Trivia night begins when a green alien wearing a corset and 6-inch stiletto boots steps out from behind a shimmery curtain.
Her name is Aria PettyOne, and she is reshaping the drag scene in Durango.
When Durangoans think of drag, they might recall the annual Snowdown drag show or the Halloween fundraiser where partygoers were encouraged to dress in drag. Whether it’s considered an art, a performance or an identity, drag takes ideas about gender and turns them upside down. And Jake Riggs, aka Aria, wants to see more of it in Durango.
“My goal is for this to become something big here.” Riggs said. “Since I saw what drag could do for this area, I’ve always said, ‘Why not?’ There can be a million open mic nights for comedy and musicians, why can’t there be five nights for drag?”
At a Starlight Lounge trivia night last month, “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen blared, and Aria PettyOne revved up the crowd with a performance while collecting a flurry of dollar bills from the 50-person gathering.
On stage, PettyOne is high-energy and witty, playing off the crowd. Two other queens, Da VaiVai and ElectriX Cute, took to the stage as performers and co-hosts for the event.
The weekly trivia nights, which started in June 2020, are some of the busiest nights at Starlight, Riggs said.
“It’s one of the better events that we host,” said Matthew McDermott, co-owner at Starlight.
The Starlight events are also the most regular opportunities for drag performances in town. A second drag show series recently launched at 11th Street Station – both new event series came into existence with the help of Aria PettyOne.
That is in addition to the drag events hosted by 4Corners Alliance for Diversity, which has hosted four shows each year, and sporadic shows at Fort Lewis College and other locations.
PettyOne has also gained notoriety around town: Riggs said plenty of people around town greet him as Aria. (He’s fine going by either name, he said.)
“It’s a small town, so my community is used to me being the big green alien,” Riggs said. For pronouns, Riggs goes with she, he or they – as long as it comes from a place of good intention, he said.
In the future, Riggs wants to see multiple queens who can make a full-time or part-time living from drag in Durango.
“I see the potential of it being bigger. I just wish some of these bars would see value,” Riggs said. “You don’t have to tell me you’re an ally or whatever. Just give me the space, give me the opportunity.”
Riggs grew up in Maryland, with parents who work in nursing and construction – a “typical East Coast family,” he said.
“I moved out here kind of sight unseen: just jumped in my car and did the damn thing,” Riggs said.
Riggs did not get involved with a “queer-munity” back home; rather, he grew up with mostly straight friends, he said. That changed when he came to Durango in 2018, where he jumped into Dragrango 2018 and the 4Corners Alliance for Diversity.
He recalled meeting Scarlett Ultra, another Durango drag queen, and watching performers get ready backstage. He saw the art and pride that goes into people’s looks, he said.
“It really was impressive to see, especially because a lot of people are even younger than me,” Riggs said. “It’s really exciting just to watch.”
He “found” Aria PettyOne in 2019 when people around the nation were deciding to storm Area 51.
“I think people do see a bit of themselves in Aria. She could be looked at as an outcast, but she doesn’t let herself,” Riggs said. “She’s brave, she’s tough, she speaks her mind.
“... Being queer, you’re always going to be picked on and bullied. ... A lot of us have that inner voice that just tells us, ‘No. You’re fabulous. You’re amazing, and they don’t get it,’” Riggs said. “That’s what Aria was for me my whole life. I didn’t realize until I gave her a full body and face.”
After a few rounds of trivia, Da VaiVai, an androgynous, steampunk queen stepped up to do a performance. ElectriX Cute, a queen without definition, took to the stage to do a sex education intermission.
At one point, Aria PettyOne made the crowd go wild with a mid-performance knee-drop.
Durango’s scene goes a step beyond traditional. Drag is most commonly associated with men who dress in exaggerated femininity. But it can also be women and gender nonbinary people dressed as men, women or anything in between.
In some larger cities, performers might feel they need to look or dress a certain way to be successful. Not so in Durango.
“Here, it’s like, ‘No, you just need to be passionate about it,’” Riggs said. “If you’re interested in drag, and you want to put the work into it, I will book you.”
People sometimes think drag is a fetish or a kink. But drag is essentially just art, said Ryan Garcia, aka ElectriX Cute and Riggs’ fiancé. ElectriX Cute has been a fungus, a dragon, a monster and a mixture of heightened femininity and masculinity.
“Drag is not gender. Drag is gender expression,” Garcia said. “And there’s lots of different ways you can express your gender. Here in Durango, we don’t have those rules.”
The welcoming vibe brings together some of the most diverse crowds at Durango events, the performers said. And it has become a safe, protected space for people in the LGBTQ community.
Durango residents Mary Stoffel and Lisa Bandy became regulars at Starlight’s drag trivia night and have become friends with Aria and other performers. They said the events bring people together.
“I am (part of the LGBTQ community), and she’s not,” Stoffel said. “And here we are together. ... We have a fun time, and more events just provide more opportunity for people to get to events they wouldn’t normally be able to.”
Levi Aguilar, who performs as Da VaiVai, lives in northern New Mexico and never knew there was a community to join in Durango. The opportunity to perform – it means everything, Aguilar said.
“Venues becoming more open to the LGBTQ: It’s amazing that it’s becoming more of a common thing,” Aguilar said. “Having those opportunities come up means the world because without those opportunities I wouldn’t have been able to get my start.”
Social isolation is a big issue for the queer community, Garcia said.
“I’m just happy that we’re able to find this outlet for individuals, for them to come together, feel welcome and feel that they can be unapologetically themselves,” Garcia said. “And have a good time along the way.”
After almost a year of doing Starlight trivia night and other performances, Riggs is looking at the numbers with growth for the drag scene in mind.
Durango Pride Festival has drawn more than 1,000 people. The 4Corners Alliance First Friday event drew 80 people in May. Riggs regularly has 10 performers on hand for the next event, he said.
“I sold out the 11th Street show in seven days,” Riggs said. “That shows you that (A) drag is wanted here in town and (B) events are wanted again in town.”
He has reached out to several places in town. While he hasn’t had a negative response, several have simply not responded, which he said is almost just as bad.
“If a business will give me the space, I will bring a show,” Riggs said. “I want to build this here. I want this to be great. ... My goal is, I want to be 50, 60, 70 years old and still be able to go to drag shows in Durango.”
With one last, “Remember, I (expletive) love you!” from Aria, the Starlight trivia night closed down. The crowd – many having imbibed enough for one night – dispersed, and Riggs made his way home for the night.
“I literally cry on the way home or when I get home every Thursday because – I’m just happy that they’re happy,” Riggs said. “They could have been having the (worst) week for all I know, and here they are smiling and laughing and having a good time.
“I get to be a small part of that. That's great. I love that.”
smullane@durangoherald.com
