‘The Pitt’ Star Katherine LaNasa on Where She Keeps Her Emmy and Being a Drag Queen Pageant Judge: ‘It’s About Accepting Everybody’
After winning the Emmy for her work as Dana Evans in “The Pitt,” Katherine LaNasa is revealing where she’s keeping her freshly minted trophy.
“It’s on a bar cabinet that divides our living room and dining room,” LaNasa told Variety on the pink carpet at the Best in Drag pageant at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night. LaNasa and husband Grant Show were among the judges, alongside Judy Greer, Cheri Oteri, Dan Bucatinsky, Camryn Manheim, Kathey Kinney, and Variety’s own Marc Malkin.
Celebrating its 30th year, Best in Drag raises funds for APLA Health’s Alliance for Housing and Healing to support displaced and unhoused individuals with HIV/AIDS, providing subsidized apartments and emergency financial assistance in Los Angeles. This year’s event, hosted by casting director Patrick Rush, raised $250,000. This year’s winner was circus-inspired bearded Miss Wisconsin, Bailey Barnum.
“Best in Drag is just fun as hell, and it’s about accepting everybody where they are, celebrating people as they are,” LaNasa said. “I hope that this event teaches people that drag queens don’t kill, and there’s nothing to be afraid of here.”
The pageant was the the subject matter of “The Little Pageant That Could,” a 2024 documentary centering around the creation and rise of Best in Drag. Oteri said watching the documentary inspired her to want to be involved with the show.
“I really was taken by the documentary, which made me want to come [to support]. I’d say to let your freak flag fly, because it’s so fun to watch and to be an audience member,” the former “Saturday Night Live” star said. “It’s wonderful for every gay young person to learn that there are all different types of ways to be gay.”
