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Looking at the audience seated at Club X, it's nearly impossible to tell what show they've gathered to watch.

There is a group of giggling LDS bachelorettes at a large table, a gathering of straight, male, millennial snowboarders at another, gay couples and friends throughout the crowd and a raucous table of grandmothers nearing their 80s.

Jason CoZmo wouldn't have it any other way at his semimonthly drag show, Viva La Diva.

"To be somewhere like Salt Lake City and have such a huge wide range of demographics, I can't think of any other kind of venue or show or party that has all of these types of groups come together," CoZmo said. "That has been the most rewarding thing for me."

CoZmo is a Utah native who chose to skip a full-ride scholarship to Weber State University to move to California and portray the Mad Hatter at Disneyland for years. He stumbled upon a drag contest and fell in love with the art form, moving to New York City to perform professionally.

After 16 years away, CoZmo (née Jason Zambos) has moved back to Magna and is bringing his show to his home state.

"As I traveled the country to perform over the years, I realized the small towns need a show like this more than the big metropolises," CoZmo said. "If I'm going to live here, I'm going to shake things up and make some noise in a good way."

CoZmo never puts on the same show twice as he and his fellow drag queens lip sync as different celebrities each time, largely performing Broadway numbers. In December, he's hosting holiday-themed shows. Even his signature Dolly Parton closing song changes, which is fairly easy to do as he has 19 costumes and 10 wigs to help bring her to life onstage.

His shows have gathered a strong following of repeat customers and newcomers, with the audience so far never dipping below 120 people.

David Van Wagenen of Salt Lake City is one of those dedicated fans.

He identifies himself as a 25-year-old straight man who snowboards and listens to death metal.

"This is not a place people think I would be ever, but I've invited a large number of my friends to come with me, and every time, we have had a blast," Van Wagenen said. "I think that's why it's so fun. He can pick on people, but they have fun at the same time and are not leaving there butt-hurt."

Those women ended up sending CoZmo a Facebook message thanking them for a wonderful night, gushing about the enjoyable time they had.

"I want everyone to know they are welcome," he said. "I even want the Republicans to come in because they have more money to tip and hopefully I can teach them a thing or two."

CoZmo doesn't get too political during his performances, but fully recognizes that his show is filled with men dressing and acting as women onstage.

"People come to the show and see us as acts. As much fun as we are, we take it all off and have to coexist in society, and that's when it gets hard," he said. "You can't just come to the show and love and accept us only onstage. We take it all off and shop at Walmart like everyone else and we coexist in the suburbs."

CoZmo also realizes his show has helped people express themselves in ways they couldn't before, such as Shaun McKinley of Clinton.

McKinley had dressed as Cleopatra once in college and worked as a server at a drag show in Los Angeles. When he saw CoZmo's show, he knew he wanted to be involved. He offered to do backstage work or wait tables. CoZmo didn't have the funding for that, but he needed performers, so McKinley, an English and creative-writing high-school teacher, auditioned.

"It's all been so great. I think my first show I was such a wreck and all the other queens were so nice, which surprised me as drag queens can be known to be catty, but not these girls. They fixed my wig and makeup, my husband was there in the audience, it was great," said McKinley, whose stage name is Roary Hollace.

The political message is not lost on Troy Williams, executive director of Equality Utah, who has attended past shows.

"Drag is outrageously political. We gay men have always loved our divas because they taught us how to rise above oppression and patriarchy. Madonna taught us to express ourselves, Marilyn Monroe showed us how to revolutionize sex. Hillary [Clinton] taught us that politics wasn't just for straight boys. So many powerful women taught us how to command the stage and transform our lives. Drag queens honor them by playing, celebrating and sometimes deconstructing gender," Williams said. "Drag is unapologetically defiant — just like the iconic women our queens emulate."

CoZmo, though, has made that a welcoming environment for everyone. Williams noted that the first show he went to, he was astounded at how large the proportion of straight people was.

Gerri Leonelli, 78, has known CoZmo since he was a child. She has traveled the country to watch his shows. Once, she took her husband, Frank, to one of CoZmo's touring shows several years ago. After the performance, he was complimenting the woman who played Dolly Parton and Liza Minnelli. Leonelli had to correct him to tell him it was Jason Zambos, the young man they had known for years.

"He had no idea, and he was so impressed," she said.

Watching CoZmo grow into his performances has been a joy for Leonelli, but watching him bring diverse groups of people together has been her biggest point of pride.

"He has such a rapport with the audience," she said. "No matter who they are or what they come up with, he's a natural comedian, and he'll come back with something that makes everyone comfortable." —

Viva La Diva Show

Jason CoZmo's semimonthly drag show, Viva La Diva, is celebrating the holidays with three performances.

When • Broadway DIVAS Brunch: Sunday, 12:30 p.m.; Viva La Diva Show: Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 31 at 9 p.m. with a midnight celebration

Where • Club X, 445 S. 400 West, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $25-$35; shows are 21-and-older and tickets are available at cityweeklystore.com

The cast

Harry-It-Winston (local drag queen staple) hosts a pre-party and creates the menu for the buffet.

Salt Lake City's Drag DJ, Flame Fatale, works hand-in-hand with CoZmo in editing all the music for the shows as well as run video and sound.

Celebrity impersonator David Lorence, known best for his Celine Dion and Cher, is the costume designer for the group numbers and many replica looks featured in the show.

Christopher Chavez recently relocated from New York City to run marketing and stage manage the show.

Upcoming cast members include Ava ZaWhore, Roary Hollace, Karl Rice, Lady Go-Diva, Trynity Starr and Nicole Nueman.