The queens channel their inner Housewives as RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue hits the strip
RuPaul’s Drag Race
is as popular as ever and fans are clamoring for new ways to follow their
favorite queens. The time is right for another Drag Race spin-off. Filmed in the Before Times, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue follows
six fan-favorite queens as they head to Las Vegas to headline RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!, the new
show-in-residence at Flamingo Las Vegas. While the live show will likely feature
a revolving cast, the six stars of Vegas Revue
are there to kick it off: Yvie Oddly, Asia O’Hara, Derrick Barry, Kameron
Michaels, Naomi Smalls, and Miss Vanjie herself, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.
Vegas Revue is
pitched as a docuseries, but based on the premiere, viewers should expect less
behind-the-scenes process and more reality TV shenanigans. Plenty of fans watch Drag Race for the interpersonal
dynamics and workroom blowups and they’re well-served by this episode. Not so those
who are more interested in seeing the hard work and creativity that goes into a
live drag show. “Baby, We Made It” has all the pieces of an entertaining docuseries, but it could work on its proportionizing.
The premiere begins with a dramatic full-season trailer.
With promises of in-fighting and the looming specter of COVID-19, the episode
then winds back two weeks to pick up with the queens as they head to Vegas. First
up is Vanjie, who gets some help packing for Vegas from her upstairs neighbor,
season 11 alumnus Silky Nutmeg Ganache. As Vanjie admits, she is a lot, and she’s
immediately full energy, talking a mile a minute and building her narrative.
Vanjie is looking for love, or at least a three month fling, and she figures this
residency may be a good opportunity to find a connection. Next is Asia, who is
looking forward to being in the show and already feeling the pressure. While Vanjie
is on the prowl, Asia will be wedding planning with her fiancé, who’s in nursing
school back in Dallas. Kameron has already landed in Vegas. After touring regularly
post-Drag Race, she’s looking forward
to the consistency of a three-month residency. The person she’s seeing, Andre—no
labels, please—is in New York, but based on the trailer, there’s at least a
little smooching with Vanjie in her future.
With half of the introductions out of the way, Asia stops by
Kameron’s apartment to pick her up and the narrative finally gets going.
Everyone heads into the Flamingo for their first day of on-site rehearsal and their
excitement is infectious. However, as rehearsal gets underway, the seams start
to show. Everyone has been working hard in L.A. to get the choreography down,
but there’s still a lot to do, and only two weeks to lock everything in.
The choreography may look familiar, but rest assured, Jamal Sims has some gags
planned for the live show. Derrick will be jumping onto the stage from 30 feet
in the air. This leads neatly into the introduction of Derrick, who is the Vegas
resident of the main cast. Derrick has talked about his boyfriends Nick and
Mack on Drag Race before—they’re in a
three-way relationship—but it’s neat to see a bit more of them interacting. Back
at the Flamingo, Derrick is all strapped in to try the stunt, with the rest of
the cast gleefully looking on from below. She lets out a yelp as she starts to
free fall—the harness kicks in half-way down—but once safely back on the stage,
she looks ready to go again. With that excitement out of the way, Sims pushes
everyone to focus. They have a lot of work to do, and RuPaul will be at
rehearsal tomorrow.
The next day, Yvie heads to the spa with Naomi. While the
other queens’ introductions center significantly on their romantic lives,
Yvie’s focuses on what a great place she’s in professionally and personally,
coming off of her season 11 win, while Naomi’s builds up the conflict between
her and Derrick. Tensions hinted at earlier come to the fore as Yvie and Naomi
discuss Derrick’s style of drag. They do not respect what she does, though they
at least give Derrick her due as a performer, marveling at her willingness to
throw herself into whatever the choreographers ask of her.
There’s a familiar shift in energy the next day when RuPaul
heads into the theater—everyone is immediately on edge. Because several songs
from the show were already previewed during season 12, the producers are able
to show the queens rehearsing a bit, cutting together different moments to one
of the tracks Drag Race fans are
already familiar with. Having a sense of where the queens are headed with the
choreography helps viewers gauge how far along they are in the rehearsal process.
Ru is playing the big scary director here, but the points are valid. There is
definitely work to be done.
Ru’s final note is the most important one: Yvie needs to go
to the doctor. Despite having Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue
disorder, Yvie hasn’t been to the doctor in 10 years. She felt discouraged and
shut down last time, so she’s stayed away, not wanting to hear what she assumes
the doctor will say. The revelation is startling, particularly coming this
week after the death
of beloved Drag Race star Chi Chi
DeVayne from pneumonia at age 34. Yvie’s fear is understandable, and her
health decisions are entirely her own. Still it’s hard not to worry for her.
Later, Kameron’s frustrations and insecurities come pouring
out over Facetime with Andre. This is when the premiere pivots from
backstage making-of documentary to full reality TV. The episode cuts to
flashbacks of Derrick’s party the night before, where the queens fight over
past slights. It’s jarring and unfortunately, just a drop in the bucket. Naomi
leaves the party, upset over her conversation with Mack, and the next day,
Derrick decides to try to smooth things over by inviting the queens out to the casino
floor. Of course, she throws in a side dig at Naomi in the process, so her
intentions seem doubtful. The queens stay in drag after rehearsal and make a
night of it. They seem to be having fun, but then Derrick gets a text from Mack
(who’s coming from a shoot as his drag persona, Nebraska Thunderfuck) asking to
join them. It goes as should be expected, and the episode ends with a fight
brewing between Nebraska and Naomi.
Cutting back and forth to the queens in various drag looks—both
in the moment and in their talking heads—heightens the unreality of it all, and
perhaps that’s the point. It’s ridiculous and fake. But it’s not interesting or
all that funny, and based on the trailer, viewers should expect a lot more of
this as the season continues. Engaging with and exploring the artifice of
reality TV and drag is an intriguing concept, but the series will need to heighten
things markedly if they really want to run with that idea. Until then, the show
is stuck in a hazy middle ground. It’s not specific or technical enough to fill
six episodes with the nitty-gritty of a live drag production in Vegas, and it’ll
need more than a few pointed statements and awkward exchanges if it wants to
out-Housewives the reality competition. Hopefully it will find its voice, and quickly,
as the season develops.
Stray observations
- Zavion Davenport (Chi Chi DeVayne) had been sick for a while,
but his death still came as a shock. The family’s official notification is available on Instagram. - As these performers are going
by their drag names and personas on the Vegas Revue, I’ll be porting over the pronouns used on Drag Race, using the gender of their
drag personas. - We finally have Asia O’Hara’s
Drag Race! I love that she’s the host for the live show. - Are we really still talking about the validity of Derrick’s
drag? It feels very tired. Also, Nebraska reaching for years old reads speaks
poorly of her and points to a ginned up conflict. - Including the Kameron and Vanjie kiss in the trailer is a
great call. It lets viewers eagerly anticipate and over-analyze every moment the
two share leading up to it. - This is nowhere near the show I expected to get from RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue, but
here we go!