Writer Alex Shough / Photographer Marion Savary
When my partner’s friend realised they’d double-booked themselves and couldn’t make the Trixie Mattel show they’d bought tickets for in 2020, I was all like “oh no, I’m so sorry your friend can’t go with you, so I’m going instead right?”
Props to Becci for not checking her calendar when booking a holiday, appreciated.
It’s the perfect chance for my partner to wear their Trixie/Gazin dress and receive all the praise it deserves. And more importantly, the perfect chance for me to absorb all the ancillary praise having paid for it.
If you don’t already know (and hunny you should) Trixie Mattel is an American based drag queen and winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3. After a 15-minute preview of Trixie Mattel’s new motel makeover show as some kind of a support slot, the show kicks off with a filmed sketch of Trixie visiting their gynaecologist, played by their UNHhhh co-star Katya Zamolodchikova.
What quality kitsch-smut.
Played in by their two-piece touring band, Trixie then took to the stage in the first of 14 outfits to the tune of ‘We got the look’, one of about eight songs they would perform. Yes, I counted the costumes but not the songs – priorities.
The performances, a greatest hits of originals and covers, are interspersed with some solid stand-up that even a straight cis guy could enjoy, Trixie’s bedazzled with several well executed costume reveals – plus one not so well executed costume reveal.
My personal-hetero-highlights include Trixie trying to be honest but relatable, singing ‘Hey Rich People’ to the front-row with those in nosebleeds distance playing the butt of the joke, and Jesse Eisenberg turning up (via recording) to applaud his own ode ‘Jesse’s Girl’. Finally, Trixie’s moving and brooding cover of Lana Del Rey’s ‘Video Games’.
I give the renowned ‘Skinny Legend’ and her stunning show £33 worth of thumbs ups, and a whole full Symphony Hall worth of ‘yay, free ticket!’
For more from Trixie Mattel take a look at www.trixiemattel.com
To find out what’s on at Birmingham Symphony Hall go to the BMusic website: www.bmusic.co.uk