Darvin Roberts applies hairspray to his curled, blond hair before a show at Images in Chattanooga. Applying makeup and styling his hair can take Roberts up to three hours to complete. Roberts, a manager at the bar, has been a female illusionist for 15 years and performs nearly every weekend under the stage name of "Samantha Leblonc." Many female illusionists wear wigs, but Roberts styles his natural hair for performances.When Darvin Roberts walked into his Lee Highway bar, Images, one Friday last month, his clothes were nothing special: a black button-down shirt with blue jeans and black slip-on shoes.
The outfit could never compare to the elaborate women's ensemble he would be wearing by the end of the night.
Roberts, a co-owner of Images, is a practitioner of an "art form" known as female illusionism, or "drag queening." He has perfected his Samantha Leblonc alter ego for 15 years.
Though female illusionists are a staple of gay culture's entertainment, they represent much more, including acceptance and tolerance, Tennessee Valley Pride President Chuck Hill said.
"They entertain, deliver a message and guide the public on how they view themselves," he said. "They have influence over young people and their attitudes. The gay community is very loyal to its [drag] queens."
The transformation
After settling into his dressing room in the back of Images, 6005 Lee Highway, Roberts removed his shirt and draped a flower-patterned robe over his shoulders. Sitting at his vanity, he rummaged through several thousand dollars worth of makeup before deciding on two shades of foundation to apply to his face.
"This hides the man," he said, brushing the foundation across his nose and mouth to cover up any stray whiskers left behind from shaving.
Roberts then focused on his eyes. He double-checked that his eyeliner was applied evenly, then closed his eyes to apply eye shadow.
Roberts' transformation was increasingly visible. The face of a man that originally took a seat in front of the lighted vanity evolved into a woman's in just under an hour.
But there was still work to be done. Next, Roberts applied lipstick and blush. These accessories allow him to be even more creative, he said.
"My makeup depends on the costume I'll be wearing that night," he said.
Roberts didn't need a wig to complete his male-to-female transformation. His blond hair is plenty long already, stretching halfway down his back. To curl it with a curling iron, he simply had to apply hairspray.
"I hate this part more than anything. It's so time-consuming," Roberts said with his hair wrapped in a curling iron. "This entire process takes more time than the whole show combined."
One Chattanooga native who has seen success in the drag-queen industry is Jon Ingle, better known as his female illusionist alias The Lady Bunny.
According to various online sources including The New York Times archives, Ingle started his performances in the 1980s alongside famous female illusionist RuPaul in Atlanta, which has a much larger gay community than Chattanooga. The Lady Bunny has since been seen in movies such as "To Wong Foo," and television shows such as "RuPaul's Drag U," "Sex and the City," and "Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson."
Efforts to contact Ingle for this report were unsuccessful.
Showtime
Finally, at midnight, it was showtime at Images. A spotlight at the back of the room illuminated the bar's empty stage and dance area. The night's entertainers took the stage as an unseen DJ introduced them.
One of the performers was Roberts, in character as Samantha Leblonc. Leblonc strutted around the stage in a short black dress that accentuated fake breasts, fishnet stockings and stiletto shoes before making her way through the audience. She also emceed between some performances.
Stage history
The female illusionist craft in the entertainment industry stretches back many, many years, Hill said. In the early days, it was known mostly as "camp drag," Roberts said, where men unconvincingly dressed as women while maintaining most of their more masculine attributes such as a beard. It was done for mostly comedy, Roberts said.
Female illusionists were also part of the Stonewall riots of June 1969 -- protests that took place against a police raid -- when the gay community in New York City stood up against a system that allowed prosecution for sexual orientation.
Roberts chose the name Samantha because "a man" is in the middle of it, and Leblonc has an "exotic sound" to it, he said. Roberts and other performers will sometimes impersonate famous singers such as Cher and Reba McEntire, he said.
"We give them a run for the money," Roberts said. "It's like seeing a big show in a small area."
Across Town
By day, Chris W. leads a professional life as a dispatcher for a local transportation company. He asked that his last name not be used to protect his privacy.
On a Monday in late March, Chris fully transformed himself into his female alter ego, Alexiya St. Martin. She took to the dance floor of Alan Gold's Discotheque, 1100 McCallie Ave.
Wearing a short, pink and black form-fitting dress, St. Martin twirled, gyrated and lip-synched up and down the bar's dance area to the hit song "Domino" by Jessie J. St. Martin said she only performs to Top 40 music.
While dancing, St. Martin collected $1 bills that audience members waved at her, then thanked them with gentle pecks on the cheek.
"I've been doing this since I was about 19. I like entertaining," St. Martin said during a smoke break before his performance. "I consider it a job. If I'm not entertaining people, then I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing."
It's "the adrenaline rush" of performing that has kept Chris transforming himself into a woman for about 10 years, he said.
"[Drag shows are] just like any other form of entertainment. You set the mood for the crowd," St. Martin said. "When they yell my name it's just like -- I don't know how to describe the feeling."
Dressing as men
Drag shows aren't limited to just men masquerading as women. There's also "drag kinging" -- women dressing as men.
Audra Kelly is part of a small drag-king troupe that, after alternating between Chattanooga and Baltimore, settled in the Chattanooga area in 2009. The troupe now consists of just Audra Kelly -- stage name Myke Manley -- and her partner.
The troupe's performances usually contain a political or gender-role statement, Kelly said.
"We take on a whole other persona to educate as well as entertain," she said. "It's hard to compare drag queens and drag kings. They have a huge talent in transforming themselves, and we do too."
Taking care of business
As both a co-owner of Images and the show director, Roberts said that drag shows are a huge staple for business at Images.
"Our shows are clean, uplifting and entertaining. We don't want to degrade anybody," he said. "I meet new customers every weekend, and I always ask where my first-timers are at. At the end of the show, I always ask them if they've had a good time."
Business is also important to the performers as well, since some of them make a living off tips, Roberts said.
"It's just like any other job," he said. "The more you put in and the harder you work, the more you'll get out of it."