Now I am not a spiritual person but at this event, I received multiple messages from the other world! After dying on stage on Tuesday night in Mainstage Cardiff, the audience at the Wales Millenium Centre cabaret stage where haunted by the ghost of drag king sensation and haus of cymru daddy Nicholas Hoare who again helped to introduce the acts, get the crowd hyped and made sure the evening evening ran smoothly with his his uniquely dark humour sprinkled throughout. We had jokes about being in hell with magret Thatcher and Katie Hopkins and how there’s no 20 miles per hour speed limit in hell which is a very contemporary issue across areas in Cardiff. Despite only having a chair and a hat on stage, Nicholas made his presence known with their voice booming throughout the venue. We were also treated to a performance by Ryder Allnight who gave a wonderfully unique performance that relied heavily on the difficult area of audience participation. Donning a blue boiler suit and an upside red cross burned into their skull, Ryder spent the entire performance paving through the audience picking out individuals to get up close and personal with. The ability to captivate the audience without the need for stunts, tricks etc is very difficult but Ryder seemed totally comfortable intensely improvising with selected audience members.
During the Bristol leg of the Haus of Cymru tour (which you can read about at https://rhysreviews.com/2023/09/18/haus-of-cymru-in-bristol-production-review/), Seven was able to transfix the audience with simply a clack of the fan which I personally found totally incredible! Similarly, In the Cardiff show, they again decided to strip back all the theatrics so that the focus remained on the performance itself which is where Severn appears most comfortable. They owned every inch of the cabaret stage as they decided to channel pure sex appeal during their performance of ‘Aura’ by the eccentric Lady Gaga.
I have to admit that Chlo Mydia was not someone who I was particularly familiar with before this event but she is definitely one to watch going forward! She had the audience in the palm of her hand during her first performance of the evening as she also decided to channel sex appeal during her rendition of ‘Girls in the Hood’ by Megan Thee Stallion. She explained to the audience how she is not known for being a spooky person but instead prides herself on being a look queen and she delivered that and more! I have to say that I absolutely loved her second outfit of the night was a gorgeous red vinyl outfit that showcased her body perfectly with the most amazing spiked shoulder pads I have ever seen. This sensual yet fashion-forward look worked per with the song ‘Good Puss’ by Cobrah which Chlo used to again showcase her beauty and dance abilities! This choreographed number was performed excellently the the crowd loving every single second that Chlo was on stage!
In my other review, I also talked about how you never know what to expect in a Kiki Babs show and yet again she proved exactly that! She opened her set with a wonderful live rendition of the Halloween classic “I Put a Spell on You” made famous by the Hocus Pocus franchise. One of the most unique performances of the evening also came from Kiki where she spent the entire performance screaming into the microphone. I have to admit that it took me a while to understand the purpose/function of this number but it absolutely was one of the most unique performances I have ever seen. I realised that this number was not only an homage to classic horror movies but also a uniquely comedic performance. Me and Kiki talked on my YouTube channel (which you can listen to at https://youtu.be/Qex8pvgSGLg?si=7cJUhjkrDaR0YSww) about how she loves to tell a story and put on a fully-fledged production and she did exactly that! She started this sequence with a terrifying rendition of Tiptoe Through the Tulips by Tiny Tim as she frighteningly brushed her hair while staring intensely at the audience which then transitioned into a tribute to the exorcist with a live presentation of the iconic exorcism sequence. This in turn transformed into a performance of Bloody Mary made famous by the recent Netflix adaptation of “Wednesday” which had a certain degree of the iconic horror classic “Carrie” about it as she was covered in blood. We were also treated to a game of Kiki Says which is a game that usually ends with an audience member stripping down but this iteration of the game had Kiki covered in Blood.
Alongside the wonderful Haus of Cymru, the Bristol event the Bristol event played host to Drag Race down under star Anita Wigl’it (who I was lucky enough to chat with at https://youtu.be/6dMofzs8cac?si=CjxQxViXJ52OoBIe) the Cardiff event invited none other than the wonderfully eccentric Charity Kase from Drag Race UK season five! Having been a fan of Charity way before her appearance on the show, I was devastated to discover that she only made it to the top eight and these feelings were only solidified when I discovered how much of a talented performer they are! What I really loved about Charity’s performance in particular is the fact that it contained an, albeit unusual, cohesive storyline. A highlight was the first section which saw Charity don a surgeon’s coat and begin to disembody a creature. This saw them perform various sexual acts with various severed body parts including waving a severed dildo at the audience which had everyone in hysterics! My favourite part however of the entire sequence however would be when Charity dressed as a grotesque creature and performed a sequence of dance classics such as reach by S Club 7, Cotton Eyed Joe and the Cha Cha slide which was such an extreme contrast but still somehow worked! Charity also used the opportunity to share an incredibly moving message all about how as queer we need to look after women. She talked about how she makes her money parodying womanhood but it is also done through the lens of respect.
Overall, the Haus of Cymru and Charity Kase brought with them a wonderfully scary evening that is the perfect way to welcome the spooky season! The audience was treated to the full spectrum of drag performances from lip-syncs, live vocals, audience interactions, dancing etc which made for a very exciting and unpredictable night of spooky entertainment! I would rate this evening 4.5 stars out of 5!
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