(OUTscene NW) RE-view: Monsoon and Scales come Full-Circle and Bring 'The Vaudevillians' Back to Seattle!

Photo: Nate Watters

by MK Scott

Before Jinkx Monsoon, was Drag Superstar, Jinkx Monsoon and just Cornish College student, Jerick Hoffer and before Major Scales was just fellow Cornish student, Richard Andriessen, they got together to stage their Kiki and Herb inspired 2010 Cabaret show, "The Vaudevillians" at the now defunct, Balagan Theater in a basement of a Capitol Hill Thai Restaurant.

So after winning Rupaul's Drag Race in 2013, Monsoon was able to bring "Vaudevillians" to a Sold Out Off-Broadway run at New York's Laurie Beechman Theater that was extended 3 Times! Now after a 3 month tour in Australia, Monsoon and Scales, come full circle with a wealth of experience to Seattle Rep for a month long engagement in the Leo K Theater.

 Monsoon portrays Kitty Witless and Scales as Dr. Dan Von Dandy, a vaudeville couple who were frozen in an avalanche in the 1920s but have now thawed out thanks to global warming.


The two were quite the songwriters in their day, though not so good at copyrighting their creations, and here in the present they find that many of their tunes have been appropriated by more recent stars. That gimmick enables “The Vaudevillians” to lay claim to any song since that fictional avalanche, and the show mixes staples like Cynidi Lauper's 'Girls just wanna have Fun' in a 1920's style and “I Will Survive” with DJ Kool and Lady Gaga.

Photo: Nate Watters

The smart song selection is coupled with skewed deliveries that turn rock, pop and rap into something that might conceivably have been heard in a vaudeville house, Mr. Scales providing the piano accompaniment. What really makes the show, though, is the meltdown the couple experience even as they’re performing. Ninety years of marriage, it turns out, results in a certain amount of accumulated tension, and it all comes bubbling up as the two belt out their preposterous songs.

Like with Justin Bond's Act as Kiki to Kenny Mellman's Herb of a couple that think they are back in their Hey day but have conflicts about having to change for their contemporary audience.

A little audience participation is also thrown in when Monsoon goes out into the audience and comes back with a young actor, and does a head stand in his lap! Monsoon had to belt out some notes off-key, but then shines consistantly with top-notch professionalism.

As someone that has done a scene from Ibsen's "A Doll House", the finale was musical sequel that had the audience in the aisles.

So much has happened to Monsoon and Scales in just 4 years and Seattle will always welcome this Homegrown team of Monsoon and Scales or Kitty and Dandy for many years to come!

"The Vaudevillians" Continues Through Nov 2nd at Seattle Rep's Leo K Theater!