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  • Orlando drag performer Dollya Black leaves ‘Dragula,’ and drag, behind

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    Credit: courtesy image

    Dollya Black is no more. But it wasn’t an Extermination Challenge at the end of a Dragula episode that did her in; it was an act of self-preservation.

    This might seem counterintuitive for a performer seemingly at the height of her powers and notoriety. But after a strong showing on the second season of buzzy Shudder/AMC reality competition The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, Dollya Black walked away from the show and then from drag. And that’s only part of a pivotal year for this Orlando performer.

    In the midst of this maelstrom year of tremendous personal change, she found that the armor of being Dollya “kind of wasn’t necessary anymore, and it was time to put it to rest,” Black tells Orlando Weekly in a rare interview.

    At first though, this seemed like an auspicious and long-overdue comeback. It would be the Orlando drag performer’s return to the wildly popular dark drag underworld of the Boulet Brothers-helmed reality competition for the all-star Dragula: Titans competition. Black, a longtime local performer renowned for horror-inspired looks and dizzying performances, came up in the drag scene as part of Black Haüs and had previously been a contestant on Season 3 of Dragula back in 2019, where she won runner-up. Aside from Black, 13 other horror- and alt-drag notables were competing to win the crown of “Queen of the Underworld” from Orlando’s Victoria Elizabeth Black. Things didn’t work out.

    As this very dramatic season of Titans unfolded, Black became weary of the conflicts and putting her “art on the chopping block” of reality television. She walked off the set during the particularly heated “Last Supper Reunion.”.

    But that wouldn’t be all she was leaving behind. Toward the end of a weekly run of co-hosting viewing parties of Titans at Savoy with erstwhile Black Haüs  sisters Victoria Elizabeth and Opulence Black, she let slip on stage that she would be quitting drag. For Black, it was about reclaiming her persona and keeping it for herself, and a realization that Dollya Black’s story, for now, was finished.

    Black says, “Doing that last show … I had performed ‘Everybody Dies’ when the finale happened for Season 3, and it was an incredibly emotional moment for me. I remember I got off stage and I fell into my partner at the time’s arms, and I was just so distraught about losing. And the juxtaposition to now, performing that same song as my final number was so cathartic. I looked at the audience and I was like, ‘Wow, I love Orlando. What a beautiful story, from start to finish.’ It felt complete, like it felt like I did what I needed to do.”

    But a stint on reality television and leaving drag were not even close to the biggest leaps for Black this year. She also began her transition journey. Black started hormone therapy in January after months of careful consideration. Then she came out publicly as a trans woman in June, Pride month.

    “When we filmed Dragula, I had the most beautiful conversations — I’m sure that some people reading this are going to be like, ‘What beautiful conversations?’ — with Priscilla Chambers and Jade Jolie just about existing. Being perceived feminine and what it feels like. When I was out in California filming, I started using the women’s restroom. That was a huge step for me. That opened the door for me to just be like, ‘I think this is how I want to exist.’ When I made it back from Dragula, I was like, ‘I think I’m ready to be Dakota,’” says Black. “It just felt really important to be visible during Pride Month this year, and also fuck Trump and fuck Ron DeSantis. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not gonna just stop being
    trans.”

    Reactions from friends and the community at large were roundly positive, if not exactly surprised.

    “All of my dolls in Orlando were like, ‘Girl, gag. We were just waiting for you to realize it,’” says Black. “My friends have been so supportive. It’s just crazy how blessed I am in that regard. And you know, my trans-masc and trans-femme [friends] and the cis women in my life have built me up in a way that, when I started transitioning, it was like I didn’t have to build up this confidence. It was already there.”

    Though there are positive memories and truly memorable looks — like the stunning “Halloween House Party” and “Gothic Wedding” attire — Black says if she knew then what she knows now, she would never have returned to Dragula.

    “I just don’t think that I really identify with the brand anymore,” says Black. “Going back and doing it again, I was like, ‘Oh shit, this is not your vibe at all. Girl, this is not you.’”

    Which makes it all the more surprising that for several weeks in the autumn, Black co-hosted viewing parties at Savoy with Victoria and Opulence Black. Seeing the reality-television version of yourself on a big screen in front of a crowd had to be tough. But not only was it an emotional reunion for the three members of the Black Haüs family, it was a way for Black to “reclaim her experience on the show” and find closure.

    “Doing those Creature Features with Opulence and Victoria was such a blessing. They’ve been a part of my life since the beginning. My whole Orlando experience is intertwined with them. I would not be the person I am — or the performer that I was — I wouldn’t be any of that without the experiences and encouragement that they gave me and being able to come full circle,” remembers Black. “That night, after we did photos and the lights went off and people started exiting the theater, I looked at Victoria and Opulence, and I just thanked them. I’m so grateful for so many lessons and skills and memories made with two people who I know love me very much.”

    But this isn’t quite the end for Black on the airwaves. There’s still the matter of Central Florida drag stars-go-ghost hunting show Shook on the horizon, getting its Orlando watch party at Will’s Pub on Jan. 5.

    “Shook is such a fun project. We’re premiering it in January here in Orlando with the pilot episode,” says Black. “I’m not sure what the future holds with Shook. We want to film more episodes and continue to make it. But I host the show, and I haven’t exactly figured out how I want to host it. Do I host it as Dakota? Do I bring Dollya back from the grave only for Shook?”

    Questions of ghost-hunting and resurrection aside, looking forward to 2026, Black is content to take life as it comes.  

    “I love to create. I would love to make looks for myself, curate photos. I really want to collaborate more and explore more modeling,” says Black. But then, she’s not really Dollya Black anymore.

    So for 2026, goodbye Dollya — and hello, Dakota Hartenstein. 

    Orlando’s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.

    Victoria Elizabeth Black, Opulence Black, Zade Black, Sixx Black, Anesthesia and Sue Cyde captivated

    This article appears in Dec. 24-30, 2025.



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    Matthew Moyer
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  • 8 great songs about baseball — that aren’t actually about baseball

    8 great songs about baseball — that aren’t actually about baseball

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    Baseball has a long and storied connection with great music. Whether it’s the walk-up music, selections from the seventh-inning stretch or anything featured in those cheesy ad campaigns, it’s these songs that speak to the sport’s greater appeal.

    We’re about halfway through the 2024 Cactus League spring training season, and we’ve got America’s pastime on the brain. If you truly want to understand baseball, you need only listen to the following collection of eight songs. A mix of crowd favorites and oddball choices, the list speaks volumes about baseball’s cultural significance, its inner workings and politics, and even its core values. That, and these songs sure beat another terrible rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

    John Mellencamp, ‘Authority Song’

    Do you ever think about the role of baseball (and if so, why are you lonely)? Whereas rough-and-tumble football feels rebellious, and basketball seems too squeaky to transcend corporate connotations, baseball falls somewhere in the middle ground. Sure, it’s a multi-billion-dollar enterprise, but it’s mostly retained some down-home sensibility from its early days. Which is why John Mellencamp’s “Authority Song” feels like a great choice: It’s about a man stuck between doing what feels good (fighting, rabble-rousing) and what’s right (growing up, getting on with life), and that just feels like the best analogy for this sport. Maybe baseball leans more one way than the other these days, but that earnest spirit still imbues the game. That, and $5 beers, of course.

    Wheatus, ‘Teenage Dirtbag’

    Anyone who has heard “Teenage Dirtbag” — it’s been played in the neighborhood of 4 trillion times since its June 2000 release — knows that Wheatus captured something essential. Our adolescent protagonist struggles with trying to find himself and fall in love, learning a mighty lesson about the real power of self-acceptance. And baseball certainly could stand to do the same. Even if it is technically America’s pastime, baseball is often overshadowed by football and, sometimes, even basketball. Yet like the song’s titular “dirtbag,” baseball does its best when it stays true to those key elements that appeal to all fans: patriotism, honest competition and day-drinking galore. That, baseball fans, is how you get the girl — err, snag big ratings and pack ballparks.

    Rise Against, ‘Hero of War’

    Baseball is America’s star-spangled sports extravaganza. There’s a certain overt patriotism coloring the sport; spectators know to expect little American flag lapels on uniforms or some extra-cheesy rendition of the national anthem. That’s exactly why Rise Against’s “Hero of War” feels like the perfect song for grasping baseball’s true sense of patriotism. It checks all the major boxes: 1. a curious blend of both anti- and pro-war sentiments, 2. acoustic grooves with a sturdy alt rock energy and 3. just enough sentimentality to make this suitable for public crying. God bless America and rock ‘n’ roll.

    Rob Zombie, ‘Dragula’

    Most American sports don’t have the awareness or fortitude to make the hard choices in music selections. Call it corporate influence, or that BMX has a monopoly on anything dope, but baseball seeks more universal appeal. So, if the game wanted to get weird and still satisfy those corporate overlords, they could feature “Dragula” by Rob Zombie. The song’s popped up in sports before, and it needs to make more appearances. What other tune is totally weird and intense, but in a way that doesn’t really seem all that offensive (like the game itself)? Even throngs of people screaming “dig through the ditches” would be both playfully bizarre and still acceptable (also like baseball). And who doesn’t want to hear this song while skipping work on a Tuesday afternoon?

    Christina Aguilera, ‘Fighter’

    A few years back, Phoenix New Times spoke to Arizona Diamondbacks players about their walk-up songs. One lesson seemed immediately clear: Players put little work into their choices. They seem to pick songs less for an overt sound or message and more how they feel as it blares over loudspeakers. Which is why Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter” should be blared full volume at more parks. Is this song actually about personal empowerment and coming back from total romantic loss? Sure is. But could a team then re-appropriate it into this “Jock Jams”-esque ditty about overcoming the odds and fighting on with a champion’s heart? Yes! If years of listening to baseball songs have taught us anything, it’s the best choices reek of irony.

    Rush, ‘Tom Sawyer’

    A lot’s already been said about baseball as a whole. Like, how it’s got real carny vibes. Or that it’s not nearly as popular as other sports. But lest we forget, it’s also deeply nerdy. It’s something about all the emphasis on stats, the uniforms and perhaps the helmets that scream “dweeb energy.” But that’s why Rush’s seminal hit “Tom Sawyer” is the perfect song for addressing the soul of baseball. It’s this unabashedly nerdy prog-rock jam that’s all about standing as your own person. It rocks not just because of Neil Peart’s drumming (though that helps), but because the band readily embraces what makes this song so weird and left-of-center. Baseball is at its collective best doing the same, maintaining its authenticity despite all the pinstripe uniforms in the world.

    Shakira, ‘Whenever, Wherever’

    This choice feels like it ticks a lot of the same boxes as some of the other songs. It’s a totally weird appropriation of a song about the wonders of finding true love. It’s also kind of nerdy to admit you still happen to love it all the way in 2024. And it’s got that sense of directness and simplicity that makes for truly great baseball anthems. Yet this song does speak to a larger truth about the game: If you play it, people will come to have a little fun. This song, like baseball itself, transcends any rules or observations, and captures people’s attention for being too fun to truly deny. Maybe it’s not a perfect fit like some of the other songs, but it would kill during almost any seventh-inning stretch — especially as an entire ballpark shakes their hips in collective joy.

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    Chris Coplan

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