ON STAGE
What: RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq the World
Where: Royal Theatre, 805 Broughton St.
When: Monday, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: Sold out
Note: There is an after-party at Capital Ballroom at 10 p.m.
There is both good and bad news about Monday’s tour stop on RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq the World tour.
Tickets to the Royal Theatre date sold out within minutes when they went on sale in May, leaving scores of unhappy fans. But an after-party has been scheduled for the Capital Ballroom on Monday, which should give those left out some consolation, or at least a reason to dance away their disappointment.
RuPaul’s Drag Race, which features LGBTQ+ icon RuPaul searching for America’s next drag superstar, is a hit VH1 reality show (now in its ninth season) that won five Emmys Awards on Monday, including outstanding reality-competition series and outstanding host for RuPaul.
“There’s an interesting balance of entertainment and deep stories that really touch our audience,” RuPaul said this week of the show, at a news conference following the Emmy Awards ceremony.
“We started out this show to celebrate the art of drag, and in doing so we brought along a bunch of kids who had varied backgrounds. We have challenges that are fun, but these kids bring their courage and their stories, and that is what the heart is.”
Werq the World is the tour companion to the televised show, and is hosted by Bob the Drag Queen, winner of the eighth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
The Victoria stop will feature appearances by Season 10 finalists Aquaria, Asia O’Hara, Eureka and Kameron Michaels, who will perform as a Maleficent-like evil queen, along with previous Drag Race contestants Valentina, Violet Chachki and Kim Chi, who does a twist on Sailor Moon.
Michaels was bullied as a teen growing up in Ohio, and sees RuPaul’s Drag Race as a way of regaining strength as a person and performer. “I’ve had some people reach out and apologize for the way they treated me,” Michaels said in an interview with the website QNotes. “[But] I left that place behind because I knew I was bigger than that.”
The after-party is set for 10 p.m. at 858 Yates St. and will be hosted by Chaz Avery and the Legendary Gouda Gabor, with performances by Lola Maneata, Eddi Licious, Vivian Vanderpuss and Persi Flage. DJs include Nims and Yeezy Yee.
Tickets are $15 or $7 with a Royal Theatre/Werq the World ticket stub. Partial proceeds from the event will be donated to the Victoria Pride Society Youth Engagement Ventures.
