Big Gay Frat House Blog

RuPaul's Drag Race at The Cafe - Part 1

Following the finale of RuPaul's Drag Race on Logo, the winner and many of the other contestants head out on a tour of gay bars around the country. As a top tier city, San Francisco was graced with performances of the top three contestants -- winner Raja, first runner-up Manila Luzon, and second runner-up Alexis Mateo -- as well as season two runner-up Raven. And for the second year in a row, The Cafe hosted San Francisco's show.

Local drag queen Ginger Snap emceed the show after being introduced by The Cafe's resident drag hostess, Pollo Del Mar, who throws the drag show The Glamazone every Sunday night at 9:30.

 

Pre-Show

The tour and the show are sponsored by Absolut vodka, and the new Absolut San Francisco infusion premiered at the show. Here are a handful of pre-show pics. There are a lot more on Flickr.

 

Ginger Snap

Local drag queen Ginger Snap kicked off the show. I should note at this point that the sound on these videos is a little off. The best vantage I could find was upstairs in the attrium behind a window. The video quality still seems fine, but unfortunately it's easier to hear the crowd around me than it is to hear the music she's lip-synching to.

 

Raven

Next up was the first runner-up from Season 2, Raven. Of course, she performed at The Cafe the year before along with the other Season 2 finalists.

 

Alexis Mateo

Next was Alexis Mateo, second runner-up from Season 3. (By the way, she's returning to The Cafe on Saturday, August 27, 2011.)

 

Manila Luzon

Then came Manila Luzon, one of the "Heathers" and first runner-up from Season 3. (In a future post, I'll share video from another performance she did at Club 8 a few days later.)

 

Raja

And, finally, the winner of Season 3: Raja!

 

End of Round 1

That was the first round of performances. You can see the rest in part two.

Highlights from Broadway Bares XX: Strip-Opoly

We told you before that we wouldn't be able to attend Broadway Bares XX in New York City, the annual fundraiser in which chorus boys and girls do choreographed stripping routines to a theme and get nearly naked (and occasionally completely naked) to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, an organization that helps provide health care costs for  

The event ended up raising a record $1,015,985!

We cannot wait until Broadway Beat makes the video available through their website. Fortunately, although we were not able to attend, we're delighted to see that other fans have been posting photos on Flickr as well as videos on Youtube. Here are some of the best videos:

And another:

What becomes a legend most? KATYA!

Longtime followers of the Big Gay Frat House's antics will know that we have long been fans of Katya Smirnoff-Skyy, the Russian opera diva gracing cabaret and theater stages throughout San Francisco. We first saw her perform at Trauma Flinstone's monthly show Bijou, held on the second Sunday of every month at Martuni's, and then at her own Martuni's show on the third Sunday. Kevin interviewed her for gay.com right before her own Martuni's show debuted.

For those who haven't experienced her, Katya is a drag queen who sings live. A trained opera singer who sings pop songs. As operas. With a Russian accent.

Since then we've seen her at countless shows throughout town and numerous charity fundraisers. She co-starred as Sylvia Fowler in the revival of "Jungle Red" that we helped produce. And she has performed at five charity fundraisers that the BGFH produced. We also saw her first productions at the New Conservatory Theatre.

But her current show at NewCon, Katya: What Becomes a Legend Most, is truly her best to date. There's a scripted continuity that keeps the show on a logical, even flow, but her inate sense of timing and humor allows her to ad lib without distrupting the show. Brilliant! Longtime fans will be delighted to hear that this show has many, many new songs. For those of you not on the wagon, there's a vodka cran shot at the end ... and for those of you who fall off the wagon, welcome back.

You can buy tickets through the New Conservatory Theatre box office, or check Goldstar for the potential availability of discounted tickets.

The show runs Thursdays through Saturdays through June 27th.