Jinkx Monsoon & Major Scales: The Vaudevillians at Contact
Andrew Anderson
Some theatre shows have an important and pertinent message, one that the world needs to hear. The Vaudevillians, part of Contact’s autumn season, isn’t one of them. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t great entertainment – it is.
Here’s the premise: vaudeville artists Kitty Witless and Dr. Dan Von Dandy have been frozen in ice since an avalanche buried them during the ’20s. A lot of stars since – Madonna, Lady Gaga – have simply been ripping them off. But now thanks to global warming they’ve thawed out and can take their act back on the road, reclaiming their rightful crowns as the king and queen of pop.
Performed by Jinkx Monsoon (winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race) and Major Scales, this is drag queen cabaret at its silliest and therefore, to my eyes, most satisfying. Taller than over the top, further than too far, The Vaudevillians are, in their own words, “the hottest act ever to be frozen alive.”
