70-Year-Old Contestant Wins Brooklyn’s First All-Ages and All-Genders Beauty Pageant: ‘I Got a Standing Ovation‘
“We’re not being put out to pasture because we’re a little bit older. I have a lot to offer,” winner Denise ‘Mistah’ Coles said
Makala Hardy
Pageant winner Denise 'Mistah' Coles surrounded by fellow contestants and event organizersA 70-year-old playwright won Brooklyn’s first all-ages and all-genders beauty pageant!
Denise “Mistah” Coles was crowned the winner of the Feb. 27 event in Brooklyn, N.Y., per pageant organizers Simone Tetteh and Thomas Tomczak.
In an exclusive chat with PEOPLE, Tetteh and Tomczak explained that they were tasked with planning a fundraising event for the Brooklyn Community Kitchen, a soup kitchen that helps feed local residents, and they wanted to plan something that wasn’t just your “standard” fundraiser.
When Tomczak suggested a beauty pageant, they instantly knew it would be an all-ages and all-genders event
“It was important for us to do something that reflected our community and the culture of the kitchen that we volunteer at — the volunteers as well as the greater Brooklyn area. We wanted to do something that felt really inclusive and of course really fun,” Tetteh explained.
They put out an open call for contestants — including talking about it on the local news podcast 1010Wins — which is ultimately how Coles found out about it.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“She was everything,” Tetteh said when recalling their first meeting with Coles at the show’s first rehearsal. “She got a standing ovation [at the show] and [...] I saw some people tearing up.”
While speaking to The New York Post about the experience, Coles said that the win came as a surprise.
“I knew it was going to be a ball, that we were going to have fun. I really did not expect to be winning anything, but I did,” Coles, who has written four off-Broadway plays, told the outlet.
Related: Angels of Skid Row: A Mom Turned the Tragedy of Her Son's Death Into a Lifeline for the Homeless
“Being a person of an older age, we have to be understood. We’re not being put out to pasture because we’re a little bit older. I have a lot to offer,” Coles continued.
According to The Post, Coles took the stage in drag, singing and performing in a masculine outfit and fake beard. She sang, “I Know Where I’ve Been,” a song about racial equality from the musical Hairspray.
“I’ve been singing it for years and will continue to sing it until I don’t have to sing it anymore,” Coles told the outlet.
Coles went on to describe her performance, noting: “In the beginning I have [trousers] and everything else, and by the end of the song that I sing, I’m in a red dress, red wig, lipstick.”
“And I got a standing ovation, believe it or not,” she added.
Tomczak told PEOPLE that the event was attended by more than 200 people, with Tetteh adding that they “ran out of chairs.”
“The community really came through,” Tetteh continued, while also praising all of the show’s 11 contestants. “We felt so lucky that these people were just like, ‘Yeah, I'll do this thing,’ and they also happened to be super charismatic, hilarious, interesting, heartwarming — the whole thing.”
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
Brooklyn Community Kitchen is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit dedicated to nourishing unhoused people and people in need. Their meals are often cooked from scratch using donated “produce and surplus ingredients from local restaurants and food organizations,” per their website.
You can donate to the Brooklyn Community Kitchen and help provide essential services to their neighbors here.
Read the original article on People
