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Pandora Boxx

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Pandora Boxx
Pandora Boxx in 2023
Born
Michael R. Steck[1]

(1972-05-02) May 2, 1972 (age 52)
Jamestown, New York, U.S.
EducationSt. John Fisher University
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian, drag queen, musician, playwright, reality television personality
Years active1997–present
Known for

RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars (season 1 and season 6)

TitleMiss Congeniality
PredecessorNina Flowers
SuccessorYara Sofia
Websitewww.pandoraboxx.com

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.

Early life

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

Albums

[edit]
Title Year
BOXX 2024

Singles

[edit]
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
[edit]
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

[edit]

Film

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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

[edit]
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 [64]
2021 Binge Queens [65]
2023 The David Pakman Show [66]
A QUEEN WHO [67]
Bring Back My Girls
2024 Very Delta [68]

References

[edit]
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  54. ^ O'Hara, Eureka (February 18, 2022). "Eureka O'Hara - WERQ! (Official Music Video)" (YouTube video). Archived from the original on February 18, 2022. Retrieved February 24, 2022.
  55. ^ Asea, Adam (March 2, 2014). "Watch Now: Pandora Boxx on Ring My Bell". WorldofWonder.net. Archived from the original on November 24, 2020. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
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