‘RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!’ to Close at Flamingo Las Vegas

RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! will take its final bow at the Flamingo on New Year’s Eve, concluding an impressive 1,500-show run on the Las Vegas Strip.

The theatrical residency originally opened in the Flamingo’s main showroom in January 2020, stepping into the spotlight occupied for over a decade by sibling icons Donny and Marie Osmond. After being shut down by the pandemic in March 2020, the show reopened Aug. 5, 2021, and has been a Flamingo fixture ever since.

Kind of a Drag

Adapted from the Emmy-winning reality TV phenomenon—which premiered on Logo TV in 2009 before moving to VH1 and later MTV—the stage production featured a rotating ensemble of cast members from the show. They included Aquaria, Kim Chi, Yvie Oddly, Jaida Essence Hall, Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Latrice Royale, Naomi Smalls, Ginger Minj, Eureka O’Hara, and Kylie Sonique Love.

Though RuPaul never performed in the Vegas residency, he co-directed the show alongside longtime collaborator and Drag Race choreographer Jamal Sims, reuniting a creative partnership that dates back to RuPaul’s 1994 residency at the Sahara Hotel.

Season 10 finalist Asia O’Hara long served as the show’s longtime resident emcee.

Ostensibly following a group of drag performers preparing to compete on the TV series, the show blended solo lip-sync numbers, group choreography, stand-up comedy, and interactive crowd work.

Produced by World of Wonder and Voss Events, the residency featured an original soundtrack penned by RuPaul, World of Wonder’s Tom Campbell, and pop songwriter Leland.

End of the Runway

The residency’s impending closure follows on the high heels of, in the words of Vital Vegas, “rumors of lower ticket sales, significant financial losses, cast downsizing and lowered compensation for the remaining performers.”

Like several other mid-tier Las Vegas production shows, RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! has faced stiff competition from A-list residencies, professional sports, and especially the Sphere.

Still, producers frame the New Year’s Eve finale as a transition rather than a permanent goodbye.

“This is just the beginning, as we are in discussions to expand the RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! universe to other cities across the country and around the world,” World of Wonder co-founders Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “We will be forever grateful for the charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talents of our extraordinary cast and crew who took the art of drag to a whole new level.”

Tickets for the remaining performances are available here.