The Queens’ Reign: From Drag Race to Drag Brunch
Written in October 2019
RuPaul’s Drag Race U.K. premiered on Logo on Friday October 11th to much fanfare. It marked the 18th season of the franchise’s 10-year run, which includes 4 All Star seasons and now two international spin-offs, with a third in the works. The impact of Drag Race is undeniable. What started as a niche program on a niche network has become a global pop culture phenomenon. Due to the show’s massive success, drag has now forged a partnership with another cultural titan of our modern world: brunch.
Drag brunch has been a weekly event in the LGBTQ social scene for some years now but has recently reached the mainstream straights and we’ve been turning out in droves. And so, on Saturday October 12th, one day after the U.K. premiere, I braved the streets of Hollywood to attend Ross Mathew’s Dragtastic Bubbly Brunch at Rockwell Table & Stage. I trotted down Vermont Avenue in what I hoped was queen-approved-attire (black skinny jeans, studded boots and a wildly printed blue & green button-down), only to be met with a sign that read “entrance down alley.” I followed the arrow around the building and down the alley where I entered into a beautiful, but empty restaurant courtyard. A kindly waiter saw the confusion on my face and directed me through another door, where I was plunged into a dark hallway and finally emerged into a dimly lit room with a smattering of tables and a small stage.
The rotating lights flashed blue, pink and purple and revealed a small crowd of men, women and everyone who identifies in-between (or nowhere at all). I found my seat stage left and was handed a menu splashed with Ross Mathew’s smiling face and a list of clever concoctions including their take on a Moscow Mule known as the “Russian Collusion.” As a brunch purist, I ordered the “Bubbles & Breakfast Burger” and then was immediately approached by a woman asking if I needed tip money. I was surprised. I had paid for my ticket and assumed that would be it. But as I handed over a 20 for a stack of crisp dollar bills, I realized that I was at a different kind of show — a show that did not fall within the traditional canon of live entertainment.
The show began with a brash monologue from our afternoon’s host, Jackie Beat. Jackie is a 56-year-old queen who’s been performing for over 20 years. Her stature as a tenured talent is something she stated upfront and refused to let us forget, but honestly there was no way we could. From the moment she hit the stage, she held the room with ease. Her punchlines landed with a flourish and her musical numbers were sung with a powerhouse voice and a mischievous glint in her eye. She reworked the lyrics to classic hits like The Little Mermaid’s “Part of Your World” and Dreamgirl’s “You’re Gonna Love Me” to the dragtastic versions “Parts of a Girl” and “You Ain’t Gonna Fuck Me” (an ode to men with big packages).
Jackie’s act was in stark contrast to the other queens on the bill, who were all alumni of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Kimora Blac, Ra’jah O’Hara, Morgan McMichaels and Ongina all performed two sets of lip sync numbers to iconic drag tunes. Kimora Blac’s style can only be described as stripper-chic complete with a banging body perched in a black bondage outfit. She tapped into the best of bad girl Britney in her performance of “Showdown” and managed to make wholesome Mandy Moore seem oh-so-dirty while performing “In My Pocket.” O’Hara, one of the most polarizing figures in Drag Race history, showed her range with a sultry performance of Erykah Badu’s “Tyrone” and a high-energy medley of JLO hits.
McMichaels came to dance. She was by far the most aerobic of all the girls and made it a point to physically connect with crowd during her performances of “New Attitude” by Patti Labelle and “Jump” by the lesser known but equally revered Pointer Sisters. Ongina represented for “weird drag” with her signature bald head and seasonally apt performance of Madonna’s “Crazy For You” outfitted in a mummy wrap and chainsaw. Needless to say, the crowd was entertained.
Surprisingly in the midst of all these Drag Race divas and at an event organized by one of the show’s judges (Mathews), Jackie Beat freely expressed disdain for the show. She specifically referenced the “lip sync for your life” eliminations and shadily implied that the show embodies “new” drag. I approached her after the show to talk more about new vs old drag and it came down to quality. She laments that many new performers just don’t have the chops thanks to social media and the emphasis it places on appearances. “Drag used to be a community of misfits who understood that you have to put in the work to make the money. Now anyone can do a beat and build a brand…when they hit the stage, you can tell when someone has taken a shortcut to fame.” One of the contestants on Drag Race U.K, Scaredy Kat, admitted that she’s never been to a drag show, but made the cut thanks to almost 100,000 Instagram followers. We’ll see if her legacy matches her likes — I know I’ll be tuning in. But either way, classic drag is alive & well every Saturday at Rockwell’s Table & Stage.
