“Seven Brides for Dracula” is a cute little play good for middle school students. It required seven females, but we were short on girls that year, so Mrs. Lu suggested to the class that they could either borrow two girls from the younger grades or cast two boys dressed as women wearing wigs.
One boy shot his hand up in the air immediately, ” I wanna do it! I wanna do it!” he proclaimed. He was jumping out of his seat with enthusiasm. No one else said anything. Mrs. Lu smiled and nodded to him knowingly.
It was quiet for a moment, then another boy popped up and said seriously, “I want to do it too. I have a very close family friend who is gay and does drag, so I will do it to honor him.” This was the same boy who stated on the first day of school that his main goal in life was to find a cure for AIDS. This wouldn’t have been so amazing, except that these were twelve and thirteen year old adolescent boys!
They dressed in matching outfits. Blond wigs and long black dresses with heels. They were very particular about how they looked. They wore panty hose over their jockey shorts and small sized brassieres which we stuffed with old rolled up socks. They didnot look over done or ostentatious, but classy.
Since they were playing twins, they had to deliver all their lines in unison. They practiced on their own until they got it perfectly timed. Their glamorous make up we with false eye lashes and the whole bit, made them look fabulous! Mrs. Lu was very proud of them for pushing the envelope.
(First published 1/3/12)
