The powers that be at World of Wonder are to thank for this smart grouping of Drag Race alumna Naomi Smalls, Derrick Barry, Vanessa Vanjie Matteo, Kameron Michaels, Asia O’Hara and Yvie Oddly. All are remarkable in their own right, as well as memorable from their past seasons on the LEGENDARY reality show: RuPaul’s Drag Race.
In this first episode, viewers are reunited with these six delightful queens. We get to watch them navigate the notion of taking a version of their reality show to a live stage in Las Vegas (albeit hurriedly). It’s head-spinning whimsy as rehearsals for the show begin in LA and are quickly transitioned to Vegas under the direction of Jamal Sims.
We are reintroduced to Miss Vanjie. (You’ll recall her early dismissal from the regular RuPaul competition.) But she’s back here, more fiery than ever. She relishes a show commitment in Las Vegas, and possibly a commitment with a new partner. (No shade, but I was Team Branjie. Miss you, Brooklyn.)
Next we meet Asia O’Hara, a final contender on Season 10 of RPDR. Here, she is the most maternal of the queens, and the emcee of the revue. Asia is orderly and poignant, especially when checking in with her groom whom she intends to marry, despite the craziness of having to mount this new stage spectacle.
Asia syncs up with Kameron Michaels who is given more to do here. Also a finalist on the same season as Asia, we get to see a few more layers to Kameron than we did on Drag Race. Although she was characterized as quiet back then, she does have more to say in Vegas, and more at stake as she tries to juggle a long-distance relationship.
In comes Vegas resident Derrick Barry. Derrick, known for his Britney, bitch, is a level three hurricane waiting to happen. (Derrick literally flies into the Flamingo Showroom from the ceiling.) And when you add in his partners Mack and Nick San Pedro, batten down the hatches and seek cover. This revue is on their turf. And that alone gives them a home court advantage.
This brings us to the remaining roster of talent: Naomi Smalls and Yvie Oddly. Yvie is her charming, bubbly and affectionate self with her contagious laugh and sick moves. The only bit of concern we glimpse during this episode is when we’re reminded of her battle with ‘hEDS’, a diagnosis that affects her joints and renders her practically immobile. Ironic, because she is known for her uber-flexibility when she performs, a trait that garnered her a win on Season 11 of Drag Race.
Naomi, the beautiful, but more soft spoken (and leggiest) of the bunch, has come into her own as a queen to watch out for since placing as a finalist on Season 8. When meeting with Yvie to have a pedicure, she does not hold back in her retelling of how she and Derrick aren’t the best of friends, a fellow competitor on said season.
Which brings us to the crux of this show. At a party hosted by Derrick, the claws come out. Mack, Derrick’s other third (AKA Nebraska Thunderfuck), and Naomi get into a bit of a squabble, and it is here, faithful drag fans, that I implore you to freeze frame.
Quickly identify (internet style) who you are in the paused image. (Me? I am Coco Montrese. A cameo in the background. Mouth agape. “Get her, Jade!”)
This alone is enough shade and tea to fill a season of Drag Race. All comes quickly to a head in the FIRST EPISODE! Even an attempt to resolve everything with the queens gambling on The Flamingo’s casino floor quickly backfires. Former owner and mobster Bugsy Siegel had nothing on these queens!
So, if you didn’t get enough drama from All Stars 5, no worries. Pop on this series and get your LIFE from just this episode. Plus, throw in a surprise visit from RuPaul, the looming opening date of the revue, AND the encroachment of a global pandemic, and, take it from me, you have yourself A SHOW, bitch! And, if for some reason you disagree, check your lipstick before you come for me.
RuPaul’s Drag Race – Vegas Revue is currently airing on VH1 with new episodes appearing every Friday night.
