Denise Truscello
The cast of “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live” at the Flamingo.
Monday, Feb. 21, 2022 | 2 a.m.
After a typical season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the talented performers that achieve standout status in the hit TV competition show hit the road for a live tour, continuing to build the brand while developing more fans and followers of their own.
When Jaida Essence Hall triumphed on season 12, that was not the case. That run wrapped on May 29, 2020, with the season finale and reunion episodes held virtually. The pandemic stopped the follow-up live tour from ever being booked.
“Once the season started [on TV], we had some weekend bookings and it felt like life was really about to take off … and then everything slowly started to get canceled,” Hall says. “I had to come home [to Milwaukee] and wait to see what things were going to be like
“Making it on the show in something you dream of, but then that dream is altered, so how do you work around that and still deal with catching your dream during this pandemic, something that no one has experienced before?”
The dream became real for Hall when she recently joined the cast of “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live” in Las Vegas at the Flamingo. The live show was also impacted by COVID as it originally opened in the Flamingo Showroom in January 2020, then came back to life again in August 2021.
Fellow queens Eureka O’Hara, Plastique Tiara and Trinity K Bonet also joined the rotating cast on February 3, rounding things out with established cast members Asia O’Hara, Derrick Barry, Kameron Michaels, Naomi Smalls and Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo. Six queens take the stage every night, and “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live” performs at 9:30 p.m. Thursday through Monday. For tickets and info, visit caesars.com.
Hall says the response to the new cast members’ performances so far at the Flamingo have been overwhelmingly positive.
“Thankfully, we have been really lucky because the fans love the [TV] show so much, and even though we were a little nervous that we might miss that experience of touring and performing live, the fans have not forgotten us and there’s still so much support and love,” she says. “It’s been amazing and a lot of work, but it’s been really fun every night, and not just onstage but we have a lot of fun backstage too. Just living in Las Vegas is a blast.”
All the “Drag Race Live” entertainers have their own unique style and skillset, but Hall does things a little differently. She’s always created a lot of her own costumes throughout her stage career, something that is “common but at the same time, kind of not,” in the drag world.
“A lot of queens don’t know how to sew, but there’s a lot that do. Sewing has been instrumental in my drag career because being able to sit down at a machine and create my own garments, or even just sketching them, it allows me to create my own unique identity. Our clothes are like a fingerprint to us and what we do.”
Needless to say, the costumes in “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live” are among the most colorful, wild and memorable visuals you’ll find in any production show on the Strip. And with the new recruits bringing additional flash and excitement to the stage, the future is bright.
“Honestly, I’m just looking forward the whole experience,” Hall says. “I’m looking forward to where this takes me personally and how I can grow from this. I’m opening up to whatever experiences Vegas can offer me and what I can take from Vegas.”
