This week’s episode of Fusion’s Shade: Queens of NYC couldn’t have come at a better time. With Thanksgiving coming to a close, everyone is in full holiday mode. Marti Gould Cummings and her husband Blake compose their own Christmas album, and Jada Valenciaga returns to the show! C’mon Shade Report, let’s get recapinnnggg! (I’ll see myself out).
Jada Valenciaga returning was the best surprise this week. She originally moved to New York City to pursue acting, but as we all know the acting lifestyle can be a bit unpredictable. She decided to throw on a wig and become a drag queen, finding that it actually helped her maintain her crafts: acting and dancing. You may be wondering where Jada was all season. She was in a hit production of Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story in Pennsylvania. She went straight to rehearsal with Tina Burner and Chelsea Piers upon her return. We got to see a cute lipsynch number from her, giving us a taste of her personality and drag style since we haven’t seen much of her leading up to this point in the season. I must say, I kind of love her.
Meanwhile, Marti and her husband Blake have an idea to raise money for charity this holiday season. They’ve decided to compose and record their own Christmas album, adorably titled A Very Marti Holiday. Blake is a classically trained composure, and the pair gets to work on the album with Tina and Jasmine Rice LaBejia. The best part of the episode? Learning that Tina used to be in a boy band. Someone find us videos or photos of this, please!
The trio was set to record a rendition of We Three Kings, but of course, the girls have the idea to parody the religious song and turn it into We Three Queens. Each of the girls wrote their own verse and set off to record it in the studio with Blake. Well, all but his own husband. Marti caught up in the stress of everything on her plate forgot to write her verse. Tina came to the rescue, wrote the missing verse, and the song went off without a hitch. By the end of the episode, there was a wonderful lipsynch number of the song. It was cute, hilarious, and actually really good! Which is saying a lot when it comes to music from our favorite drag queens Drag Race shade noise. Marti was even able to get Broadway stars Daphne Rubin-Vega and Jelani Remy to lend their voices on the album!
Marti and Blake held a party to celebrate the release, and honor the charity they chose, The Ali Forney Center which provides housing and support to homeless LGBTQ youth. Jada shares that she was once homeless, unable to make enough money to support herself. She was living off a park bench for a short period of time. My heart absolutely broke for her. Something good came out of her struggle, the men behind the Ali Forney Center asked her to come and teach a class and provide support for those living in their center. The most heartwarming moment!
Marti’s album was a success! The party went smoothly, and the album was well received. Jada made her triumphant return to the show after a successful stint on a musical production. All and all, great episode! What was your favorite part? Let us know in the comments below!
Be sure to tune into Shade: Queens of NYC Thursday’s at 10:30 PM on FusionTV or on fusion.net.
