Review-Les Fleurs Sauvage-Bisous
29-5-13
By: Meaghan McGurgan
First, a disclaimer... I consider myself a drag show expert. I've seen every episode of RuPaul's Drag Race. I've helped a queen or two with a transformative moment; I know a thing or two about tucking and shadowing. I consider drag to be a legitimate art form that HK has been ignoring for far too long. Bisous on Wyndham St. has been doing something about the lack of fabulousity in our scene by hosting Les Fleur Sauvage every last Tuesday of the month. Bisous is a great venue for the event as the staff are wonderful, the venue is super pretty and equally as fabulous as the performers. I recommend you get there a bit early as the happy hour goes until 9pm and limited sight lines at Bisous mean you have to stand very close to the stage to see everything.
A second disclaimer, there was no program provided for this show so I'm unable to give the names of all 32 performers in this show. A simple poster or banner with the performers' names might be nice for the future, it helps build the brand of the queens, so we start to recognize certain queens with certain numbers.
Overall, the show is well done and the best we currently have in Hong Kong in the way of regular drag entertainment. The "ladies" are professionals, have great stage presence and are very personable. Their group numbers are much stronger than their solos. Something about their group choreography and staging really sells it. When they get on stage for their solos, you begin to see the flaws in their characters, the creases in their tucks and where they fell out of place with their lip syncs. All That Jazz was a wonderful way to open the show. You can tell they all have professional dance backgrounds. They were all wonderfully in sync, with wonderful extension and great use of the stage. I loved all the group numbers. Bravo on the lift in Act 2! I was super scared you were going to smack your head on the fire sprinkler- but you didn't...
Act 2 of the show was also plagued with a lot of technical mishaps. The lights were sadly left off during most of the wonderful Hercules tribute. The sound levels were unbalanced for parts of the live singing causing the mics to be far too loud. All of these issues could have been prevented and did affect the overall audience experience. The ladies were absolute troopers and kept on going no matter what!
Where the show could improve is in layout. It's a seamless show with back to back routines. There's no filler or segueway between the musical numbers. We don't get to explore the characters of the Fleurs through comedy or spoken word. Their dancing is very good but we don't get to know Gigi or Mimi on a more personal level. Who are they? If the ladies are wanting to move the show to the next level, I suggest they add an emcee element or a theme to each show so they can start building each individual character's brand with the audience.
Last night's show had a few bonus performers, a wonderful B-Boy troupe, a salsa dance troupe and a couple of singers joined in. They were all raising money for a friend who is battling cancer. It was an entertaining show for a good cause. I know they'll only get better the more they perform.
Les Fleur Sauvage is a monthly experience in Hong Kong. You can catch it the last Tuesday of every month. For more information, click here.
Comments
Hidden Giant
Last night's show was so entertaining! I ended up staying for the whole thing. It's definitely worth going. My friends and I stumbled upon this show one month and it's a gem of a show in Hong Kong. 2 thumbs up to the ladies. Luv'em! Definitely be back for more!
29 May 2013