morena (she/her)Recently, I had the opportunity to see revolutionary drag artist and performer Sasha Velour at The Big Reveal: Live Show! on Jan. 17th. In this second installment of “The World of Sasha Velour”, I will be sharing the best moments from the show. If you missed it, please go read the first part of this mini-series, where I actually had the opportunity to interview her directly about her relationship to drag and how she created this wonderful production. Recently, I had the opportunity to see revolutionary drag artist and performer Sasha Velour at The Big Reveal: Live Show! on Jan. 17th. In this second installment of “The World of Sasha Velour”, I will be sharing the best moments from the show. If you missed it, please go read the first part of this mini-series, where I actually had the opportunity to interview her directly about her relationship to drag and how she created this wonderful production. For context, you may know Sasha Velour as the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race season nine in 2017. However, she has been keeping herself VERY busy ever since her big win. She has since created her own comic series, wrote her very own book, became an executive producer, and much more! Most recently, she has been traveling on tour, bringing her one-queen show entitled The Big Reveal: Live Show! across North America and Europe. I had the privilege of seeing this show in person in Ann Arbor, Michigan with my partner and some friends at the Michigan Theater, and I wanted to take this opportunity to share my personal favorite moments from the show. **SPOILERS BELOW** In a traditional concert or performance, you expect to see the performer walk out on stage or rise up in a Hannah Montana–esque fashion. Not with Sasha Velour! Instead, she appears unexpectedly, almost like magic. Right before the show officially begins, the audience can see a preview of her set from their seats [a sofa chair, a lamp, and a vintage TV set decorate the stage]. I was thinking nothing of it at the time, but this was so important for her first big reveal. In a twist of events, as the music begins and the lights turn on, you see Sasha’s face illuminated– she was disguised as the chair itself!! That being said, her first reveal was so unexpected and lit the entire theater on fire. I remember how loud all of the gays got when we realized she was already on stage! Sasha then wasted no time in providing an incredible performance– all while still dressed as a chair!
Next, she returns to the extravagance and iconic reveals within her choreography. In an all pink fit, Sasha stuns the stage once more– and ends up breaking a glass of wine over her head! At points, I was under the assumption that the bottle was a prop, and it must have been empty. But of course it wasn’t, at least not with this queen! The wine was seen spilling out of the glass as she performed and she used the entire stage to her advantage to provide some serious laughs and entertainment. The outfit reveal itself was stunning, but the use of props made it one of the most engaging performances I’ve seen.
Another top moment from the show for me reminds me of Sasha’s earlier testimonio. In this section, she addresses the audience directly, bringing attention to the harmlessness, the importance, and the necessity of drag in 2025. Especially given the rise of anti-trans and anti-queer rhetoric being spread as a result of the presidential election, I thought this section did something revolutionary for activism. Instead of falling into the trap of depressing messaging, she creates art that is meant to uplift people. She creates performances in which people are encouraged to fight back against the anti-queer rhetoric through positive means; she encourages people to create their own art, share their own stories, in a form of rebellion. In this way, she is very effective at conveying the message that queer people, and particularly drag performers, aren’t harmful [as some media would love to claim]. But more importantly, she tells the world we aren’t going anywhere. Finally, I want to take a moment for Sasha Velour and her wig [she ate that]. During this performance, she nods to her iconic Drag Race lip sync battle to reveal confetti hidden underneath the wig. For me personally, it felt like this was a great reveal both for people who were new to Sasha Velour, and for OG Sasha fans who were able to fondly recall the iconic performance from Drag Race [you know, the one that quite possibly won her the entire season]!!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|