Drag Superstar Violet Chachki Dominates Queer Portland Dance Party Betty

One of Chachki’s openers, Portland performer Tomboy, made a boxy pink rotary phone look absurdly sensual.

Violet Chachki at Betty (Maxie krauthamer)
By Andrew Jankowski

Since her last Portland stop at Revolution Hall in 2022 for her one-woman show A Lot More Me, drag superstar Violet Chachki took her burlesque act to Paris’ fabled Crazy Horse Saloon, making history as the first male-bodied performer on the 73-year-old cabaret theater’s stage (Chachki’s creator, Paul Dardo, is genderfluid). The RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 7 winner has also added another high-fashion notch to her belt, loaning her face and décolletage to Christian Louboutin’s new fetish-inspired perfume collection, which, j’influencé.

Chachki’s Halloween weekend stage performance and DJ set at Betty—a quarterly queer dance party founded in 2021 by music and event producer Veruca as a would-be centennial birthday party for the late actress Betty White—on Friday, Oct. 25, showcased the superstar’s commanding stage presence and glossy professional polish, with no signs of wear after nearly a decade in the global spotlight.

Chachki descended the staircase of the Buckman neighborhood ballroom The Evergreen in a black latex dress, signature cinched corset and black-and-white feather boa, resembling regal ermine fur, with matching feather-lined latex gloves. Parting the crowd, she shed them all onstage in a number set to Lemaitre’s song “Closer” with vocalist Jennie A. Chachki visibly laughing when Betty host Shandi Evans introduced her as “most importantly” hosting a podcast, and thanked the hundreds of mostly costumed Portland guests for making her feel safe enough to be herself every time she visits. She also humbly mentioned that Paris Hilton is doing great.

The next-best act on Betty’s stage was Portland drag artist Tomboy, who performed as a boxy, Barbie-pink rotary phone, shimmying giant rubber shoulder pads every time a call connected. If anyone at Betty was too young to have had a landline—a very real threat—Tomboy gave context clues with a mix of Carly Rae Jepsen, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé between Scream-inspired spoof calls. Beyond the costume’s absurd sensuality, Tomboy displayed considerable charm and charisma.

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