REVIEW: Plastique Tiara and Nymphia Wind: The Serpents Tour @ Theatre of Living Arts
WRITTEN BY: Aya Soussi
PHOTOS BY: Aya Soussi
On Thursday, February 19th, I had the pleasure of seeing Plastique Tiara and Nymphia Wind of RuPaul’s Drag Race at the Philadelphia stop of their Serpents tour at Theatre of Living Arts, my all-time favorite venue here. It’s small, yet welcoming, and I have some of the best memories here (shoutout to those who read my BETWEEN FRIENDS show review). At TLA, no matter where you’re standing or sitting, you truly can never get a bad view. The show was originally supposed to be at the end of January, but the 8-12 inches of snow called for a rescheduling.
Plastique Tiara, known for competing on Season 11 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and All Stars 9, has often been dubbed the show’s “social media queen” with over 4 million followers on Instagram and almost 12 million followers on TikTok. On the show, she’s known for showcasing elegant and complex runways as well as her Vietnamese heritage. I’ve seen Plastique before, back home in Connecticut during the All Stars 9 tour, and I couldn’t wait to see how her drag and performance style had evolved.
Accompanying her on tour is season 16 winner Nymphia Wind, the first ever Taiwanese contest in the show’s 17 season history, who ended up taking the crown. Bananas are her thing, along with gorgeous runways and one of the show’s most iconic season finale stepdown look, a white and gold gown with a backdrop depicting a leopard on a cloudy-skied mountain, along with a gorgeous headpiece to complement the gown. Each city featured different guests of Asian descent, with local openers Déjà vu and Pixie Styx, and Philly legend Mandy Mango performing toward the end, known for competing on season 18 (whom I had the pleasure of getting a selfie with during the show’s intermission).
The Serpents Tour was a celebration of Asian pride, telling the folktale of the Green Snake and the White Snake with themes of sisterhood, love, and light seen through beautiful fashion, humorous fight sequences, and gag-worthy performances. Joella, a fan favorite, was displayed on the big screen to start the story of the Serpents with a satirical twist. The audience went crazy for the infamously dubbed “Slaysian Diva of Los Angeles” throughout the show and I was equally living for it.
Plastique and Nymphia strutted on the stage together and gave us a gentle, yet elegant, performance before doing some crowd work. They had mentioned this was their first 18+ stop on the show and were relieved that they were free to make all the dirty jokes they pleased without worrying about how parents were going to explain to their children about all the snake innuendos made. Nymphia tossed some pretzels onto the crowd, and the rotational performances began.
With her first performance, Plastique served us outfits and gowns incomprehensible to the typical human mind while lip synching and dancing to ballads and pop songs in Vietnamese. While I didn’t understand a lick of the lyrics, everyone in the audience, including myself, was absolutely entranced. I remember muttering “Oh my god” under my breath maybe fifteen times. She was just that beautiful.
Her last performance of the night was one for the books. She started off performing “Gabriela” by KATSEYE in a beautiful, flowy, white skirt and crop tank set with loads of sparkles and a platinum blonde wig. I’ve never been a KATSEYE fan until that performance. I didn’t think my eyes could sparkle brighter or my jaw drop further. However, I was not prepared for the true showstopper of the night when the song transitioned into “Bad Romance” by Lady Gaga. Her performance featured her stripping her previous outfit to reveal a new one in the matter of a second, her backup dancers picking her up like it was nothing, and a stage dive.
I had been anticipating Nymphia’s performance since tuning into her entire season and hearing other fans commend her performance style, but I can say with confidence that she knocked those expectations out of the park. Her body was swaying gracefully and she made sure to lock eye contact with members in the audience to reel us in even further. One of my favorite parts of her sets was her performance of Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted Snake”, in which at some point she went up to the barricade, right in front of me, and began aggressively lip synching, dancing, and utilizing hairography with her 30-inch ponytail. The reveals, her giant accessories, and snake-covered gowns hypnotized everyone. I could not believe I got a selfie with her at the end of the show.
This performance reinforced the truth that drag queens are individuals with outrageous talent and are just trying to make a living day by day. The world of drag is already stigmatized when all performers do is promote joy and peace for all. This performance during the Lunar New Year in a city like Philly was a beautiful celebration and embrace of Asian heritage through the lens of fashion and creativity. The choices of Pixie Styx, Déjà Vu, and Mandy Mango did not go unnoticed. They could not have picked a better time to shine the spotlight on these local talents in a community that would welcome them with open arms. It was an honor and a pleasure to attend and take all this in. I never wanted to leave.
Drag is an art that should be protected. It is not a crime. Support local drag.
