The “Drag Race” parade just. Won’t. Stop!
For the third time this year, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” is expanding its brand with a new series, “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue.” VH1 announced on Wednesday that the six-episode docuseries will follow six former “Drag Race” contestants as they prepare to launch the “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!” show in Las Vegas.
The cast will include Yvie Oddly (Season 11 winner), Asia O’Hara (Season 10), Derrick Barry (Season 8 and Season 5 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars”), Kameron Michaels (Season 10), Naomi Smalls (Season 8 and Season 4 of “All Stars”), and Vanessa “Vanjie” Mateo (Season 10 and Season 11). As with all things “Drag Race,” World of Wonder Productions produced “Vegas Revue,” with Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato, Tom Campbell, Danielle King, and RuPaul Charles as executive producers. Tim Palazzola and Todd Radnitz executive produced the show for VH1, with Jen Passovoy as producer.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!” opened in January at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, only to shut down prematurely in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show was part of World of Wonder’s ambitious expansion of the “Drag Race” brand, starting with “RuPaul’s Drag Race UK” in late 2019, the four-episode “RuPaul’s Drag Race Secret Celebrity” spin-off in April and May, and “Canada’s Drag Race,” which premiered in its namesake country on July 2, and will start broadcasting in the U.S. on VH1’s sister network Logo on July 27.
An extended first look at “Vegas Revue” will air on VH1 on Friday during the season finale of the current “Drag Race” iteration, “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.”
“Drag Race” has been a touchstone for VH1 this year on Friday nights. The three-and-a-half hour block of Season 12 of “Drag Race,” “Secret Celebrity,” and the after show “RuPaul’s Drag Race Untucked” broke ratings records for the basic cable network in April. Plans to transplant Season 5 of “All Stars” to Showtime were subsequently abandoned in favor of keeping the spin-off series on VH1.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race: Vegas Revue” will debut on VH1 on August 21, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Here’s a first look at the show: