MKE Royals are ‘Rethinking Drag’

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A&E Feature

MKE Royals are a newly formed drag king troupe based in Milwaukee. Started in 2021, their shows feature a variety of performances ranging from (but not limited to) breakdancing to storytelling through movement to fire-eating to hula-hooping.

 We spoke to members Melinda Santoyo and Ellery Frost to learn more.

 The troupe formed after Santoyo was asked to put on a drag king show for last year’s Pridetoberfest. She recalls, “I started reaching out to some drag king folks I knew; Ellery and I had been in a previous troupe together plus I’d known her from her burlesque stuff. I asked her if she’d bless us with her performances again and I was lucky enough for her to say yes. We had a great time performing at Pridetoberfest; it was really cohesive, and everyone meshed together. There wasn’t any drama; we all just helped each other out and it went really well.”

When MKE Royals were asked to return for Pridefest this year, Santoyo had no problem tapping everyone in again. “Ellery and I realized that we can’t just keep doing these shows once a year,” she said. “We wanted to do more.”

Rethinking Drag

Frost adds, “One thing I was especially excited about was the fact that the Royals have all been part of different troupes in Milwaukee. We wanted to have a troupe where we’d come together with the emphasis of having fun because a lot of the other troupes we’d been in are more structured with more rules and expectations. I’ve been a performer for a long time and when you’ve been in the scene for so many years, it can get a little monotonous or you only focus on the work aspect of it. I want MKE Royals to be a rejuvenating experience where I can do things that I haven’t done on stage before.”

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 On where their name came from, Santoyo explained, “We wanted to play on that knight theme, like in a chivalrous, gallant way.” 

The troupe’s motto is “Rethinking Drag” and was coined by Frost, who explains, “The hidden phrase in it is “king drag.” In Milwaukee—and I’m sure this is true in other places—king drag in the drag scene gets discredited. It’s considered boring or less artistic than other forms of drag. Since The Miltown Kings started back in 2009-2010, it’s been a common struggle that we’ve all had to deal with where people treat us like we’re less than. It’s discouraging but simultaneously motivating, so the slogan is to try to get people to rethink what king drag is—this is an art form that people do spend a lot of time and effort perfecting. It’s not haphazardly put together; we’re passionate about it and dedicated to it.”

 As of now, MKE Royals’ full cast includes Nick Bone-Us (Santoyo), Dev Estate (Frost), Leo Long, ScorpiErotic, JJ O’Ryder, Dick Fitswell, Woody Reed, Bentley Brown and Noel the Gentleman. The troupe has plans to work with This Is It in the coming months. “We really want to set the scene to make our shows more theatrical so we’re gathering materials like posters and backdrops,” Frost says. “Once I have that laid out then we’ll hit the ground running.”

Visit MKE Royals’ online shop and Facebook page in the meantime.