“I think I’ve been very intentional with my time on Drag Race,” BenDeLaCreme tells GAY TIMES, explaining what fans can expect to see from a live show of hers. “It’s not so much that in my stage shows I try to reference Drag Race, but I have been very intentional on Drag Race of introducing people to what they’ll see when they come to a live show.”
DeLa’s latest tour, Ready to Be Committed, kicked off in San Francisco on 13 April and will see the star travel all over the USA, UK and Canada.
It is set to be her biggest solo tour to date, with the star also serving as its lead producer.
“This tour is a show about a queen looking for love,” she explains. “It’s shown through a high-camp lens and, if you are familiar with or love the world of cabaret, variety shows, that kind of spectacular, you’re going to get all of the song and dance and comedy and visuals that you would expect from that, but with a with a much more traditional narrative story.”
DeLa drew from her own experiences when developing its concept, which she thinks makes it more “universal” and relatable to those in attendance.
CAN’T WAIT TO HIT THE ROAD NEXT MONTH!! https://t.co/wnKRVfOWDD pic.twitter.com/9igJVfmRHw
— BenDeLaCreme (@bendelacreme) March 28, 2022
She says that after the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to most things for the majority of 2020 and 2021, Ready to Be Committed is “bigger and more intensified” since its premiere in 2019 and she now feels “even more connected to the material and excited to perform it for people.”
DeLa further explains: “After a lot of trying to figure out how to make meaning out of being a drag queen in the woods where, if I fall no one will hear me, it’s definitely a treat to remember the reason that we all do this and to connect with people.”
Drag Race’s 14th season is just days away from crowning a winner and, although she is “not fully caught up” yet, there are two queens that have stood out to her.
“I will say that what I am seeing Willow Pill putting out into the world is really cool and exciting, and she’s really caught my eye,” she shares.
DeLa also recently got to work with Angeria Paris VanMicheals in Atlanta, who she says was “so wonderful” before adding: “She was somebody that I just enjoyed working with so much and I was just like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re like a real queen. You’re not in this for money or the fame. You’re in this because you’re a drag queen.’ and I love that.”
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During her latest Drag Race run on the third season of All Stars, DeLa steamrolled the competition and became the first queen to win the first four consecutive main challenges, to win Snatch Game twice and to win five challenges in a single season.
“You know, certainly going back the second time for All Stars, I had honed a lot of skills that just came from working constantly after season six,” she explains. “I didn’t know what they would be, I didn’t expect anything in particular. But then, you know, we all saw how it shook out.”
Should she take part in a future season, there is one skill DeLa has perfected over the last two years which she would bring with her to the Werk Room: “You never quite know what skills you’re gaining or why you’re gaining them. And then, you look back and then you’re like, ‘Oh, wow, I got so much better at whatever thing.’
“Like, for instance, right now, I’m probably really good at sitting in a room by myself. That’s a skill I’ve really honed over the last couple of years. So maybe if that’s a challenge next season, I’ll probably kill it.”
Magnus Hastings
BenDeLaCreme’s Ready to Be Committed tour runs from April to July 2022, with UK dates taking place throughout June.
Tickets are available here.
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