Even as
someone who has seen countless friends’ solo shows, directed solo shows and,
yes, I’ll admit, even performed one or two myself, I still can admit they are a
tough sell. (Not quite improv or slam poetry tough, mind you.) They can get
real self-indulgent and navel-gazey, real quick. You’ve seen La La Land,
you get it.
So, sure, I
shuddered at the thought of six, 5-minute one-woman shows. However, the
presence of legend Whoopi Goldberg lent an air of artistry to the proceedings
that brought out the best from a few of the queens. Not that all the gals
should be booking it to Edinburgh Fringe just yet.
Category is
Obie Award Realness in our recap below!
Fresh off last
week’s double-save, an emotional (still) Top Six, started the week with the
annual puppet mini-challenge, a tradition that may have started to overstay its
welcome. The puppet challenge started as an absurd addition to the Drag
Race routine, but it feels long overdue for a twist or an overhaul to
freshen it up.
Jackie gets
the win for skewering Sherry, but there are few truly memorable, laugh-out-loud
moments to be had. The win gives Jackie the power to set the line-up for the
main challenge.
Ru tasks the
queens with creating and presenting their own short, one-woman shows. Weirdly,
the directions here feel like they’re missing some key information. The host
sets it up as a comedy challenge, but the absolute clutch here is not in the
humor, it’s in the vision. More important than the jokes is the structure, the
point of view and the clear concept.
That’s
probably why so many come into rehearsals with Ru and guest Whoopi Goldberg
with such half-baked stand-up sets. It’s the piece of advice everyone seems to
be dancing around. For simplicity’s sake, let’s break down each queen’s week:
Jackie
initially comes into the rehearsal with a premise that revolves around a sort
of “Everything You Wanted to Know About Drag Race (But Were
Too Afraid to Ask)” recap. It’s a mix of obvious observations (How about that
season one filter, amiright?!) and attempts at the absurd (a shark-filled moat
around the mainstage). It’s neither funny nor clever enough to work. Instead,
Jackie wisely scraps the entire idea, abandons the need to be funny, and
embraces a more earnest approach. Her new show is about her parents, and it
feels the closest to an actual one-woman show. There are some jokes scatter
throughout, and, even though they’re not super sophisticated, they hit harder
by contract to the more emotional material.
Next up is
Crystal. Man, this weirdo. Crystal takes the complete opposite approach, but
still manages to keep it focused. It’s a bizarre, gender-fluid Magic
Mike character on shrooms, and, despite it all, it completely works.
Phenomenal Phil presents a sort of infomercial preview of a dance DVD that is
so profoundly stupid, it circles back around to profound. She’s wearing a
tattooed muscle suit, and fully commits to every aspect of the bit. It’s a
massive tonal shift from Jackie’s, but it’s irresistibly fun.
Heidi’s
concept has some promise when she presents it to Whoopi and Ru in rehearsals.
She’s going to do a spate of characters based around her family at a cookout.
Solid idea! Unfortunately, it’s a bit too ambitious for Heidi’s skillset. She’s
punching above her weight class here. In the performance, none of the
characters develop beyond a few “funny” lines, and Heidi can’t create enough
defining characteristics to differentiate between them. It ends up feeling more
like an exhausting story at a party, despite Heidi’s best efforts.
I know I
only very recently referenced the classic scene from The
Simpsons when Bart replays
the moment Ralph Wiggum’s heart breaks thanks to Lisa’s rejection.
However, there is just no better reference point for Gigi during rehearsals. As
always, the young queen comes hyper-prepared. She broadly boasts that she has a
whole sketch and character and concept ready. Just as she prepares for Ru and
Whoopi to lavish her with praise, they instead tell her it all feels rather
forced. Ruh roh. It was only a matter of time before Gigi’s polished perfection
collided with most reality’s show’s obsession with authenticity. She integrates
a little more audience improv into the mainstage performance, but it’s still
fairly stilted throughout.
Jaida has the
misfortune to follow this season’s disqualified queen’s overlong set. Not just
overlong, REAL overlong. The admitted catfish performed for 17 minutes, leaving
a frustrated Jaida to then take the stage in front of an exhausted crowd. And
maybe it wouldn’t be good anyway, but she really struggles. It’s a pretty funny
story about peeing herself at a pageant. However, anyone who has sat through a
night at The Moth knows that it’s not enough for a story to be funny; it also
has be told well. Jaida lacks the energy and the rhythm to deliver the story in
a compelling fashion.
This week’s
runway theme is The Color Purple, one of my favorite films of all
time, and also one of the strongest runways of the season. We’ll discuss the
lewks in more detail in our rankings below.
The judges
love what Jackie did with her show, even if her campy monster costume hews a
bit too close to crafty instead of couture. Crystal’s dirty dancer tickled the
judges to such an extent, it’s already become a deeply self-referential Drag
Race touchstone. (If/when we get out of our houses, we’re all
definitely going to be doing the Dump It.) Her fully-committed performance
earns her the challenge win.
Gigi managed
to pull it together just enough to stay safe. (That flawless Scooby-Doo-inspired
runway certainly helped.) But Heidi and Jaida are not so lucky. Although both
queens look stunning on the runway (truly season highs for both), they are both
sent to the bottom to lip sync.
They’re facing
off to Prince’s “1999”, which immediately called to mind Naomi Smalls’ iconic
Prince runway. However, move over, Smalls, because Jaida is the queen of Prince
now. Jaida is an INCREDIBLE sight to behold. She looks drop-dead gorgeous, she
is serving just the right amount of tricks and stunts, and, most importantly,
she looks like she is truly bringing end-of-the-world party energy to the
stage. She reveals a short, blonde, Sheila E.
“Holly Rock” wig that is note-perfect. Every move, every fiber of
every muscle is perfectly controlled. It’s fantastic.
Heidi does her
best, but she’s limited by her gown and, to be frank, her inexperience. Heidi
is a star, no doubt, but Jaida is a superstar, and this performance convinced
me fully that she is the one to beat.
Ru feels
similarly, sending Heidi home, but not before saying in no uncertain terms that
Heidi is destined for big things.
And I couldn’t
agree more.
So what are
our standings as we barrel toward one of the weirdest finales in the show’s
history? Let’s check in with our rankings.
1.
I’m going all in on Jaida. She’s been a
consistently strong performer throughout the competition, but her makeup,
costuming and dance skills are damn near lethal. With the majority of the
comedy/acting challenges in the rearview, she has everything necessary to
destroy the rest of the competition. Her purple runway was, if I may be blunt,
chic as hell. And that lip sync, truly, I cannot praise enough. The only thing
I’m missing from Jaida is a sort of … why? Jaida is skilled, but as America’s
Next Drag Superstar, what drives her and what is the sort of impact she wants
to make on the artform (outside proving her own proficiency)?
2.
Gigi’s small stumble this week still wasn’t
nearly as dramatic as maybe the edit suggested. Yes, it clearly shook her when
she was expecting a gold star and instead Whoopi wrote “See Me” on her
assignment. However, she bounced back for a decent enough time in the actual
performance. Plus, that Daphne drag was great, but it was her entire runway
presentation — the faces, the walk, the dancing — that really sold it.
3.
Crystal and Jackie are neck and neck, but
the weirder of the two is continuing to surge at a prime opportunity. What I love
about Crystal is that when she succeeds, it’s IN SPITE OF expectations, not
because she perfected the formula to please the judges (cough, Gigi, cough).
The sort of Where the Wild Things Are runway was strange, but,
again, a full commitment, down to the shoes, which added a little cloven hoof
flavor. I’m not sure when Crystal gave herself permission to be fully Crystal,
but I’m sure glad she did.
4.
I’m not even sure Jackie thought she would
get this far. It does feel like she’s still straddling the line between trying
to be herself and trying to nail the assignment. I blame Ru for giving the
girls bad directions up top, but I also think Jackie would have veered in the
wrong direction initially regardless. Her one-woman show felt the most true to
the form, but maybe the least effective in this setting. I was a much bigger
fan of the runway than the judges were, but the devil I suppose is in the details,
especially with a group of finalists this polished and professional. Here’s
hoping our top four get there on their own merits and no one has to replace the
disqualified queen. Though, no doubt, they are all worthy on their own merits.
5.
I have so much love for Heidi. And, to be
clear, it’s not like, aw, way to try, you nice, simple, country gal. Heidi (who
should absolutely adopt the moniker HEIDI HEPIPHANY, COME ON), had all the
right ideas, but she needs a bit more time to study and work on her craft. However,
she’s got a charisma that you cannot learn. She’s undeniably lovable. After
years of queens trying to be the next Alyssa Edwards, Heidi might be the most
natural successor to the throne. I’d love to see a Netflix series about her
life in Ramseur. I’d love to see her start the next phase of her life in
Manhattan or Los Angeles. I just want to watch her. In drag, out of drag, I
don’t care. (Just not a YouTube channel. Please.) She looked her best ever on
the runway tonight, with a gorgeous face and immaculate gown. If someone had to
go tonight, it makes sense it was her (especially after Jaida’s lip sync left
Ru no choice), but she would not have been out of place at a finale.
How would you
rank the queens?
SOURCE: TOWLEROAD
Fierce, hunty! 💙💛💚🧡💜🖤🤍🤎
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