started toying around with the idea of getting a van of drag queens together and bringing the show to their customers. After creating and posting a flyer on Facebook, Livigne said she was surprised to see 40 emails in her inbox the next day and Driveway Drag Show was born.
There were initial challenges – Livigne said they started out opening doors and blasting music from the car, which only worked the first day so she got a speaker, only to realize she needed two. She’s replaced the speakers a couple times and had to replace the backdrop because they ran over it once – but they’ve worked out the kinks and Livigne said the same three people are performing so they know what to do.
Livigne said there’ve been 670 shows booked so far and in a year’s time the shows blown up fast. The main package includes two entertainers and two songs (you can get three or four depending on chosen package) and pictures of and with the queens (who stand six feet in front of the customers and frame the picture).
Now that restrictions have been lifted, Livigne said she doesn’t plan on changing too much but she does expect to see people inviting more friends and using the space in their yard to spread out.
“I’m sure we’ll … do … more intimate pictures or we’ll be spending a little bit more time at the house after the show and just chatting,” Livigne said, “but like up in each other’s face and chit chatting and hanging out.”
So far, the queens have been to Chesterfield, Midlothian, Richmond, and Henrico and people from other states have expressed interest. Other drag queens are also participating: Livigne said when she first started, TP Lords (a drag queen from Florida) already had the idea going, and her friends, Evon Michelle and Amazing Grace, have started the Baltimore and Raleigh, N.C., legs respectively.
The show has branched out and got bigger, said Livigne, whose ultimate goal is to get a small party bus full of queens and eventually have the show take over America.
“I would love to have a mobile dressing room where drag queens just pop out the back door and the show starts from there, I think that’d be so cool [and] that would be my expansion, my growth,” Livigne said, “but if other people would love to do it in their state, I would love to give them the knowledge that I have and [have] Driveway Drag Shows across the whole country … Drag Across America.”
Though Driveway Drag Show has been a financial upgrade for Livigne, it has also provided her with more longevity in drag than ever before. After being in the nightlife for so long, Livigne said it’s like getting a promotion in drag and she is able to cut back on other gigs and watch and support the shows.
“I’ve monopolized drag shows here in Richmond for a long time, I just come up with a new idea, a new show and all of a sudden now, I have three brunches here, two night shows over here, I got this competition here,” Livigne said, “so it’s gonna be really exciting to let someone else have that opportunity, because everyone else has passions just like me and now my passion is a little bit more upgraded, but because I’m moving up upgraded, I have that opportunity to turn around and support everything that’s behind me.”
Another benefit of the shows have been the people she’s met, and Livigne said it has been rewarding to hear their stories and get to know them. She also lauded parents who have been using the shows as a way to connect with their LGBTQ kids.
“We have been a bridge to some parents where their children have said they’ve recently come out as trans to them and they wanted to show them that they love them and they support them,” Livigne said. “It’s been really, really incredible to be that bridge and I was just thinking selfishly, ‘I’ll still be able to do drag and I get to do what I wanna do,’ but by doing what I love to do, it made so many people’s lives better and it’s been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done in my life.”
For more information and to book the queens, check out Driveway Drag Show on Facebook and Instagram.
