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anamariaortiz
5th December 2019

Review: All I Want for Christmas is Attention

Ana Maria Ortiz reviews Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme’s All I Want for Christmas is Attention at the Palace Theatre
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TLDR
Review: All I Want for Christmas is Attention
Photo: Matt Baume.

Drag icons BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon have crossed the pond once again to bring another Christm– I mean, holiday special.

Following the enormous success of their 2018 play, To Jesus, Thanks for Everything, the comedic duo decided to team up again for a new ho(e)liday production called All I Want for Christmas is Attention.

DeLa and Jinkx bring the true Christmas spirit to the UK and the US with their whimsical show, which combines all the things that make the holidays the best time of the year: alcohol, dishing on traditions, Christmas carols, over-the-top costumes that over-emphasise what we’re celebrating, and drag queens.

What? Every event is made better with drag, that’s a fact.

With parodies of songs like Lorde’s Royals and Lizzo’s Truth Hurts, a pas de deux that would’ve made Tchaikovsky proud (maybe?), and plenty of eggnog, the Seattle legends most likely offended Christians, fitted some relevant political jokes, and made an entire theatre laugh non-stop for about an hour and half. Even making technical difficulties hilarious. Who would have thought that a broken microphone stand made such an entertaining prop? We all did, clearly, since we laughed every time it fell apart.

Without spoiling too much, I must say that the videos in between segments and the Nativity reenactment were probably my highlight. And my only complaint is that I won’t be able to add their songs to my Christmas playlist… unless… @Jinkx @DeLa… Just kidding… unless…

Anyway, I went to the show with high expectations, and I’m happy to say that they were exceeded. Which I guess I should have expected since both Jinkx and DeLa are seasoned artists and comedians. However, I must give a special mention to DeLa, who besides co-writing, co-performing and co-choreographing the show, also produced it, being her first time producing an international tour. And she did it wonderfully.

This is a witty, hilarious and unmissable show that once again proves that drag is a Christmas must, even if your homophobic uncle (who is wrong all the time anyway) doesn’t think so.


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