demonic betty bop

 

SOMEHOW i have never in my life been to a drag show. i think this is a travesty because not only do i think drag artists are great, i also live in a state where on any given day i could literally just go out and find a drag show to go to. and yet, i never do, i'm always so busy and/or tired. they are GOING to take away my gay card for this.

until now! a few weeks ago, my partner bought us tickets to one suzie toot's one-woman show, suzie with a z. we found out about her during our bizarre rupaul's drag race phase last year (i get that it's schlocky reality tv, but all of the queens are such skilled artists!!!!) and continued to follow her career after the show ended. i was there when literal government officials unsuccessfully tried to beef with her...

  in any case, suzie toot is an incredibly iconic and skilled performer, and we are a suzie toot stan household (pet cat included) and so it follows that we HAD to go see the show. and get VIP tickets so we could sit in the front and say hi.

 coord rundown

jsk - melty cream doughnut, angelic pretty

 cutsew - sleepyland

bow - angelic pretty

socks - angelic pretty

boots - the white antaina boots that whisper to me like the green goblin every time i make literally any coordinate

bag - kate spade

accessories - chocomint, dolly house, offbrand

 

i didn't really have anything to match the 1920s cabaret theming of her act (other than my radio bag, which kinda fits the bill?) so i just went for something generally cute and stylish. i am SO pleased with this coordinate, i cant believe i haven't really coorded this dress with pink before whatt.. it brings out the pink icing so nicely.

my emo bang is getting long.... i need a haircut

the show was held in saint paul at a bar that ive never been to before. we made the drive, and got there a little bit early. it's a little bit of a smaller joint with a cool yet cozy vibe, and they were playing some 20s-30s era music, fitting with the show we were about to see. we had some dinner before the show and ohhmygod the food at this place is actually so good. im thinking about going back sometime JUST for the food. i had a spicy shrimp burger of sorts and my partner got a roast chicken sandwich. they had a lot of other things on the menu that looked super good and i wish i had the money and stomach space to try ALL of them....

actual literal 11/10 burger. i wont be able to stop thinking about it

 

about ten minutes after our meal, the lights dimmed and the star of the night announced her presence. i hurriedly took off my bow so people behind me could actually SEE and got ready to watch a fantastic performance. i wish i had gotten a photo of the AMAZING coat she was wearing when she came out, but i largely wanted to be respectful and not just snap photos the entire show.
(i did sneak some though for posterity...... since it was allowed )

 

i actually took this a little closer to the end of the show, but she was in this really great sparkly red dress for the whole show.

 the show proper was so good. it was a mix of stand-up, singing, and dancing, with a fun helping of audience participation sprinkled in. (both me and my partner got called out in the audience for some questions and jokes!) all of it was performed solely by her, save for a really fun moment where she brought someone up to read a humorous monologue for one of her bits. she is an incredible singer and dancer, as well as really really hilarious, and i was absolutely enthralled the entire time. it's genuinely amazing how she was able to carry an entire show all on her own - she has the stage presence and skill of an entire broadway musical cast. at the end of the show, she had the audience join her in singing somewhere over the rainbow and rainbow connection and it was very sweet!

 

the show was about an hour and a half long, but it was such a fun ride that it felt like it went by in a flash. i easily could have sat through five more hours of her show without even realizing -- but she says she'll be back again someday, so maybe i'll have a chance to do that in a few years, right? what i saw was so wonderful, and while i dont want to spoil the entire show for people who might want to see her in their own cities, i do want to list some of my favorite moments:

1 - bringing out the official government document written about her (the one calling her a "demonic betty bop" and YES he misspelled it) and reading the highlights out loud before dedicating a song and dance number to him
2 - winding up a jack in the box into the microphone for about a minute before setting it down. (it never opened up and i was so scared it would randomly explode in the middle of the show)
3 - giving us one more additional musical number at the end of the show because we asked nicely and cheered loudly!!!

 

my face totally hurt from smiling by the end of it. she is a really and truly amazing performer!!

 

 because we got VIP tickets, we also got to have a brief meet and greet with her. there were a lot of people besides us, so it was only a minute or two per person, but she was very very sweet and made those minutes count. i do understand that 'suzie toot' is a character and i do not know her, but she was super super nice and totally made my night.

 

anyways here's a photo of her exploding me with psionic powers while my partner looks on in horror

 

(i'm really particular about face stickering non-public figures but please understand that my partner looks like theyre screaming in terror and it's great)

 she went in for a hug, told me she loved my dress and especially my purse (which i am so overly delighted about!) and we swapped stories about the freaky shit that happens in boston -- which is what's actually going on in the aforementioned photo lol. i thanked her for putting on such a great show, especially because it was my first time seeing a drag performance in person. it was really lovely to be acquainted and very kind of her to give us and the other audience members some time to chitchat!

 

guys i dont mean to alarm you but there is a drag queen absolutely eating you guys up in this photo

 we said our goodbyes and headed back out to the bar. it was totally empty by the time we got out there, which was GREAT because it meant there were absolutely zero lines for the bathroom and for the photo booth.

 

EWWWW KISSINNGGGG!!!!!!!!

 it was a super wonderful time!! i really want to go to more live performances like this one (and, in fact, will be doing so again with the partner in october *_~) because they are so fun. performing artists of all kinds are so skilled and can bring people together for such a wonderful time. i would also love to see suzie toot perform again if she does end up coming back to my state. this evening was one for the books and i'm not going to be forgetting miss suzie toot - or how to spell her name - any time soon.