One might think a drag version of a baroque oratorio with lyrics taken entirely from the King James Bible would be something out of a fever dream. But Creatine Price (the drag persona of opera singer Jordan Weatherston Pitts), recently pulled off “The Drag Messiah” for the second year in a row at New York City nightclub Red Eye. I was lucky enough to catch the show this time and witness Price’s alchemizing of loud, sexy, queer art with centuries-old sacred Christian music. It was nothing less than electric.
After encountering “Drunk Messiah” bar events that combine varyingly tipsy soloists and choruses of gleeful, inebriated attendees, Price created her exuberantly gay version of 18th-century composer George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah.” Co-produced by nonprofit classical concert producer ChamberQUEER, Price’s version allows for church musicians, professional singers and instrumentalists — people to whom the “Messiah” can feel “like work,” according to Price — to let off some steam. “To make it raunchy and fun like that is just the best,” says Price.
The performances on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 featured soloists Devony Smith and Teresa Castillo, as well as instrumentalists Danny Zelibor (piano), Mercy Be (violin), Anthime Miller (cello), Brahms StrokeHer (viola), and Val Voyle (trumpet). Price, who grew up singing in a boys choir in the Episcopal Church, performed the tenor solos.
