Trixie Mattel played a sold-out show in Fort Lauderdale last Friday, where she entertained the audience with comedy and music 

SHADE-O-METER RATING

4 OUTTA 5 WERKS: “SHE GAVE GOOD FACE – SHE SERVED IT”

Who’s Trixie Mattel?  She’s a drag performer/musician who came in sixth-place on the seventh season of RuPaul’s Drag Race and who won the third season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.  She also had her own TV show, The Trixie and Katya Show, which aired on Viceland.  What’s the Amaturo Theater?  It’s a 590-seat theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.  How was the venue?  The venue is great, and there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.  It really should be utilized more by entertainers, but it seems that many would rather play, for example, at a half-empty Parker Playhouse instead of here.

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How was the parking?  There’s a garage across the street, or you can valet.  Does the venue serve liquor?  Yes.  And child, those queens never laid off of it.  It seemed like there was always a line for da liquor.  A well drink and a glass of wine were both $9.  How were the drinks?  The well drink was strong enough.  At least they’re served in real glasses, which is a nice touch, and not those tacky plastic cups.  Does the venue serve food?  They only have a few snacks.  There’s no kitchen.

How much were the tickets?  $41.08.  Where were the seats?  On the side.  Unless you’re sitting right up in the front, the side seats actually seem better than the ones in the main section.  Was the show sold out?  Yes.  Was there an opening act?  If you can believe it, she actually had one.  Brandon James Gwinn, who also doubles as her on-stage assistant, did a short musical set.  How was it?  Completely not needed.  Gwinn performed from 8:10-8:30 p.m, and after that, the lights came on.

How was the show?  Trixie came on the stage at 8:45 p.m. to thunderous applause and proceeded to launch into her comedy routine.  Of which, the material itself was slightly better than Miss Mattel’s ability to deliver it.  Maybe as a backlash against her self-professed burgeoning appeal to teenage girls, the show also contained a proliferation of raunchiness, such as, “I used to get black-out drunk, and one time my friends wrote ‘faggot’ on the inside of my stomach in cum,” and, “Oh, you can laugh at the molesting jokes, but not the STD jokes?”  One of her better comedy lines cleverly utilized localism.  When one of the jokes didn’t go over as expected, Trixie explained that it’s new material, “[but] I’m a white misfit from a mid-west town.  If I wanted something to bomb, it would have been the local high school.”  The show was also punctuated with some musical numbers, where there was a fair amount of audience recognition a la singalongs.  In all, there was a 20-minute intermission, and the show ended at about 10:45.

How was the crowd?  Mostly gay, but peppered with some straight couples and some “bridal party” looking ones.  What could have improved the show?  Ditch the opening act.  If it ain’t a rock concert, and a rock concert this was not, then that foolishness ain’t needed.  Regarding the songs, it’s a shame that Trixie’s vocal ability wasn’t better, because of the two, the comedy and the music, it was the music that stood out.  The songs were all original compositions, and they were catchy.  Maybe she’ll have a career as a songwriter at some point.

What was surprising about the show?  The number of straight couples that were there.  Who would of ever thunk that we’d live to see that day that “drag” would become so mainstream.  It seems inevitable that one of these RuPaul girls will crossover into either Hollywood or pop music, but it’s anyone’s guess which one will do it first.  If only Divine could have lived to see all this.

The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is located at 201 S.W. 5th Ave., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.