For the fourth year in a row, the inimitable Miss Island Queen, an amateur drag pageant, sold out Key West Theater. The crowd that packed the house was as generous as it was enthusiastic, literally throwing money on the stage while laughing nonstop.
The show featured six local contestants with no drag experience, each paired with a professional drag queen coach. The pairs campaigned for weeks in advance to raise funds leading up to the big night, which featured a hilarious talent competition and other hijinks.
Produced and hosted by Kirby Myers, the show benefited the nonprofit Samuel’s House and this year raised $180,195. In the past four years, Miss Island Queen has raised a staggering total of $395,000.
Oren Polak, aka Chappel Moan, was this year’s hands-down winner, raising $78,000 himself. It was the first win for his coach, Q Mitch, who has been a Miss Island Queen coach since its 2022 inception.
The other five contestant and coach pairings were Mike Kenna as Magic Michelle with Coach Sushi; JD McManus as Jadea Puddin’ Boutte with Coach Puddin’ Taine; Hailey Freeman aka The Whorax with Coach Hugh Janus, who is actually Erin McKenna, the first-ever Miss Island Queen winner who has been coaching ever since.
Paul Murphy competed as Coco Dixie Deluxe with Coach Beatrix Dixie and Kevin Lawson competed as Dia Bolik with Coach Sasha Coxxx.
