Paramount Performances
Majestic drag performers, burlesque dancers, and more gather for Pride ball at historic Austin theater
![Fat Bottom Cabaret](https://austin.culturemap.com/media-library/fat-bottom-cabaret.jpg?id=31391907&width=2000&height=1500&quality=65&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
The Fat Bottom Cabaret (pictured) is turning up the heat at the Paramount Theatre's Majestic Ball.
Austinites who still haven't been to a vogue ball are having a pretty average American experience, but their city is starting to pull ahead of the pack, so they'll have to keep up.
South by Southwest saw its first official ball in 2022, and events are popping up more and more, almost always featuring a member of the House of Lepore. The Paramount Theatre's Majestic Ball, on June 24, will be no different.
Hosted in part by the Legendary Mother Natalie Lepore, this second annual Pride Month event will feature some of the top names in the drag and cabaret circuit, in much nicer digs than usual. The hosting and featured lineup is the same as last year's.
Drag queen Diamond Dior Davenport, the Austin Chronicle's Miss Austin Entertainer of the Year in 2022, hosts the event as a whole, while Lepore hosts the competition itself.
Fat Bottom Cabaret will put on a featured performance, with dancers all above a size 14, and mostly women of color. The group won Best Large Group at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in 2022, and is often seen around Austin contributing their thigh-shimmying goodness to benefits, tributes, and other subversive events.
Even though these anchor performers are high-ranking in their respective fields, all categories of the competition are open to all — that means anyone who visits can walk. The theme is "Disco Fever," calling for 70s looks: "Come dressed to impress in your most glamorous discothèque attire," says the website.
Categories are face, runway, best dressed, and performance, all with a prize of $1,000. Some are broader than others, with opportunities to dress in any '70s fashion, and a list of stars or archetypes to emulate: Diana Ross, Grace Jones, Elton John, Foxy Cleopatra, a ‘70s Soul Train dancer, Austin Powers, or Donna Summer. The best dressed category requests recreated costumes from the Halston Disco Bash at Studio 54 in 1977.
In the week leading up to the ball, the theater will be playing LGBTQ movies including Moonlight; The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; and more.
Tickets to the Majestic Ball ($22, premium sold out) are available at austintheatre.org. The Paramount Theatre has eight community and event partners for the ball: Cofer & Connelly, the Kind Clinic, the Little Gay Shop, Ashwell, the Human Rights Campaign, Scissor Sisters, Lick Honest Ice Creams, and Do512.