Whether it’s Deborah Cox, Britney Spears, or one of our favorite and countless Broadway divas, we have all been in the audience watching a drag performer perform a spectacular recreation of one of our favorite artists’ most high-profile numbers, It is definitely a rare occasion though, when that artist is actually in the audience that night! That is exactly happened this past Saturday night at Playhouse Bar for their Funhouse show, hosted by New York City drag performer Jasmine Rice LaBeija.
The Billboard-charting Allred (who was cast as the singing voice of actress Rebecca Ferguson in The Greatest Showman) was at Playhouse Bar that night with her manager. Initially, LaBeija was unaware that musical greatness was in the audience, until she started speaking with Allred, who when asked, simply and humbly said she was a “singer”. After quickly realizing who Loren was, the crowd erupted when Allred joined LaBeija for the crescendo filled chorus of The Greatest Showman anthem ‘Never Enough”. LaBeija finished the song in her equally anthemic way, bringing the crown (and Allred) to their feet.
Larry Peoples (aka DJ 2Face) was the DJ at Playhouse Bar that night and exclusively told me “Loren was a gem and had a great time at the show. Jasmine was working the crowd and eventually found out who Loren was after her usually cheeky Q&A. Jasmine made a joke to her manager that was there like “why wasn’t she in the movie”? (since she was the only one where they used a different actress) and we all laughed about it. Jasmine never asked her to sing, but at the end of Drag Roulette, I played ‘Never Enough’ and that is when the magic happened. You never know what who will be at Playhouse or what will happen; it’s always a great time”!
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