Cabaret review: Sasha Velour’s The Big Reveal, SEC Armadillo, Glasgow

Seven years on from winning Drag Race, Sasha Velour shows why she’s still drag royalty with The Big Reveal, writes Graham Falk

Sasha Velour's The Big Reveal, SEC Armadillo, Glasgow *****

As the number of international Drag Race shows has continued to grow, creating an ever-increasing number of Drag Race winners, remaining front and centre of the scene has become more and more difficult.

Jinkx Monsoon has made it onto Doctor Who and onto Broadway, Bianca Del Rio is still making us cackle with a brand of humour few can match, while the likes of Trixie Mattel and Adore Delano continue to sell out tours worldwide, but keeping your place at the “best in drag” table now requires something unique, as well as an abundance of natural talent.

Based on her latest show The Big Reveal, however, 2017 Drag Race winner Sasha Velour should have a chair at that table for years to come.

Right from the start, she kept her packed out audience transfixed. Before she made her entrance, we were treated to some humorous yet idiosyncratic “commercials”. However, her stage design seemed understated: a simple chair, a lampshade and a fairly regular looking stage sitting room.

As Jennifer Lopez’s Waiting For Tonight boomed out of the speakers, however, that very same chair began to move and dance before revealing itself to be... Velour. It was one of the most outstanding reveals I've ever witnessed at a drag show: smart, eye-catching and out of this world.

The 90 minute show that followed not only demonstrated the versatility of Velour’s act, but also how versatile drag itself is. Pulling down misconceptions, Velour touched on drag’s history and impact while also highlighting its potential as an agent for change.

Sasha Velour performs her new show The Big Reveal PIC: Greg Endries

There was imagination in abundance too: one routine which involved her answering a telephone to numerous different callers bordered on sci-fi horror in its delivery.

With political attacks on trans people and drag artists continuing globally, Velour's message, delivered via stunning visuals and side-splitting comedy, is simple: drag is everywhere and for everyone. It is not to be stifled nor placed into a box and labelled, it does not have limits and it should be allowed to flourish.