Yahoo News RuPaul's Drag Race winners and icons unite for new NUBIA: A Brave New World tour dates
Several RuPaul's Drag Race winners are holding a major reunion with fellow icons from the series as they join together for the revival tour of season 1 champion BeBe Zahara Benet's NUBIA shows highlighting Black excellence in drag.
EW can exclusively reveal that BeBe will hit the road with All Stars 5 winner — and OG NUBIA performer — Shea Couleé, season 11 champion Yvie Oddly (who also competed with Shea on All Stars 7), Canada's Drag Race: Canada vs. the World winner Ra'Jah O'Hara, All Stars 3 finalist Kennedy Davenport, and season 13 Miss Congeniality Lala Ri for the all-new NUBIA: A Brave New World tour in 2023.
The six queens will travel across the United States in May and June, with a show following the cast as they rule over respective planets in the Nubian galaxy. Audiences will experience each of their aesthetics through show segments packed with performances and special surprises for the dates ahead.
Bluetech for Triangularis.design NUBIA: A Brave New World featuring Yvie Oddly, BeBe Zahara Benet, Ra'Jah O'Hara; Lala Ri, Shea Couleé, Kennedy Davenport
BeBe tells EW in a statement that this iteration of NUBIA — falling three years after she launched the first round of performances in 2020 alongside Shea, her returning collaborator — will take the production to "the next level" as the group continues to explore expressing Black excellence.
"I'm excited about bringing on new talent this time. And for those wondering: The OG girls are still here. They haven't gone anywhere. They might not be at the shows because they are booked and busy, but that's a good thing. Whenever performers of color are busy, I think that's worth celebrating. The OGs of NUBIA are still involved in this production, even though they won't be on stage," BeBe adds, referencing Bob the Drag Queen, The Vixen, Mo Heart, and Peppermint, who helped the pair debut NUBIA in New York City. "Fans should expect the unexpected. We are burning the house down. You thought three years ago when you saw us in New York that we burned the stage? We are taking it to ash this time around."
Adds Shea: "Black excellence means, throughout one of the most challenging and traumatizing global moments that I've ever experienced, that we as sisters, as creators of color and as Black queens have persevered. And that's something that's so unique to Black culture. We are used to obstacles — big and small. And this was a big obstacle. The fact we are on the other side and revamping NUBIA and getting the momentum back to come and storm the girls means so much, because it's proof that we are incredibly resilient."
Pre-sale sign-up and ticketing information will be available at nubiatour.com. See the full list of tour dates below.
2023 NUBIA: A Brave New World tour dates
May 31 — St. Paul, Minn. (The Fitzgerald Theater)
June 2 — Chicago, Ill. (The Vic Theatre)
June 3 — St. Louis, Mo. (The Pageant)
June 4 — Kansas City, Mo. (Folly Theater)
June 6 — Houston, Texas (Cullen Theater)
June 7 — San Antonio, Texas (Empire Theatre)
June 9 — Dallas, Texas (Granada Theater)
June 12 — Phoenix, Ariz. (Madison Center for the Arts)
June 15 — Los Angeles, Calif. (Orpheum)
June 16 — San Francisco, Calif. (Palace of Fine Arts)
June 18 — Portland, Ore. (Revolution Hall)
June 19 — Seattle, Wash. (Moore Theatre)
NUBIA: A Brave New World, which is being run by Obsessed, is directed by SRĐA, with Diego Wyatt serving as creative director, visual directors Randall Starr and Dan Polyak, and choreographers Rich James and Jay "Mel" Parel.
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