I was a late starter when it come to Ru Paul’s drag race and it was the hours of lockdown that finally caused me to sit down and watch it all….from the start. Upon discovering BenDeLaCreme in season 6 and once again in All Stars season 3 it was clear that this was one talented queen. When I heard that she was doing a solo tour which took her to London I was delighted to review it.

The premise of BenDeLaCreme’s new show is that in order to avoid a life alone eating Doritos and surrounded by her cats she has decided to get married…the main snag is that she doesn’t have a dress, a ring…or even a groom. Along the way she turns to Grindr to find her man, converses with her wedding cake topper and says yes to the dress! Of course she brings the audience along with her to witness the most important day of her life.

One huge strength of the show was that it had so much range to it. Whilst there were smutty jokes, mainly stemming from her Grindr hookup and BenDeLaCreme being too innocent to understand the filth she is being sent, there was also an interesting commentary above love and the origins of marriage that kept the audiences interest more than 70 minutes of gags alone could. BenDeLaCreme’s strength is that this commentary is put across in such a funny way that the audience are laughing along at the same time as nodding in agreement. A perfect example was her take on Beyoncé’s ‘Single Ladies’ which became ‘Medieval Ladies’ was both hilarious at the same time as providing a commentary on the origins of marriage and possession.

On top of parodies of Queen Beyoncé’s music BenDeLaCreme performs several original songs, one particular favourite was a rap which looked at the scientific basis of love, whilst cupid interjected from the video screen. Equally BenDeLaCreme’s dance with death with a cat grim reaper on the left hand side of the body and BenDeLaCreme in her wedding gown on her right really showed just how clever her physical humour could be.

Whilst ‘Ready To Be Committed’ is a one woman show it certainty doesn’t feel that way. We meet numerous other characters, including her wedding cake topper by way of a magnifying glass and a video screen. The bitchy cake topper throws constant shade towards BenDeLaCreme, disgusted that she might ruin the cake toppers big day. Equally there is clever puppetry with a talking Dorito and a feminist lesbian novelty penis. We also see a video which is a cross between Queer Eye and Say Yes to The Dress where BenDeLaCreme plays all of the hosts, whilst the live DeLa is performing numerous costume changes. Whenever video is used BenDaLaCreme has flawless timing interacting with herself in her various guises on screen. All of these characters throughout the show are larger than life and you feel that you have been treated to a huge ensemble show by the end.

BenDeLaCreme is a one woman powerhouse in Ready to Be Committed and gives us everything: visual gags, costume changes, video, rap and of course song and dance. There really isn’t much more you could want from a drag show.

DeLa’s show is running at the Leicester Square Theatre until 12th June and then the tour continues onto Manchester and Brighton. You can find out more on her website.

If you like this review you might also like my review of The Jinx and DeLa Holiday Show, Alyssa Memoirs of A Queen and Jinx Monsoon and Major Scales in Ginger Snapped.