It was loud, it was proud and it was Pride on stage. From start to finish, Queenz was an out and out queer celebration.
Picture everything you love about Pride parades and then picture it on stage for an hour. There were rainbows, laughs, tears, Lady Gaga and show tunes. The show is perhaps a summation of everything joyfully stereotypical about the queer experience.
For a little more than an hour, five fantastically well-dressed Queenz took over the Assembly Rooms’ Music Hall stage, and true to the advertisement, lip syncing was not a word in these Queenz’ vocabulary.
I’ve often enjoyed drag shows in the past. Whether they’ve been university productions, charity fundraisers, or Pride parade events. In my experience, there’s usually fun, upbeat tunes, fabulous costumes, dance routines and a lot of lip-syncing.
However, each and every queen on this stage sang their heart out while dancing and looking wonderful. The movement, the star power voices, and the energy are all individually impressive, but I was truly amazed that each lady did it all in corsets, shapewear and six-inch heels.
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Billie Eyelash in particular could not hit a wrong note and enjoyed some time showing off her vocals with runs and trills. She proved once and for all that she and her sisters were far too fabulous for a lip-sync.
The show remixed the classic pop hits from Lady Gaga, Whitney Houston, The Spice Girls, and more, and they ran through as many showtunes classics as possible in about seven minutes. There was also a healthy dose of creativity to cleverly change lyrics to fit the characters and the show.
My only criticism is that some of the ingenuity was a bit lost as the loud music and my bad attention span worked against my understanding of every word. I found myself wanting a projector with subtitles at times.
There was banter and audience engagement of course. One lucky man received some special onstage attention from the Queenz, and he was sent blushing and giggling back to his seat. Every interaction seemed to be done with tact and basic respect.
Despite the fun, the banter, and the silliness, the True Colours performance tastefully brought some sobriety to the late-night party.
“This is a song that means a lot to us, and we wanted to take a moment to sing this as ourselves,” one of the performers said. It was apparent that Queenz was more than just a silly time; the freedom to be themselves and to celebrate the LGBTQ was clearly a mantra and a privilege for them.
Towards the end of the show, there were a few false endings. I reached for my bag prematurely a few times as I was certain that “this song was surely the show stopper” but the ladies pulled a new finale out of the bag a couple more times.
Queenz the show was a wonderfully inclusive event with a lot of heart and a lot of fun. It’s a vocal showcase, fashion show, comedy routine, sing-along, and LGBTQ celebration wrapped into one.
More information can be found on Queenz The Show’s website.
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