Week 34: Drag Dreamgirls Revue
- elenalilamartin
- Aug 26, 2023
- 4 min read
Week 34: August 20th-26th, 2023
As many of you know, I am a huge reality TV fan (see: Survivor, cooking competition shows, etc.), and recently I've gotten really into RuPaul's Drag Race (RPDR). I've seen a couple episodes here and there over the years, but I decided to start from the verrrry beginning and watch the whole thing. There are 15 regular seasons, and 8 All-Star seasons. I am currently on Season 14, just finished All-Stars 6, and have Season 15, All-Stars 7 and All-Stars 8 remaining. Aside from the drama, the tea, and the constant serving of looks, I love this show because of the insight it has given America into the world of female impersonation and loud and proud queer spaces. It's been amazing seeing the evolution of the show overtime, getting deeply attached to the queens and the judges, and fully immersing myself in the RPDR experience.
The first winner of All-Stars 1 was Chad Michaels, a drag queen specializing in Cher impersonation who is from San Diego. One night, my friend Mel and I were talking about how talented Chad Michaels is, and we wondered if there were any Chad Michaels shows coming up in San Diego. As I was driving her home, Mel did what all of us young folks do: looked it up on Google! Lo and behold, Chad Michaels is a regular host at Urban Mo's Bar and Grill in Hillcrest! Tickets to these shows are only $15, and we immediately bought them for the next show without question. The cherry on top was that the next show featured another one of my favorite queens, Morgan McMichaels, alongside Mayhem Miller, Dolly Levi, and Fontasia LaMour.
The upcoming show was a classic Dreamgirls Revue and I couldn't have been more excited.
The flyer compared to the whiteboard outside of Urban Mo's is much more extravagant.
The tickets we had were great. Our seats were literally in the front row, almost on the stage itself. We got seated and had time to order food and drinks before the show started. I ordered a house margarita and a crispy chicken ranch wrap. Both were delicious, but honestly I think I still would've loved the show even if the food tasted like cardboard. Thankfully, it didn't.
One of the funniest moments of the show was right at the beginning, after the opening "Dreamgirls" song. Chad Michaels presented a hilarious photo of the "Shady Bunch," the mugshots of the criminals who tried to overturn the 2020 election. "We're saving the best for tomorrow," Chad said. And she was right. Trump's mugshot represents an incredible moment in history.
Before this, I had only been to a couple drag shows. None of them compared to actually seeing some of the drag queens I know and love from RuPaul's Drag Race. Their talent transcended the TV screen when I watched the show at home, and being able to feel that magnetism and star power in person was incredible.
Each moment of the show was awesome, but a particularly special moment was when the queens brought out a birthday cake for a man sitting in the back of the audience. Apparently, his name is Fernando and his group of friends attends these shows every single week. Chad described them as "the anchors in the audience that we look for and love." It was so sweet seeing their appreciation and recognition for this group's constant and reliable support. There was even a special song performed - "Fernando" (ABBA) from Mamma Mia by Chad Michaels as Cher.
Unfortunately, Mayhem Miller was unable to make it to the show (Morgan told us later that she hurt her back), so Disco Dollie stepped in as a substitute. She did not disappoint.
It wasn't only Fernando's birthday. It was also Dolly Levi's 66th birthday, and she was incredibly fit and spry for her age. I hope to be like her, still doing high-kicks and full splits at almost 70 years old. Her performances were sweet, sincere and truly amazing to watch. My favorite was "Hello, Dolly."
Fontasia LaMour, described as "the original Dreamgirl" was an absolute professional, gracing the stage with glamour and poise.
Morgan McMichaels was absolutely the most charismatic performer of the group. Even from the multiple times she was on RuPaul's Drag Race, anyone can tell that Morgan is a natural born star. She captivates the audience, not only with her beauty and stunning fashion looks, but with her willingness to take risks and turn it out when lip-syncing.
The multitude of costume changes, stunts, and amazing personalities of the performers at the Dreamgirls Revue were inspiring, fun, and overall, just great goddamn entertainment.
At the end of the show, we were able to meet the queens, and even got pictures with Chad and Morgan. We kept it brief because there was a line forming, but I made sure to tell them how inspiring, talented and absolutely gorgeous they are.
I left the show feeling so amazed by the performances and so lucky because I got to meet some Drag Royalty. I hope I get to go to more shows in the future. Now I've got to go finish the rest of RuPaul's Drag Race so I'm all caught up.
See you next week.
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