Beloved drag queen Martha Graham Cracker diagnosed with leukemia, searching for stem cell donor

Genre-bending performer Dito van Reigersberg — better known as the singing drag queen Martha Graham Cracker — is pausing performances as he undergoes treatment for a rare form of leukemia.

Now, the stage veteran is seeking a donor to supply stem cells for a bone-marrow transplant.

Martha Graham Cracker is a sarcastic and seductive singer who has performed cabaret to packed houses across Philadelphia (and Poland, New York, and Las Vegas) since 2005. Martha sings live in shimmering gowns, with chest hair on display, while improvising crowdwork that spawned a cult following, and an album Lashed But Not Leashed about Martha’s wish to be a librarian.

“I am deeply missing my time on stage making music with my band and making high jinks with my friends and fans and objects of my flirtation,” van Reigersberg wrote in a statement — he didn’t want to be interviewed while undergoing chemotherapy. “I cannot wait to be up there in the spotlight, singing my heart to smithereens for a big crowd.”

Longtime Graham Cracker Cabaret pianist-manager and Philadelphia Magazine senior reporter Victor Fiorillo and Philly Family Pride executive director Stephanie Haynes (a Martha superfan), are organizing a donor drive-slash-party through bone marrow registry platform Be the Match on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at Bob and Barbara’s (1509 South St.).

The benefit will feature cabaret act Glitter & Garbage, PJ Brown, and Mr. Johnny Showcase — plus a playlist curated by van Reigersberg. Haynes will oversee two stations where guests can swab their cheeks for stem cells — one outside Bob and Barbara’s and another down the street at The Quick Fixx.

The event at Bob and Barbara’s is 21+, but anyone aged 18 to 40 is encouraged to swab or text SWAB4MARTHA to 61474 for an at-home test kit. Monetary donations to support Be the Match are also encouraged.

“We needed to figure out a way to quickly get matches, like real soon — not in February, now,” said Fiorillo. “But Dito doesn’t want things to be said that make people feel hopeless because he is not hopeless. So while this event is for a very serious cause, it will not be somber.”

Haynes and Fiorillo said there isn’t a goal for how many people swab to search for matching stem cells, but as of Sunday, 235 people had requested at-home kits.

Van Reigersberg’s act adds a depth to Philadelphia’s drag community that can’t be replicated. Unlike many on the traditional drag circuit, Martha doesn’t lip sync her sets, instead belting out Whitney Houston between jokes and come-ons.

“I would take the stage with Martha every night if I could,” said Ian Morrison, 50, whose drag persona Brittany Lynn has been a stalwart of Philly club stages for over 27 years. They dueted on “Islands in the Stream,” with van Reigersberg letting Morrison take the Dolly Parton part, a gracious act that Morrison said few other drag queens would allow.

Van Reigersberg’s impact on Philadelphia is not just as a staunch defender of drag story times: He’s also the cofounder of the city’s much-acclaimed Pig Iron Theatre Co., where he has performed in nearly every production and teaches cabaret workshops.

“He [helped create] a queer-friendly environment that was welcoming to all, outrageous,” said Pig Iron cofounder Quinn Bauriedel.

Bauriedel and van Reigersberg were roommates at Swarthmore College, where the duo’s penchant for staging performances in odd spots on campus morphed into Pig Iron in 1995. Bauriedel says the theater’s students call van Reigersberg the “midwife of cabaret” for his ability to coax reactions out of audiences.

Van Reigersberg as Martha is also a distinctly Philadelphian persona, mixing zaniness with a knack for timing in the way only a drag queen from this city could: Martha knew the only way to close Dîner en Blanc at the Navy Yard during a downpour was with a slightly-too-on-the-nose performance of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” She also knew performing at 2016′s Democratic National Convention required an American flag dress and at least one Lionel Richie cover.

“There’s a lot of Martha in Dito,” said Haynes, who called meeting van Reigersberg in character after that DNC performance “love at first sight.” Now, the pair watch movies over Zoom.

Van Reigersberg’s friends and collaborators have a list of projects they hope to work on after he recovers. Morrison wants to do Cher covers with Martha, and Bauriedel envisions a one-man-show, where van Reigersberg plays all the characters in his favorite movie 9 to 5.

“I look forward to the day in 2023 when Dito calls me and says, ‘Hey, let’s get the band back together,’” Fiorillo said. “Then, we’ll be back to doing our crazy thing.”