On Easter Sunday, she rose, and by ‘she’, I mean Miss Shangela Laquifa Wadley, and by ‘rose’, I mean performed a sold-out show in Glasgow’s infamous Cathouse.
Originally, the show was supposed to be in Audio, one of my favorite venues in the city, however, the move felt appropriate as it turned out to be a bigger room packed full to see the Drag Race star.
First to the stage was local queen, Lawrence Chaney. Now, this was not my first time seeing them perform but it was probably my favorite. Getting to see Lawrence host and do some improv comedy was truly a highlight of the night, alongside the first performance… a dare I say, tribute, to the dating app, Grindr mixed with ‘DTF’ by Adore Delano and pulling an audience member on stage for some behavior that was maybe a tad inappropriate for a show that was ages 14+… but we all have to learn sometime, I guess.
Lawrence’s second performance was a comedic dance instructional piece, teaching the crowd how to pull off moves such as the “hingmy.” A good host is such an important role to fulfill and Lawrence definitely hyped the crowd for the main event…
It was finally time for Shangela to take to the stage and in true Haus of Edwards style, she appeared on the right-hand side of the crowd (not in a box sadly), making her way to the stage for a dance number including ‘Call Me Mother’ by RuPaul, this queen’s sheer presence is enough to turn the audience into screaming banshees, many fingers were being waved, and there was a chorus of “YAAASSS” echoing around the room as she referenced her iconic sugar daddy fight with fellow season three queen, Mimi Imfurst.
The night featured Shangela giving a brief rundown of each episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars Three, that she recently starred in, and even made it to the top four! After reenacting her iconic talent show performance, she shared her personal experiences on the show, throwing a little touch of playful shade at her sisters, such as Trixie Mattel’s RuPaul impression, where she claims to have heard the shady editing music used in the show inside her head.
The show was so much fun and she truly is such a talented, well-rounded drag artist and I may have even had glassy eyes as she performed ‘This Is Me’ from The Greatest Showman.
Although the show had finished, my night with Shangela was not over yet. After purchasing a gorgeous pin and having a nice chat with her assistant, it was time to finally meet the star. She grabbed my hands, asking my name, accidentally mistaking ‘Jen’ for ‘Jane’, which I blame mostly on my accent. We also bonded over our love of yellow eyeshadow, in all, it was a great meet and greet experience… Slay have done it yet again with the most organized shows!
Shangela made it clear that she is a fan of the show first and a contestant second, and the more I think about her performance on the show, it makes more sense, she knows the game and played to her strengths in the most recent All-Stars season and in real life.
She may not have snatched a Drag Race crown, but she has snatched the hearts of many.
Written by Contributor Jen
DragAdventures 