By Karen Parr-Moody
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Anna Freeze has become a drag queen icon in this area. Like the drag queens of legend, from Andy Warhol’s pal Candy Darling to RuPaul, she possesses high cheekbones, long legs and a feminine sex appeal that is unmistakable.
Anna Freeze is the brainchild of Matthew Combs, a hair stylist at Lee’s Salon here, who has been channeling this drag character for more than a decade. He will so yet again when he headlines the Fall Drag Show at Austin Peay State University at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10 at Clement Auditorium.
The real Matthew Combs. A hair stylist at Lee’s Salon here, Combs has been channeling the drag character of Anna Freeze for more than a decade.
Tickets can be purchased through APSU here, or at Lee’s Salon or Fusion nightclub. Student tickets are $3.50 and general admission is $5. On Friday, the day of the show, the general admission tickets will go up to $7 in advance and at the door.
Proceeds will go to the overall mission of the university’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA).
The event will be populated by a chorus line of divas, including drag queens Dixie Normus, Tova Urivitch, Vivaca Versace, Venus Ann Serena, Toi Divine and Ashley Ray. There will be one drag king, Zachary Roberts.
Ryan Ploeckelman, co-host of the Ryan and Gretchen in the Morning show on Q108 radio, will host the show again this year.
As Anna Freeze, Combs will perform three numbers, “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, “Any Man of Mine” by Shania Twain and “Womanizer” by Britney Spears.
He will also perform an opener with Dixie Normus and Toi Divine to the tune of “Bang Bang,” a song made famous by Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj.
Combs said the show this year will be filled with a variety of performances.
“That’s so that it all doesn’t run together and you have a bunch of beautiful queens lip syncing on stage,” he says. “Each one has something new, something you won’t be expecting.”
That includes a couple of Halloween numbers – as Combs says, “some scary stuff” – by Venus Ann Serena, who is known for her steampunk style.
Combs enjoys stepping outside of himself to take on the role of the glamorous diva Anna Freeze, who gets compared to the cartoon Jessica Rabbit because of her red hair.
“I love my red hair,” he says. “I say that’s my natural hair color. I guess it all ties together with my persona. I keep it very sexy and sultry, seductive looking, with the long red hair and the body for days and the long legs. I don’t really go over the top like a Las Vegas showgirl.”
As a bonus, after the APSU show there will be meet-and-greet party with all of the drag queens at Fusion nightclub at 1032 South Riverside Drive. (Fusion is known for producing drag shows every Friday and Saturday night Fusion produces at 11 p.m. and one at 1 pm.)
“So you’ll be able to meet all of the queens,” Combs says.
Karen Parr-Moody began a career as a New York journalist, working as a fashion reporter for Women’s Wear Daily, a beauty editor for Young Miss and a beauty and fashion writer for both In Style and People magazines. Regionally, she has been a writer at The Leaf-Chronicle newspaper and currently writes about arts and culture for Nashville Arts magazine each month.