The Drag Race of RuPaul 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 The Drag Race of RuPaul Live!, the new show-in-residence at Flamingo Las Vegas. While the live show will likely have a rotating cast, the six stars are from Vegas Revue are there to kick it off: Yvie Oddly, Asia O’Hara, Derrick Barry, Cameron Michaels, Naomi Smalls, and Miss Vanjie herself, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo.
Vegas Revue is set as a documentary series, but based on the premiere, viewers should expect less behind the scenes and more reality TV shenanigans. Lots of fans watching Drag Race for the interpersonal dynamics and blow-ups of the workroom and they are well served by this episode. Not to mention those who are more interested in the hard work and creativity that goes into a live drag show. “Baby, We Made It” has all the pieces of an entertaining documentary, but it could work on proportion.
The premiere begins with a dramatic trailer throughout the season. With promises of fighting and the looming spectacle of COVID-19, the episode then runs back two weeks to catch up with the queens as they head to Vegas. First up is Vanjie, who gets some help packing for Vegas from her neighbor upstairs, season 11 alumnus Silky Nutmeg Ganache. As Vanjie tajout, she is a lot, and she is immediately full of energy, talks a mile a minute and builds her narrative. Vanjie is looking for love, if at least a three month fling, and she thinks this stay is a good opportunity to find a connection. Next up is Asia, which looks set to be on the show and feel the pressure already. While Vanjie is busy, Asia is planning a wedding with her fiancé, who is in school in a nursing home in Dallas. Cameroon has already landed in Vegas. After regular tournaments post-Drag Race, she looks forward to the consistency of a stay in three months. The person she sees, Andre – no labels, please – is in New York, but on the trailer there is at least a little smooching with Vanjie in her future.
With half the introductions out of the way, Asia stops by Cameron’s apartment to pick her up and the story is finally told. Everyone enters the Flamingo for their first day of rehearsals on the spot and their excitement is contagious. However, as rehearsal begins, the seams begin to show. Everyone has worked hard in LA to get the choreography down, but there is still a lot to do, and only two weeks to shut everything down.
The choreography may seem familiar, but sure enough, Jamal Sims has some gags planned for the live show. Derrick will jump from 30 feet into the air on stage. This leads nicely in the introduction of Derrick, who is the Vegas resident of the main cast. Derrick talked about his friends Nick and Mack on Drag Race for – they are in a three-way relationship – but it’s nice to see a little more of them interact. Back at the Flamingo, Derrick is all set to attempt the stunt, with the rest of the cast looking down happily. She lets out a cry as she begins to feel free – the harness steps halfway down – but once safely back on 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 goes to the spa with Naomi. While the introductions of the other queens significantly center on her romantic life, Yvie focuses on what a great place she is in professionally and personally, and emerges from her winning 11 season while Naomi’s builds the conflict between her and Derrick. Tensions previously indicated come to the fore when Yvie and Naomi discuss Derrick’s style of wear. They have no respect for what they do, though at least they give Derrick them as performances, and marvel at their willingness to throw themselves into what the choreographers ask of them.
The next day, there’s a familiar energy change as RuPaul enters the theater – everyone’s on the edge right away. Because several songs from the show were previewed already in season 12, the producers can show the queens rehearsing a bit, and cut several moments to one of the tracks Drag Race fans are already familiar with. If you have a sense of where the queens are going with the choreography, it helps viewers determine how far along they are in the rehearsal process. Ru plays the big scary director here, but the points are valid. There is definitely work to be done.
Ru’s last remark is the most important: Yvie needs to go to the doctor. Despite Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a connective tissue disorder, Yvie has not been to the doctor in 10 years. She felt discouraged the past time and was shut down so she stayed away, not wanting to hear what she assumed the doctor would say. The revelation is shocking, especially coming this week after the death of loved one Drag Race star Chi Chi DeVayne of pneumonia at the age of 34. Yvie’s fears are understandable, and her decisions about health are entirely hers. Still, it’s hard not to worry about them.
Later, Cameron’s frustrations and insecurities about Facetime with Andre come out. This is when the premiere turns from backstage-making documentary to full reality TV. The episode cuts to flashbacks to Derrick’s party the night before, where the queens fight over past slums. It jarts and unfortunately just a drop in the bucket. Naomi leaves the party, confused about her conversation with Mack, and the next day Derrick decides to try to smooth things over by inviting the queens to the casino floor. Of course, in the process, she throws a side-grab at Naomi, leaving her intentions in doubt. The queens stay in dress after rehearsal and make a night of it. They seem to have fun, but then Derrick gets a text from Mack (who comes from a shoot like his drag persona, Nebraska Thunderfuck) asking to join. It goes as expected, and the episode ends with a fight brewing between Nebraska and Naomi.
Cutting back and forth to the queens in different drag looks – both in the moment and in their talking heads – heightens the unreality of everything, and maybe that’s the point. It’s ridiculous and false. But it’s not interesting as all that funny, and based on the trailer, viewers should expect a lot more of this as the season goes on. Keeping up with and exploring the artifact of reality TV and drag is an intriguing concept, but the series will have to highlight things if they really want to come up with that idea. Until then, the show is set in a very middle ground. It’s not as specific as technical enough to fill six episodes with the nitty-gritty of a live drag production in Vegas, and it’s going to take more than a few pointy statements and awkward exchanges if it’s the Housewives’ reality contest. Hopefully, it will find its voice, and quickly, as the season progresses.
Stray observations
- Zavion Davenport (Chi Chi DeVayne) was ill for a while, but his death still came as a shocks. The official announcement of the family is available at Instagram.
- While these artists go by their nicknames and personas on the Vegas Revue, I am porting over the first names used on Drag Race, using the gender of their drag personas.
- We finally have it The Drag Race of Asia O’Hara! I love that she is the host for the live show.
- Are we really still talking about the validity of Derrick’s drag? It feels very tired. Even Nebraska, which has been reading for years, speaks ill of it and points to a renewed conflict.
- Capturing the kiss Kameron and Vanjie in the trailer is a great call. It allows viewers to truly anticipate and analyze every moment that the two parts lead into it.
- This is nowhere near the show I expected to get from RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue, but here we go!
.
