I want to begin this latest review by taking everyone back to the end of April when drag race UK season four was coming to an end. The finale episode saw four drastically different British queens write and record an original verse to a second of the brand-new Ru Paul megamix! This line-up included the wonderfully eccentric Jonbers Blonde, the energetic Black Peppa (who will be appearing at Cardiff Pride this weekend), the bearded icon and eventual winner of the season Danny Beard (who I recently saw at Sherman theatre Cardiff which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/06/11/danny-beard-performance-review/ and most importantly for this review, the incredibly unique alien superstar Cheddar Gorgeous! The Cardiff leg of the party monster tour landed at Glee Club in Cardiff Bay (with the last performance I saw there being https://rhysreviews.com/2022/07/22/red-wig-and-a-silver-dress-experience-review/) and means that by the end of this week, I would have seen three-quarters of the season four top four in the space of a week!
The entire evening was hosted by the incredible drag king sensation Justin Drag who served as the ultimate hype-man getting the audience excited before every single performance! Having seen Justin perform multiple times (including at his transition events, which you can learn more about at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/02/19/transition-2-event-review/) Justin always makes hosting look easy with his charismatic energy and unique tangents that often ended in an impassioned message. Very early on in the evening, Justin spotted a person in the audience who confessed that it was their first ever time at a drag show. This was basically like waving a red rag to a bull as Justin appeared to make it his mission to facilitate a drag show etiquette including how to snap effectively and even attempting to them how to “walk the duck” made famous by season fourteen runner-up Anetra. Thanks to the assistance of Cardiff icon Ice Amour, the audience member managed to have a go at the drag staple and even managed to pull out a modified death drop! This whistle-stop tour of drag etiquette was extremely entertaining and had the audience laughing throughout! Later in the evening, Justin selected four people from the audience to take part in a lip-sync battle in order to win a mystery prize! The four competitors pulled out all the stops where we were treated to a jumping splits, another modified death drop, the worm and a range of breakdance staples! I do not know what the art of selecting audience members is but Justin seemed to have it down to a fine art as both the drag etiquette student and lip-sync competitors were clearly having a fab time and up for a laugh!
The headline of the entire show was none other than the alien superstar and drag race UK season four runner-up Cheddar Gorgeous. While I was a fan of Cheddar during their time on the show, I was not fully aware of her unique perspective of the art form of drag and what it can be used for. In principle, her character of a four-hundred-and-something-year-old alien from outer space should not work alongside the thought-provoking and powerful messages she frequently underpins her performances with. When you think of it from the perspective that even though the character is from a far-off planet yet advocates strongly for queer rights and critiques modern society so intensely, however, it makes these messages even more impactful! The audience were treated to two unique performances from this queen both of which showcase incredible outfits that were unlike anything I have seen before. The second performance was entirely dedicated to the effects of social media where Cheddar cleverly took the phone of someone in the front row who was very clearly glued to watching the show through their own recording. The ability to adapt their performance on the fly shows incredible talent and creative thinking!
I don’t think that as an audience we were given enough time to fully appreciate Asttina Mandel during her time on drag race UK season two. She is probably most well known for her controversial win in the opening episode after supposedly wearing an ASOS jacket for the queen of her home town look! She is clearly a very talented performer as both of her high-energy, dance-heavy numbers were incredibly transfixing as she danced all around the Glee Club venue! At one point in the evening, Asttina talked to the audience about the fact that see has taken seven months away from drag due to losing her mother and also her fellow season two sister Cherry Valentine. If this is the standard after two very upsetting events and a seven-month break then I cannot wait to see what it like when she fully gets back into her groove! Completing the lineup was the amazing Anna Phylatic who, I have to be honest,is not someone I am particularly familiar with but I have quickly have become a huge fan! The first of their performance was a homage to classic Hollywood movie complete with a wonderful black and white look with an extremely harrowing twist towards the end of the production. The highlight of the evening for me however was Anna’s second performance which was also based on the dangers of technology as they graced the stage as a angry robot. The entire of this number involved Anna showcasing a wonderful sense of physicality as she showcased her talent for the iconic robot dance! Not only was this wonderful to watch but the deep message behind the performance acted as the Cherry on the top of the cake!
Overall, the party monster tour showcased a wide array of drag performances from wonderful visual storytelling to eccentric political statements to a dance masterclass etc. This event granted the audience to see a side of both Asttina and Cheddar that we did not get to see in the show which essentially is the entire purpose of a touring production! Justin Drag made a conscious effort to keep the audience excited and focused throughout with his hilarious anecdotes throughout and helped to smooth out transitions between every performer! I would rate this event 4 out of 5 stars!
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