Always in the spotlight, Alpha Awlknight has big drag dreams for themselves and local scene
Sitting in front of a brightly-lit mirror in the corner of a Lacey garage, Daniel, 31, gets ready at their battle station. Not an hour passes before Daniel has transformed into Alpha Q Awlknight, a modern drag matriarch to a gaggle of performers stretching from Everett to Portland.
Awlknight, who is nonbinary, said they’re a creator and a performer at heart, and a state worker by trade. They have been practicing different crafts, including makeup, for about seven years, and started performing about five years ago. Since then, they have taken under their wing six “drag children” and hosted countless shows in an effort to put themselves and the local drag scene in the spotlight.
In the beginning
Art is what inspired Awlknight to pursue drag, they told The Olympian. They’re an acrylic abstract painter, and one time several years ago had an itch to paint but had no canvas. They found some dollar-store makeup their now-fiance had used during a goth phase and thought, “Well, I can use my face and body as a canvas.”
They joke that documenting their makeup process is “a smear campaign,” all while explaining every step of what they were doing, in true drag mom fashion.
“What I’m doing now is I’m putting contour to rearrange the shadows on my face,” they said. “I like to put some down here because it makes my bottom lip look bigger after I paint it in. Then obviously you gotta carve out your nose.”
The first time Awlknight went out in drag was for Pride 2018, followed by some small events with friends and a gender-bending Halloween costume that involved publicly wearing heels for the first time. They said one of their first performances was broadcast on live TV in the middle of the night, which they saw as a positive sign from the universe that they were on the right track.
Originally from Alaska, Awlknight moved to Washington to attend school at Western Washington University in Bellingham. It’s where they realized they were queer and where they met their fiance. Now, they return to campus for its annual drag show that raises money for charity.
They said they always get really emotional after performing at WWU.
“Deep down in my heart I think I knew I wanted to be a performer,” they said. “But I never imagined I’d be on that stage and taking up that space. It feels like a full circle moment. I started out here and this is where I realized I’m queer, now I’m helping other people figure that out and thrive in that.”
These days, Awlknight is performing and managing while still making art, jewelry, wigs and more. They started a production company with drag daughter Shenanigans that has helped pave the way for other queer performers. And they make audio mixes occasionally.
“I try to accept situations even if I know they’ll be challenging, to push myself and learn from something, grow as a performer and an entertainer and community member,” Awlknight said.
Under the Big Top
Their drag daughter, Valerie Veeta, produced their first show that featured themselves, Awlknight and several others Jan. 14 in Tumwater.
Nearly 100 people filled the seats at Heritage Distilling Company that Saturday night. Veeta’s first production under Awlknight had sold out.
Called Under the Big Top, the event featured dancing, live singing and lip syncing from Awlknight, some of their drag children and special guests.
Becoming a drag mom sort of came all at once, Awlknight said. When they started performing, it was just themself and drag cryptid Shenanigans side by side. Then Shenanigans moved to Portland and broke Awlknight’s heart, they said, and they restarted their search for community.
Then came Valerie Veeta from Rainier, who joined Awlknight at the end of 2021. After a year of working around the state and in Portland, Awlknight met their next four “kids.”
Velveteen, Frankie Rabbit, Peri Winkle and Hugh Jass came to Awlknight as a drag house. They invited Awlknight to one of their performances in 2022, and things took off from there. They started helping the young drag stars figure out the business and how to stay organized.
Awlknight called themselves the Kris Jenner of the bunch, not wanting to micromanage but make sure their drag kids can get their foot in the door.
“In this business, with a lot of the shows, it’s hard to get in without knowing someone,” they said. “So you have to make your own opportunities.”
Michael Malek, a financial analyst for the City of Yelm when he’s off the stage, is making a name for himself as Valerie Veeta. She’s relatively new to the scene, having started practicing makeup during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Malek first saw Awlknight perform in January 2020, a few months before he started practicing makeup and posting about it on social media. He reached out to Awlknight at one point and said how much he enjoyed their performance. Awlknight told him he had great potential after seeing his work, and the friendship grew. Veeta performed in her first show a few months later.
Veeta said she’s very grateful for Awlknight’s “not without my children” mentality. They make sure to include their drag family in as much as they can.
Crystyl Jewyl Box is a Seattle-based queen who made the trip down to Tumwater to be part of the recent show. They started doing drag in the fall of 2019 just before going through a divorce. Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was just them in their living room with paint and Youtube tutorials.
They said a number of years ago they realized they wanted more joy in their life. They found that the most joy came when they went to drag shows, so they went more often. It started with an X-rated Bingo event in Kent.
“I asked one of the queens about a year later to paint my face, and she did, and before I got my wigs and stuff on, she said ‘Go look in the mirror,’” they recalled. “And when I looked in the mirror, I thought, ‘Oh hey, it’s you!’ It was a part of myself I hadn’t seen in 20 years.”
Veeta said for it being their first production, it went well, though there was some confusion about theme and start time. But they’re confident about future shows and know what to do to avoid mistakes from their first production. They said it takes building a rapport with new venues and those that come to their shows.
A community of acceptance
Awlknight recognizes it’s been a volatile time for drag performers around the country. They haven’t come across many issues in Thurston County, but they know there are pockets of people that they want to steer clear of. If threats come in the future, Awlknight said they’re fine to hire security, cancel events or whatever else has to happen. They like to make political statements, but not at the sacrifice of safety.
Awlknight said they wish they could do more all-ages events, but there hasn’t been much of an opportunity. They don’t often recommend having children at shows even deemed for all ages, basically for the same reason they wouldn’t condone bringing a child to a metal concert. But more spaces need to exist for those over 18 in the community that don’t involve alcohol, they said.
“I believe it’s possible for drag to be family friendly, but I also think it’s important that queens have that space that’s uniquely their own and unsanitized,” Awlknight said. “Both spaces need to be able to exist so everybody can be able to live their authentic self and be able to experience their queerness as fully and as realistically as they can.”
At the same time, drag is becoming more mainstream and has more followers than it ever did. RuPaul’s Drag Race is on its 15th season and was just picked up by MTV. But those world-famous queens had to get their start somewhere.
Awlknight stressed the importance of supporting drag at the local level because that’s how drag performers make it big. And live shows have elements to them you don’t see on TV, like the messiness and randomness, Awlknight said, thinking back to the Jan. 14 performance and the poor sound quality.
“The more you turn out for those, the more you would have the possibility to potentially see some amazing people on television from your local area because they’ve had the ability to improve themselves through repeat performances, constructive criticism, feedback and tips,” Awlknight said. “Turning out and supporting them can help take them that much further.”
Ryan Porter and Cristian Dumitrescu are owners of Wild Man Brewing Company on Fourth Avenue in downtown Olympia, where Awlknight hosts many of their events.
Porter said he met Awlknight not long after they opened the doors in April 2022. Awlknight pitched hosting drag shows at the new restaurant. Porter had never seen a drag show before, having grown up in the small town of Raymond. But he saw it as a good business opportunity, and the show has only gained popularity since it started.
Porter said the business has always tried to be inclusive and support local performers. He said he loves having Awlknight and their drag children around, and it’s been nice for him to form relationships with people of more diverse backgrounds.
“I think Alpha and their other performers know how we feel,” Porter said. “I think they know we support them and we’re there for them to be able to do their art. We want them to feel like they’re a part of our family.”
Still, Awlknight said their biggest supporters are their partner and their first drag child, Shenanigans. Without their partner, Awlknight would have never dabbled in makeup. And without Shenanigans, Awlknight Entertainment wouldn’t have gotten off the ground.
Though Awlknight and their partner are settled in Lacey, Awlknight wants the world to see their talent. They’re now producing three to four shows a month, all while working a full-time job and constantly creating. They plan to expand their drag footprint, hoping to perform outside of Washington more often.
Awlknight said their work is paying off. Posters for their shows are all over downtown, and their drag children have followings of their own.
“I think it’s queer magic,” Awlknight said. “It’s an opportunity to spread some queer magic in the world.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
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