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Pandora Boxx
American drag queen From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Michael Steck (born May 2, 1972), better known by the stage name Pandora Boxx, is an American drag queen, comedian, reality television personality, and singer. Hailing from Rochester, New York, Boxx competed in the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race, placing fifth and winning the title of 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 released several singles and performed in film, television, and theater.
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Early life
Michael Steck was born to Sharon Steck in Jamestown, New York.[2] He has a sister, Susanne.[3][better source needed] The family later moved to Olean, New York.[4][unreliable source?] Steck graduated from Canandaigua Academy in 1991.[5] Steck was inspired to do drag after watching the eventual season six contestant Darienne Lake perform at 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.[6]
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Career
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In 2008, Boxx 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.[7][better source needed] She also wrote a play, The Lipstick Massacre, which was directed by David Henderson, starred Boxx and Mrs. Kasha Davis, and premiered in November 2009 in Rochester. The plot follows a commercial actress, Daphne Von Hausenpfeffer, a fading commercial actress who becomes the prime suspect when other actresses auditioning for the same roles begin to disappear.[8]
Boxx auditioned twice before becoming a contestant on the second season of RuPaul's Drag Race, which aired in 2010. While on the show, she impersonated 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".[9] After her elimination, Entertainment Weekly called her their pick for "America's Next Drag Superstar".[10][11] She was later voted the Miss Congeniality of her season.[citation needed]
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.[12] 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.[13] Later that year, Boxx appeared in an Entertainment Weekly photo spread along with Mimi Imfurst that featured Melissa McCarthy channeling Divine.[14] In September 2011, Boxx released her first single "Cooter!"[citation needed]
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Boxx and Sherry Vine released "Give Me All Your Muff", a parody of "Give Me All Your Luvin'" by Madonna in 2012.[15] In addition, Boxx released several singles in 2012: a cover version of Samantha Fox's song "I Wanna Have Some Fun" and the original song "Nice Car! (Shame About Your Penis)".[citation needed] 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.[16] Boxx, along with team partner Mimi Imfurst, formed Team Mandora. They were the first two contestants eliminated on All Stars, placing 11th and 12th.[citation needed]
After appearing on All Stars 1, Boxx was featured as a playable character along with Manila Luzon and Yara Sofia for RuPaul's Drag Race: Dragopolis, a mobile video game.[17] In 2013, Boxx began hosting Drag Center, a series of RuPaul's Drag Race recaps for NewNowNext. She also released a single with Adam Barta called "You Seemed Shady to Me", which appeared in the top 50 of the iTunes comedy single charts.[18] She was one of thirty drag queens featured in Miley Cyrus's performance of her song "Dooo It!" at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.[19]
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In September 2018, Boxx released "Oops I Think I Pooped", a parody of Katy Perry's song "This Is How We Do". 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.[20] In May 2019, Boxx appeared on stage during Christine and the Queens' performance during the season 11 finale of RuPaul's Drag Race.[21]
In May 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.[22][better source needed] She performed at the inaugural Jamestown LGBTQ Pride Festival in June 2021.[23]
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Personal life
Steck identifies as gender-fluid.[24][25] Steck became engaged to Ian Dinse on Christmas Day, 2010, making an announcement via Twitter. They married on April 24, 2022.[26][27]
Discography
Albums
Singles
As featured artist
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Filmography
Film
Television
Theater
Music video appearances
Web series
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References
External links
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