Pandora Boxx

Michael R. Steck (born May 2, 1972), better known by the stage name Pandora Boxx, is an American drag queen, comedian, and reality television personality from Rochester, New York. Boxx competed in the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race, placing fifth and winning Miss Congeniality, and subsequently returned for the first and sixth seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Boxx also appeared in all three seasons of the Drag Race spin-off series RuPaul's Drag U. Outside of reality television, Pandora Boxx has toured internationally, released several musical singles, and performed in film, television, and theatre.

Pandora Boxx
Pandora Boxx in 2023
Born	Michael R. Steck[1] (1972-05-02) May 2, 1972 (age 52) Jamestown, New York, U.S.
Education	St. John Fisher University
Occupation(s)	Actor, comedian, drag queen, musician, playwright, reality television personality
Years active	1997–present
Known for	RuPaul's Drag Race (season 2) RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 1 and season 6)
Title	Miss Congeniality
Predecessor	Nina Flowers
Successor	Yara Sofia
Website	www.pandoraboxx.com

Early life

Michael Steck was born to Sharon Steck in Jamestown, New York.^[2] He has a sister, Susanne.^[3] The family later moved to Olean, New York.^{[4][unreliable source?]} Steck was inspired to do drag after watching the eventual season six contestant Darienne Lake perform in an outdoor festival in Rochester, New York. For his first show at the gay bar Infinity in Rochester, Steck chose his drag name as a play on words of Pandora's box, an artifact found in Greek mythology.^[5]

Career

Boxx auditioned twice before becoming a contestant on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Highlights of her performance on Drag Race include an impersonation of Carol Channing on "Snatch Game" (a Match Game parody challenge). Performing well in the show's challenges, her failure to win one resulted in RuPaul calling her "the Susan Lucci of this competition." She was eliminated in the eighth episode, "Golden Gals."^[6] After her elimination, Entertainment Weekly called her their pick for "America's Next Drag Superstar."^[7][8] She was later voted the Miss Congeniality of her season.

Boxx at RuPaul's DragCon LA 2018

After her elimination, Boxx appeared on the three seasons of the Drag Race spin-off series RuPaul's Drag U. She also appeared in a television commercial for Absolut Vodka that aired during the third season of Drag Race dressed as a Bloody Mary.^[9]

In 2011, she hosted an episode of Logo's One Night Stand Up, a comedy special filmed live in the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Other performers included Bianca Del Rio, Hedda Lettuce, and Kelly Mantle.^[10] Later that year, Boxx appeared in an Entertainment Weekly photo spread along with Mimi Imfurst that featured Melissa McCarthy channeling Divine.^[11] On September 27, 2011, Boxx released her first single "Cooter!"

Boxx and Sherry Vine released "Give Me All Your Muff", a parody of "Give Me All Your Luvin'" by Madonna in 2012.^[12] In addition, Boxx released several singles in 2012: a cover version of Samantha Fox's hit song "I Wanna Have Some Fun" and the original song "Nice Car! (Shame About Your Penis)."

Boxx performing at the Gay Games Festival Village in Cleveland, OH

In 2012, Sharon Needles won the online voting to appear on RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars, but revealed that she was not going to participate due to the fact she was the reigning winner of the fourth season. Needles also confirmed that Boxx was her replacement and would appear on the show.^[13] However, Boxx said in an interview that she was cast on AS1 prior to the poll ending. Boxx, along with team partner Mimi Imfurst, formed Team Mandora, and they were the first two contestants eliminated on All Stars, placing 11th/12th. A shocking moment considering her Fan Favorite status in Season 2.

After All Stars 1, Boxx was a playable character with Manila Luzon and Yara Sofia for the "RuPaul's Drag Race: Dragopolis" mobile app.^[14]

In 2013, Boxx began hosting Drag Race recaps for NewNowNext on Logo, called "Drag Center". She also released a single with Adam Barta called "You Seemed Shady to Me", which hit Top 50 on the iTunes comedy single charts.^[15]

She was one of thirty drag queens featured in Miley Cyrus's 2015 VMA performance.^[16]

In 2018, Boxx released "Oops I Think I Pooped", a parody of "This Is How We Do" by Katy Perry. The Music Video featured fellow RuPaul's Drag Race's contestants Alaska Thunderfuck, Jasmine Masters and Mariah Paris Balenciaga, as well as Jai Rodriguez from Queer Eye.^[17]

In May 2019, Boxx appeared on stage during the performance of Christine and the Queens at the season finale for the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race.^[18]

On May 26, 2021, it was revealed that Pandora would be competing in the sixth season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars alongside 12 other contestants, including fellow season 2 contestant Kylie Sonique Love and fellow All Stars' season 1 contestant Yara Sofia, where she placed 6th.^[19] She performed at the Inaugural Jamestown LGBTQ Pride Festival on June 12th, 2021.^[20]

Other work

Besides appearing on Drag Race, she wrote, directed, produced, and appeared in Mrs. Kasha Davis: The Life of an International Housewife Celebrity starring fellow drag performer from Rochester's Tilt nightclub, Mrs. Kasha Davis.^[21] Boxx also wrote a play, The Lipstick Massacre, directed by David Henderson and starring herself and actress Kasha Davis. The plot follows a commercial actress, Daphne Von Hausenpfeffer, whose career is fading. When other actresses up for the same roles start disappearing, it seems Daphne may be the prime suspect.^[22] It was described as "a new murder mystery/B-horror movie/comedy play."^[23] The Lipstick Massacre has played at Rochester's Multi-use Community Cultural Center,^[24] and the Geva Theatre.^[25]

She is usually credited as "Michael Steck" for creative roles.

Personal life

Steck identifies as gender-fluid.^[26][27] Steck became engaged to Ian Dinse on Christmas Day, 2010, making an announcement via Twitter. They married on April 24, 2022.^[28][29] She owns a dog, Fletcher.^[30]

Discography

Singles

Title	Year	Producer	Album
"Cooter!"	2011		Non-album singles
"I Wanna Have Some Fun" (featuring Tim Permanent)	2012
"Nice Car! (Shame About Your Penis)" (featuring Shango)
"You Seemed Shady to Me" (featuring Adam Barta)
"Different"	2014	Electropoint
"Unicorn"	2015
"Oops I Think I Pooped"	2018
"Ridiculous" (featuring Electropoint)	2021	Electropoint
"Cooter: The Ballad"	2024

As featured artist

Title	Year	Album	Ref(s)
"Show Up Queen" (The Cast of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars, Season 6)	2021	Non-album single	[31]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	A Voice from the Lantern	Marvelous Marvin	Short film
2008	Mrs. Kasha Davis: The Life of an International Housewife Celebrity	Delores Matterhatter	Short film; director and writer
2013	X Confident	Iris	Short film
2020	Workhouse Queen[32]	Herself	Documentary
2021	The Bitch Who Stole Christmas[33]	Townsfolk #3
TBD	MEAT[34]	Mabel Bergmann

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Ricki Lake	Herself	Episode: "Get A Grip, Doll...You're Too Fat To Be A Drag Queen"
2003	Boys Will Be Girls	Herself	VH1 Documentary
2010	RuPaul's Drag Race	Herself	Contestant (5th Place)
2010, 2012	RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked	Herself
2010–12	RuPaul's Drag U[35]	Herself
2010	Jeffery & Cole Casserole[36]		Season 2, Episode 5: "The Teen Moms"
2010	The Real Housewives of Atlanta	Guest	Season 3, Episode 3: "White Hot"
2011	One Night Stand Up	Herself	Episode 10: Dragtastic NYC
2012	Are You There, Chelsea?[37]	Tiffany	Episode 8: "Dee Dee's Pillow"
	RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars	Herself	Contestant (11th/12th Place)
2013	She's Living for This[38]	Herself	Season 2, Episode 1
2014	People You Know	Adora Jarr	Episode: "Moving On"
2017	Talk Show The Game Show[39]	Herself	Contestant
2018	Some Kind of Wonderful[40]	Mrs. Betty / Danny	Pilot
	RuPaul's Drag Race[41]	Herself (Guest)	Season 10, Episode 1
2020	AJ and the Queen[42]	Herself	Guest appearance
2021	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 6)[43]	Herself	Contestant (6th Place)
	RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars: Untucked[43]	Herself
2023	#TheDish[44]	Herself	Tubi exclusive

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Theatre	Ref(s)
2016	America's Drag Stars	Herself	Borgata Music Box	[45]
2017	Psycho: The Musical Parody	Lila Crane	San Francisco's Oasis Nightclub	[46][47]

Music video appearances

Year	Song	Director
2012	"Queen" (Xelle)[48]	JC Cassis
2013	"Ru Girl" (Alaska Thunderfuck)	Carly Usdin
2014	"Ransom" (MOXXI)[49]	Kavan the Kid & Nova Rockafeller
2015	"Not A Pearl" (Willam)	Kain O'Keeffe
2015	"The Hillary Song"(Adrian Anchondo)[50]	Adrian Anchondo
2016	"I Fucked Your Dad" (Kevin Yee ft. Pandora Boxx)[51]	Unknown
2017	"Expensive" (Deluxe Edition) (Todrick Hall)[52]	Todrick Hall & Matthew Macar
2018	"Call My Life" (Blair St. Clair)[53]	Shawn Adeli & Brad Hammer
2022	"Werq!" (Eureka O'Hara)[54]	Brad Hammer

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2014	Ring My Bell	Herself	Guest	[55]
2015	Drag Center		Host	[56]
2016	Look At Huh!		Guest	[57]
2017	Spilling The Tea		Panelist	[58]
2019	Tails of the City: Pets 4 Pets		Guest	[59]
2019	The Pit Stop		Guest	[60]
2020	The Golden Pandemic	Rose	Starring role	[61]
2020	Queen With a Cause	Joanna	Episode: "Plastic"	[62]
2021	Whatcha Packin'	Herself	Guest	[63]
2021	Ruvealing the Look		Guest	[64]
2021	Binge Queens		Guest	[65]
2023	The David Pakman Show		Guest	[66]
	A QUEEN WHO		Guest	[67]

• Bring Back My Girls (2023)

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External links

• Official website
• Michael Steck at IMDb