Screen: Las Vegans go for the crown on RuPaul’s Drag Race

STAR WARS

LAS VEGANS ALEXIS MATEO AND INDIA FERRAH GEAR UP FOR THE LATEST RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE

RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 5 June 5, 8 p.m., VH1.

Alexis Mateo, Derrick Barry, India Ferrah

(Viacom/Courtesy)

; RuPaul

(Jordan Strauss/AP/Photo Illustration)

By Lesl ie Ventura

Beginning June 5, three high-kicking Las Vegas queens will fight for the crown on the fifth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars. India Ferrah, Alexis Mateo and Britney Spears impersonator Derrick Barry will return to the Werk Room to represent Sin City in the fiercest ways possible, from over-the-top runway looks to gravity-defying death drops. The Weekly caught up with Ferran and Mateo to discuss the experience. Ferrah, a Drag Race Season 3 contestant, might be known for being “picked up”—literally— by queen Mimi Imfurst during a lip-sync battle, and for her larger-than-life looks. But Ferrah’s shy personality underwhelmed judges, and she wound up in 10th place. Ferrah hopes to show newfound confidence on All Stars.

“I’ve grown so much,” Ferrah says. “Being here in Vegas really molded me into a completely new character.” Prior to the pandemic, Ferrah could be seen strutting her stuff at Drag Brunch inside Señor Frog’s at Treasure Island.

Since the lockdown, Ferrah and her fiancée, queen Savannah James, have used their custom costume, wig and nail company, Ferrah-James Designs, as a platform to sell masks to the public (ferrahjamesdesigns.com). Ferrah says her costume business will give her an edge in the latest competition, which features new wrinkles to make it even more competitive.

This time, instead of lip-syncing for their lives, contestants lip-sync against a “lip-sync assassin”—and receive $10,000 if they win. “It was the biggest gag,” Ferrah says. “I think all of us were shook so hard. It made us all up our game. We had to turn everything on.”

Mateo returns to the All Star competition for the second time, having been on the first season in 2012. She placed third during Season 3 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Originally from Puerto Rico, Mateo lived in Florida before moving to Las Vegas last year. “Vegas is a new beginning for me,” Mateo says. “My life was in a very dark place before I got [here.] Vegas is a second chance to me, so I’m feeling like this is my new home.” In May, Mateo released a music video for her single, “The Crown,” on her YouTube channel (youtu.be/JWxKBfjP2gE)—a notso-subtle shot-call of her plan for All Stars Season 5. “They know I’m hungry,” Mateo says. As a returning All Star, Mateo might have an edge on other contestants, but she notes that her competition was equally as tough. “Season 1 of All Stars, we kind of didn’t know what to expect; it was kind of like The Twilight Zone for all of us,” Mateo says. “Going in for a third time, it’s completely different. This has been a very difficult one, too, not only because of the amount of pressure, but because the cast is so fierce.”

Barry, who wasn’t available for an interview by press time, finished fifth on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8 and is competing as an All Star for the first time. Barry also performed in a Las Vegas spin-off of the show, RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! at the Flamingo, and was a contestant on America’s Got Talent.

Regardless of the outcome, Mateo says her on Drag Race experience has been unforgettable. ““Being on Drag Race has given me a platform to help others. Knowing that people know what I stand for … is just magical,” she says. I knew my life was onstage; I just didn’t know what I was supposed to be. Finding drag saved my life.”

SCENE

A stitch in time Nevada Ballet Theatre’s Betsy Lucas stays busy design in g clothin g for dan cers

​Betsy Lucas performs in The Current, choreographed by Krista Baker, at the Smith Center stage, wearing her own designs. (Virginia Trudeau/Courtesy)

By C. Moon Reed

Which came first: dancing or sewing? Betsy Lucas doesn’t quite know. She’s been dancing and sewing about as long as she can remember. “Both have been a part of my life since like the beginning of time,” Lucas says.

Career-wise, dancing has been primary. Lucas just completed her 10th season performing with Nevada Ballet Theatre, one sadly cut short by COVID-19. Before that, she danced with Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Over the years, Lucas has performed many lead roles, including Odette/ Odile in Swan Lake, Wendy in Peter Pan and Clara in The Nutcracker. “She is such a strong dancer,” says colleague Krista Baker. “Even though she is petite, she is super powerful.”

As a company artist, Lucas is always wearing skirts and leotards. Dancing with NBT is a full-time job, so she spends hours moving and stretching in the typical uniform of tights, leotard and skirt.

As a third-generation stitcher, Lucas learned how to sew from her mother and grandmother. One day, she wondered if she could combine her talents. Lucas invested in a serger, a type of sewing machine that can do a “four-way stretch” and can best handle the special needs of dancer fabrics such as chiffon.

“I would wear my skirts in rehearsal, and I had friends that would say, ‘Hey, I want to wear that one, too,” Lucas says. “So that’s kind of how it all got started.”

In 2017, she launched her own venture called Style En Pointe. She sells rehearsal skirts and sometimes tights and leotards via the Instagram page @style.en.pointe. Skirts are $25 and face masks, a new addition for the pandemic, are $5.

Even those with two left feet might find inspiration in scrolling through posts featuring gauzy skirts, ombre tights and more. One shows a dancer wearing a delicate, green Style En Pointe outfit. Thanks to the magic of the internet, she spins back and forth eternally, like a dancer in a jewelry box.

“Dance, especially ballet, is all about the extension of lines that we create with our bodies and how can we make these lines look never-ending and effortless,” Lucas says. “I think that fashion and costume design does the same thing. They’re both pushing the extension of the human body and both showing [its] expression.”

Lucas finds inspiration from current fashion trends, high-fashion designers like Christian Dior and, most importantly, her own movement. “I have the advantage of getting to wear the product quite often,” she says.

She has learned what she likes: comfort and quality. And, of course, she loves the traditional aesthetics of ballet, which combines athleticism and femininity. “I think it really celebrates the beauty of a woman,” Lucas says.

(Jordan Mendoza/Courtesy)

In addition to rehearsal gear, Lucas creates and designs costumes. She has created them for the NBT’s annual collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, A Choreographers’ Showcase. Most recently, she made them for the world premiere of The Current at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts. That ballet was written by fellow NBT dancer Baker. “I wanted Betsy to have artistic freedom when it came to designing

the looks,” Baker says. Lucas also performed in the premiere, so she had intimate knowledge of the dance. “She knew the inspiration of the piece and how the movement felt on her own body, so she drew from that— along with my approval—and created the silhouette and design.

“They turned out so beautiful and helped bring my new ballet to life onstage. It was so fun to watch Betsy’s process and how much she seemed to enjoy it.”

Baker estimates that every woman in NBT’s company has at least one Lucas creation, and some men even have tights or shorts designed by her.

NBT’s performance venue, the Smith Center, is closed indefinitely due to the global pandemic, but Lucas is staying busy. She takes Zoom and Instagram Live dance classes at home. She cross-trains, walks her two German Shepherd mixes, works in her garden and bikes around Downtown. She’s also using the time to experiment with new ideas for Style En Pointe.

“I fully believe that if you enjoy the hobbies and you express yourself through different mediums of art, it can be really enjoyable and fulfilling,” she says.