{"id":7577,"date":"2018-04-20T10:08:40","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T18:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=7577"},"modified":"2018-04-20T10:14:54","modified_gmt":"2018-04-20T18:14:54","slug":"colorful-in-candyland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/colorful-in-candyland\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorful in \u201cCandyland\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Caitlyn Nakatsukasa | Freelancer<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most popular events is back on campus, and its hype at the school is monumental. <\/span><\/p>\n

Western\u2019s 22nd Drag Show took place on April 11 and 12. The show is hosted by the Triangle Alliance and the show, script and choreography is completely run by students. The inaugural event is a unique one that has a mix of drag elements, musical performances and unique styles. Often known for its groundbreaking, upbeat vibe and entertainment, it\u2019s an event that everyone wants to attend every year.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This year\u2019s theme was Candyland and the storyline is closely associated with the gameplay of the board game. Similar to the board game, the Drag Show starts off with two girls wanting to play a game of Candyland and later finding themselves in the board game. They learn that King Kandy, the most respected character that keeps the world colorful, is missing and the townspeople are worried that villain Lord Licorice will take over and ruin all of Candyland. The characters encounter other characters such as Mamma Ginger Tree, Jib and Princess Lolly who all join them in their search for King Kandy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCandyland\u201d focused on pride and discovering self-identity. Candyland\u2019s main message for the audience is to lift each other up in love and encourage others to celebrate who they are and be proud of it. Characters in the show struggled with this and showed that the digression of self love and acceptance was not easy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Lord Licorice was embarrassed about his sexuality which caused him to be angry and become the villain he is. He never meant to hurt anyone but felt ashamed because he was different from other people which caused him to act in the way that he did. This shows the struggle that unfortunately many people today go through with acceptance and self-identification.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Self-discovery is a process, and I really wanted to explore that,\u201d said Suse Doepken, the scriptwriter for the show. \u201cI tried really hard to give a variation of characters and expressions, like genderfluid, questioning, super feminine, super masculine and gay.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Doepken wanted everyone to feel included whether the person is a part of or an ally of the community: \u201cI truly hope the audience was able to find themselves relating or seeing aspects of themselves in the characters I brought to life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Doepken believes that discovering oneself and identity can be a scary and wanted the script of the show to reflect that journey so others out there can relate and not feel alone. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(The show) was fun and exciting. Being part of a community that encourages each other to be themselves is so heartwarming. It\u2019s always nice to be around people that can relate and support you.\u201d said Chase Tabladillo, who played the Duke of Swirl.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This was Tabladillo\u2019s second year in the show, and she believes the show gives people the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone and do things they\u2019ve never done before, such as dancing and performing in front of many people; \u201cWe all had our ups and downs but at the end of the day we all pulled through as a group and made this amazing show happen.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to join drag show after realizing my sexuality and accepting it,\u201d explained Mandy Storm, who performed as Dame Inatrix, and played Jolly. \u201cI have many friends that do it and they encouraged me to at least try, so I did. And I loved every minute of it. I loved that it could be my true self and not be judged.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Storm loved the sense of community the show brought and the friendships that were built during the production. This is her first year being part of drag show. \u201cThe most memorable part of the show was the support and encouragement that was given to me by everyone in the cast. I was able to build relationships that will last forever.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCandyland\u201d was a hit and it was all because of the cast and crew. At the end of the show they stated that society should work together to lift each other up in celebration for who they are. Everyone did an outstanding job executing that message and help make this an event where it\u2019s safe to express yourself in a fun manner. <\/span><\/p>\n

Contact the author at cnakatsukasa15@wou.edu<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Photos by: Paul F. Davis<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caitlyn Nakatsukasa | Freelancer One of the most popular events is back on campus, and its hype at the school is monumental. Western\u2019s 22nd Drag Show took place on April 11 and 12. The show is hosted by the Triangle Alliance and the show, script and choreography is completely run by students. The inaugural event […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1030,"featured_media":7572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1030"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}