Glamourzon

Reviewed by Alice

This past Saturday night the queens in Glamourzon worked it out! Well, mostly. Being a dedicated follower of RuPaul’s Drag Race I know what I expect from a drag-queen showcase extravaganza and Glamourzon was just a few diamantes short of a necklace.

When going to a drag-show you expect not only the queens to be beautifully dressed but the set as well. The stage did not have anything added to it at all, it was just a black stage, with black curtains on a black floor, surrounded by black tables and black chairs; which, is particularly disappointing as the talent deserved more than their dreary backdrop.

The show was compered by Rita Demore’e, who started her host duties after performing the first lip-sync of the night to a dance version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’. The performance was only okay, it went on a little too long, and much like Rita’s emcee skills it lacked a certain charisma. I must say however, by the second half of the show Rita Demore’e had settled as host and started to get a few hearty laughs from the audience.

Along with Rita five other queens presented their uniqueness and talent in Glamourzon. Kristina Crème was the second queen to take the stage and unfortunately she was easily forgotten when presented alongside the massive personalities and miming skills of the other performers. Although, I was extremely impressed, during her second song, where she managed four costume reveals.

In a show of mostly 80s ballads, the ‘dancing queen’ Selena was a shot of Red Bull to the heart and something the audience was obviously gagging for. Both of Selena’s lip-syncing performances were high energy dance routines and her version of Britney Spears’ ‘Womanizer’ was pure, smile from ear-to-ear, booty shaking entertainment.

Despite both her lip-syncs being on the ballad-y side, Hollie Graffixs’ costumes stole the show. From now on anybody who performs a Beyoncé number should take costume advice from Miss Graffix; in fact even you Beyoncé (who I know is definitely reading this review).

Edie Star was the only queen to sing live in Glamourzon. While this is extremely daring in a show full of mimicking, her voice was not perfected enough to truly make an impact. The songs Edie Star chose were a bit dull and she sang off tune several times.

The best of the night though, without a doubt, was Miss Molly. For her first number she lip-synced ‘Imagination’ from Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory while dressed as a super fabulous version of Maleficent from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. It was fucking amazing! Her lip-syncing skills would be hard matched even by the most experienced of drag-queens, which she confirmed in her second number INXS’ ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. I would pay good money to see a Miss Molly solo-cabaret – can somebody please fund this! Now!

Overall, I was just missing a bit of glamour from Glamourzon. While the show seemed poorly put together, there is no denying the beauty and talent of these Adelaide-an drag-queens. We have a wonderful drag culture in Adelaide and if you get the chance to see any of these queens hold onto it like the last dress in your size, during a sale, at your favourite store.

Glamourzon has now finished its season at the Adelaide Fringe 2014