By Emily Christensen

At the age of 21, hair and makeup artist Dex O’Neal transformed into D. Vour for the first time. 

The setting: an amateur drag night at XY Bar in Wichita's Old Town District. The song: “Hellfire” from the Disney musical “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.”

“It was surreal, the amount of support that had come out for me for my debut,” O’Neal said. “Feeling the love in the room — it was life changing.”

It wasn’t long before O’Neal snagged their first major crown at the alternative drag competition National Monster Xtreme.

Now 23, they’re about to experience another life-changing moment. The second season of the reality competition show “King of Drag” premieres Sunday on streaming service Revry, and D. Vour is the youngest of the eight-member cast. 

“Season 1 proved the world was ready for drag kings. This cast is going to show everyone just how far the art form can go.” — Christopher Rodriguez, “King of Drag” co-creator

Fans of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the 18-season reality TV juggernaut, will recognize the format: Contestants compete in weekly challenges, and a panel of judges eliminates one or more hopefuls at the end of each episode. But while “Drag Race” exclusively features drag queens, “King of Drag” showcases performers who adopt a wide variety of male personas. Season 1 drew an audience of 2.2 million on the LGBTQ+ streamer, which is free to U.S. viewers. 

“I’m a huge fan of D. Vour, and I knew right away that they were going to go far in this competition,” said Damian Pelliccione, a judge and co-creator of the show. “Their artistry and command of performance were truly impressive.” 

O’Neal, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, might be something of an ingenue in the context of “King of Drag,” but their “dark fantasy” drag persona is anything but. 

“When I imagine my favorite embodiment of masculinity, it's usually the typical gaunt, sleazy vampire you find lurking in a castle in, like, a loose robe,” they said. “You know, the candelabra in the hand.

“I love him. He's a tyrant, though. He takes over my entire life.”

After graduating from Eisenhower High School in Goddard, Kansas, O’Neal studied cosmetology at Eric Fisher Academy. They perfected the art of hand-tying wigs over a four-season tenure with Music Theatre Wichita, their “home away from home,” where they co-led hair and makeup this past season.

Besides wigs, O’Neal can create mustaches, beards, mutton chops, and chest hair — the stock in trade of drag kings. “I made my own happy trail,” they added.

With drag, O’Neal combines their talents for both performance and technical theater. They cite “Face Off,” the SyFy reality show centered on prosthetic makeup, as an influence on their path to monster drag. “I want to be the person who makes it and the model,” they said.

Cosplay, which O’Neal got into as a preteen, was an early way to do both. They started acting in high school and since then have appeared on many Wichita stages, including two turns as Columbia in “The Rocky Horror Show,” most recently at Roxy's Downtown.

“It was like cosplay plus theater plus my own queer identity that I was discovering turned into drag,” they said.

But O’Neal might never have made it onto the lineup at that first amateur drag night were it not for Trey Freund, who performs drag as Imele (pronounced MLA) Format. 

The two have known one another since they were third graders, already fixated on creative pursuits and a bit out of step with their peers. 

“We got along really well and started hanging out all the time,” often play-acting as cats or other creatures. “We were very into being anything but humans,” Freund said. 

 “I feel very lucky as a nonbinary person growing up in Wichita, how accepting my peers were. I came out in my junior year of high school. If people were making fun of me, I didn’t hear it.” — Dex O’Neal

Freund discovered “Drag Race” when he was 15 and recently out of the closet. “I was like, Oh my God, I don’t know how to be gay, but there’s this show about drag queens.” 

He didn’t really think about performing himself until he was 21 and could get into clubs. After his first performance at XY, he was hooked. “When I’m doing drag, I feel so much larger than the limits of my own body,” he said. Soon he was performing every other week and hassling other bar owners to host drag nights.

“The people I started doing drag with really pushed me to be a community member,” Freund said. When O’Neal was old enough, he pulled his old friend into a community of artists he describes as “incredibly fierce.”

As D. Vour, O’Neal made a spectacular first impression. “I came up after their first performance and was starstruck. Oh my god! Like, wow, you're amazing,” said Hallie Linnebur, aka Deadnettle, another nonbinary drag performer who was the National Monster Xtreme in 2023. 

It turned out Linnebur, the proprietor of vintage clothing shop The Hereafter, knew O’Neal as a customer. But as D. Vour, they were unrecognizable. 

“They performed like someone who had been doing it for five years,” Linnebur said. “I know that comes from their background in theater, and obviously they're a wig genius and amazing costumer … but no one in the Wichita drag scene has blown me away like that right out the gate.”

Freund, on the other hand, had been watching O’Neal on stage since they were in elementary-school orchestra.

“I’ve seen Dex performing in so many different ways over the years,” he said. “It’s really wonderful to see their confidence grow and see them really come into themselves on stage. 

“I had known it was going to be amazing, but they just keep raising the bar.” 

After their first appearance, Wichita drag performer Effi Darling offered D. Vour their first paid gig, "so Effie was a huge person in making (my drag career) happen," O'Neal said. Darling, who has organized alternative drag events, inspired them to created their own.

O’Neal teamed up with fellow drag artist Sef Ramirez, aka Sapphie, to host "Eat Your Heart Out," a regular alternative drag night at Kirby’s Beer Store. You can find them on the dive bar’s tiny stage on the last Monday of the month.

Though Kirby's is 21+, "Eat Your Heart Out" draws younger fans who stand outside the fence to get a glimpse of the show. "I see so much of myself in these young emo scene kids," O'Neal said. "That's who I was, and I like to think that maybe I used to feel what they're feeling — that inspiration and that desire to create."

Freund is currently in Los Angeles, working toward his Ph.D in English and composition at UCLA. His drag persona Imele Format, together with Sapphie and D. Vour, are a drag family — a self-selecting unit that supports one another and performs together. When O’Neal decided to audition for “King of Drag,” their family helped them get ready. “I couldn’t have made it this far without those two.”

The strength of O'Neal's audition tape and follow-up interviews with production landed them a spot on Season 2, which filmed this past spring in LA. 

The “hurry up and wait” nature of being on a set reminded O’Neal of tech week in theater. Fortunately, the cast got along. “God, I love each and every single one of them. Those are my brothers for life now,” they said.

O’Neal returned to LA last week, where they filmed the Season 2 reunion yesterday. They’ll hit the red carpet tomorrow at the premiere, and their longtime friend will be by their side.

“I can’t wait to cheer them on from the front row,” Freund said. 

It’s another chapter in what Pelliccione is convinced will be a “big career” for the Kansas performer. 

“I feel very lucky,” O’Neal said. “I feel like I’ve surrounded myself with the correct people.”

“It’s important that the show represents drag from across the country, so I think it’s really special that we have someone from Wichita, Kansas. And I really hope the folks in Wichita tune in and cheer for their home king.” — Damian Pelliccione, “King of Drag” co-creator and judge

The Details

Season 2 of "King of Drag" premieres at 8 p.m. Sunday, September 20. U.S. viewers can watch for free on the Revry app or online. Season 1 is also available on YouTube.

D. Vour will host Wichita parties on Tuesdays at Rain Bistro & Lounge, 518 E. Douglas Ave. Suite 100. Fellow drag kings Brockwurst Sausage and Dougie Nonuts will join them on September 22. The event, which includes drag performances, is 21+ with a $5 cover. It kicks off at 7 p.m.

O'Neal also plans to continue co-hosting "Eat Your Heart Out" alternative drag shows on the last Monday of the month at Kirby's Beer Store, 3227 E. 17th St. The next show will take place September 28. It's also 21+ with a $5 cover, and it starts at 9 p.m.

Related coverage in The SHOUT: A joyful celebration of Wichita drag artists: Lydia Humphreys at CityArts

Emily Christensen is one of the co-founders of The SHOUT. She is a past fellow of the National Critics Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and a recipient of an Arts Writing Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation. Send her a message: emily@shoutwichita.com. 

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