By Maria Sciullo
The holidays can be a drag, but Slay Belles might make your days merry and bright. Or at least, really, really sparkly.
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show flew into Heinz Hall Wednesday night with an abundance of clever good cheer, bawdy energy and yes, heart. But this was not one for the kiddies (seriously).
“Jinkx, you can’t do drugs on stage,” sang DeLa in the opening number “It’s that kind of holiday show.”
This was followed shortly with the traditional lyric, “Here we come a-wassailing” to which Jinkx yelled “What the FUCK is wassailing?”
It’s that kind of holiday show.
and Jinkx Monsoon, at a tour stop before coming to Heinz Hall Wednesday night.
(Image: Curtis Brown)
Jinkx Monsoon (aka Jerick Hoffer) and BenDeLaCreme (Benjamin Putnam) have been performing holiday sendups since 2018. Titian-haired Jinkx gets to play the smartass diva (having won RuPaul’s Drag Race twice, and starring on Broadway in Chicago earlier this year, and upcoming as a villain on Doctor Who, so, good on her), while DeLa is sweetness and light. The latter is a multi-hyphenate, having written, produced and directed the production.
She also co-designed the fabulous costumes with Mr. Gorgeous.
Jinkx and DeLa featured prancing snowmen, candy canes and reindeer and elaborate dance numbers with a talented half-dozen hoofers and a, uh, demonic Krampus, who got his own number and a reward at the end of it.
A standout was the lovely black-light effect created by Erik Andor/Andor Studios, with three snowball parts of Frosty the Snowman floating amid a darkened stage while Jinkx — who identifies as a witch — sang the show’s version of the Eagles’ “Witchy Woman.“
Make no mistake — as their delighted fans can attest — these queens can sing. The diva duo, along with longtime Jinkx Monsoon collaborator Major Scales, entertained with wry, sometimes campy, sometimes cynical versions of popular songs. Scales, who was at Stage AE last summer for Jinkx Monsoon’s Everything at Stake tour, also wrote some original compositions.
A second-act opener set to “Hey Big Spender” from Sweet Charity was a particular treat.
The joke-within-a-joke of the show’s plot was the actual lack of a plot. Instead, the ladies were trapped within a god-like AI plan to acknowledge something beyond the trite “messages” of the season. Friendship? Consumerism-is-bad? We’ve met a great guy, his name is Jesus? Yada yada … nothing would break the spell.
Would they be forced to perform a holiday show forever?
Props to choreographer Chloe Albin. She was joined by Mr. Babygirl, Jace Gonzalez, Jim Kent, Ruby Mimosa and Scottie as a dancing Greek chorus. Gus Lanza returned from previous shows as Hunky the Elf.
The tech was smart as well: Mike Faba‘s lighting design was excellent, with sound production by Kevin Heard and music production by Mark Byers. Short, bright videos by Kain O’Keefe and Trojan Original were funny and served, as the queens noted from the outset, as time-filler during costume changes — although some changes happend right on stage.
“This show is sneaky,” said Jinkx.
Yes, Jinkc, it was. And wasn’t that wonderful?
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