“The UK’s stagiest drag clowns, Gigi & Crusty present a gloriously chaotic, queer-as-hell take on Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s iconic musical episode: Once More, With Feeling.
Yes, they really do play everyone.
Yes, it’s queer AF.
And yes – you will be singing along”

Let me begin by confessing that I am a HUGE Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan and I’ve been to my fair share of ‘Buffy’ themed events, and something that always strikes me is how nice it is to be in a room of fans. There’s an inherent joy in sharing space with people who love something as much as you do; it breaks down barriers and makes the whole room feel like friends.

When I saw that Crusty & Gigi were touring their two-person re-telling of Once More With Feeling (the musical episode of the show) to Cardiff after three years in London, I grabbed my Buffy-besties. We had seen Crusty perform in a different Buffy drag show previously and knew we’d be in for a good time but I hadn’t anticipated just how good.

Two drag artists, two hours and a lot of wigs. The premise is simple – sing, dance and perform all the songs from the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in order. Give enough context to the audience so that the non-geeks can follow along, and get the audience involved wherever you can. The songs were interjected by banter, funny stories and interesting Buffy facts which felt really well balanced.

Crusty and Gigi are incredibly engaging as a double-act, and you can see how much they admire one another when on stage. There’s an ease in their relationship that comes from years working together which made the show feel slick and the audience feel safe. There was no dead air in this show, and every time I looked around the room I saw a sea of smiles, and I was grinning too – all the way through. The show was funny, silly, serious when it needed to be and really respectful to the source material.

Throughout the show there were screens playing karaoke style lyrics and audience participation throughout with people invited on stage to sing, dance and act out additional roles. Rarely have I seen an audience so willing to get involved, and whilst this dwindled towards the end of the show I think that initial eagerness speaks volumes to how confident the audience were in Crusty & Gigi’s ability to hold the space and share this story we all love so much. None of the audience cameos felt awkward and the room was really supportive to those taking the stage.

These moments were well balanced by duets and solos from Gigi and Crusty who are incredible singers – they describe themselves as ‘stagey drag clowns’ and a ‘west-end meets gay bar’ which feels really accurate. There were naughty jokes, tongue in cheek moments, as well as impressive vocals. Gigi and Crusty both played almost every role in the show, swapping between caricature and more serious character acting and belting songs with ease.

One of my favourite moments was hearing the whole audience sing the finale song together – for this Gigi and Crusty stepped off the stage and sat amongst the fans – a rousing chorus of ‘Where Do We Go From Here’ reminding us that when times are tough, we can stand together, hand in hand, a message the queer community needs right now.

I could talk more about some of the sweet moments with audience members, of the brilliant gender-play and nods to original choreography – but I’ll end by saying instead that if you are a Buffy fan, you will love this show. If you enjoy drag, cabaret or musicals, you will love this show – not just the performance but the whole experience; The warmth in the room, the fun facts, the ability to sing along – it was just a really good night that I’m glad I got to share with my friends.

Cardiff was the last stop on Gigi & Crusty’s tour but given that they sold-out the show at CABARET, I hope they’ll return in the future.