How RuPaul dragified Las Vegas with a triumphant comeback

RuPaul's first Las Vegas residency at the Sahara Hotel in 1994 does not become a big hit.

RuPaul's Drag Race Live! isn't the first Las Vegas residency with RuPaul's name attached to the production, which is a fun fact that many fans might not realize. At the height of his success with "Supermodel (You Better Work)" — which peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the first half of 1993 — the drag superstar did actually headline a Vegas residency at the Sahara Hotel.

As seen in the photo above from November 18, 1994, the Sahara Hotel's marquee read, "The Queen of Las Vegas: RuPaul." Unfortunately, this first attempt at a Vegas residency didn't exactly work, and ultimately closed after just a few weeks. In many ways, though, that experience was fundamental for the eventual success of RuPaul's Drag Race Live! three decades later at the Flamingo Las Vegas.

Talk about "Losing Is the New Winning," eh?

Jamal Sims meets RuPaul as one of the backup dancers for the 1994 Vegas residency.

Best known in the Drag Race fandom as a choreographer who's appeared in several episodes of the franchise, the long-standing creative partnership between Sims and RuPaul can be traced as far back as 1994 to that first Vegas residency at the Sahara.

"Jamal was one of the dancers in my Las Vegas act at the Sahara Hotel," RuPaul said in the July 30, 2014 episode of his What's the Tee podcast, crediting Frank Gatson Jr. for introducing them. In response, Sims shared a funny and endearing story about how that happened.

After being cast in Michael Jackson's "Remember the Time" music video — a 1992 short film set in ancient Egypt directed by John Singleton, choreographed by Fatima Robinson, and starring Eddie Murphy — Sims went on tour with R&B singer Karyn White. In subsequent weeks, Sims went on a "secret audition" (in which dancers don't know who the artist is until their arrival) and learned that it was for a new Michael Jackson tour.

"I auditioned, and got down to the 10, then made it down to six," Sims said. Unfortunately, upon getting to that final six, Sims said that MJ's team decided to make "one [more] cut, and it was me. I was the one. I was crushed."

He added, "Two weeks go by and I get another call. There's [another] secret audition. I'm like, 'Michael must be looking for another [cast of dancers].' I come in, and Frank Gatson's in there, and [the audition] is for RuPaul."

RuPaul busted out laughing while listening to the story. "I was like, 'All right, secret audition…' That's how you do it!" Sims teased. "But I'll tell you, that's when my life began."

"We did it twice," RuPaul recalled in the same ​What's the Tee​ episode. "We did it two weeks here and then two weeks a little bit later."

Though the Sahara Hotel residency was short-lived, Sims explained how working with RuPaul was a life-changing experience. It was his first time seeing (with his own eyes) a Black gay man who wasn't just his most authentic self, but also had a thriving career. Sims, who wasn't an out gay man back then, recalled: "I was like, gosh, I just wanna go to a gay club. I knew [my sexuality], I just hadn't done [the coming out] yet."

After being cast as a backup dancer for RuPaul at the Sahara residency, Sims said that he "was finally able to be with people that were like me," which he believes changed the entire course of his life.

"And I wasn't able to tell Ru about this until the day before I got married. That was the first time that I saw a gay person live like a 'normal person,'" Sims observed, highlighting that RuPaul was an out and proud gay man who found success in show business despite any preconceived notions about people who came out. "I was like, 'Damn, that's what I wanna be.' So, from that day, it was the OK to just be myself."

In 2020, 'RuPaul's Drag Race Live' opens with Jamal Sims credited as the choreographer and co-director (along with RuPaul) of the show.

The long-standing creative partnership between Sims and RuPaul didn't waver for 25 years. As RuPaul's Drag Race premiered on Logo TV, moved to VH1, and reached MTV (with All Stars seasons streaming on Paramount+), Sims appeared many times as a choreographer, and even served as a mainstay judge for the first-ever Global All Stars. By the time RuPaul's Drag Race Live! opened in 2020 at the Flamingo Las Vegas, it felt like a given that Sims would be the choreographer of the project, and he also got to co-direct the show with RuPaul.

In 2025 — 30 years after RuPaul's first Vegas residency that had Sims as a backup dancer — RuPaul's Drag Race Live! reached the milestone of 1,000 shows in Vegas, and Sims posed for pictures standing right next to Ru. A stunning full-circle moment, and a cause for celebration, of how far they've come not only as performers, but as Black queer men who survived and thrived in showbiz. Beyond any ups and downs in their careers over the decades, Sims and RuPaul could now celebrate a triumphant achievement that is a direct result of another collaboration between them.

World of Wonder founders Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey recall personally selling RuPaul merch at the 1994 Vegas residency.

Out spoke with World of Wonder co-founders Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey prior to the 1,000th show of Drag Race Live! and asked them about RuPaul's first Vegas residency at the Sahara in 1994 — specifically, how it felt to compare that previous experience with this incredible achievement of the production at the Flamingo Las Vegas.

"It's funny you mentioned 30 years ago. I remember, after the show, we would man the gift shop. We would do the merch table," Bailey told Out. "And the last night we were there, I remember giving the money to the Sahara to put it in the safe. The next morning, between getting up and getting on the plane, it wasn't until I got back to LA that I was like, 'Shit, I left the money in the safe at the Sahara!' We got [the money] and it all worked out. But, yeah, we were the gift shop."

Barbato added, "I also remember, back in the Sahara days — and this is an example of how drag is a family affair — after the show, Ru had a suite upstairs, and I remember his family was there. I think his dad came. Jamal's family was there. My dad came at one point."

In 2025, Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey are interviewed at the large gift shop for 'RuPaul's Drag Race Live' in Las Vegas.

"It's funny, though," Bailey observed, "that we're standing in this really nice gift shop, but we just had one of those tables, and a little tin of money, and all of those boxes of t-shirts."

Barbato chimed in, "We got a truck!" to explain how they transported all the merch back in 1994.

RuPaul actually discusses 'Drag Race Live' for the first time back in 2015.

During an episode of the What's the Tee podcast from June 3, 2015 — two days after the grand finale of RuPaul's Drag Race season 7 aired on Logo TV — Michelle Visage told RuPaul that he could be touring the world to sold-out audiences, and suggested that he could even do a Las Vegas residency.

RuPaul was clearly already listening to what he likes to call "the stage directions of the universe" and revealed that a Vegas residency was already being discussed. Surprisingly, RuPaul pretty much outlined the exact format of the production that first opened in 2020 and reached 1,000 shows in 2025… but 10 years before that milestone was crossed.

"You know what? We've already talked about it," RuPaul revealed on the podcast. "Right now, the numbers weren't right for it. Not yet."

He added, "Actually, we were talking about doing it as a Drag Race-themed residency with all the girls. (…) At that point, the numbers weren't there. But, you know, that could change… It can change very soon. It would be brilliant. I would love that idea."

"And then, you know, we talked about this before: the residencies allow artists to come back to L.A. and work on television stuff and then fly back to Vegas for the show," RuPaul concluded. "You know, just an hour flight."

In March 2025, 'RuPaul's Drag Race Live' reaches 1,000 shows with a special eleganza extravaganza weekend in Las Vegas.

RuPaul not only attended the 1,000th show of Drag Race Live!, but also delivered a powerful speech thanking all the fans, queens, talent, and production crew who have contributed to the transformation of Drag Race into the phenomenon that it is today.

Looking back at his life through The House of Hidden Meanings memoir and exploring the story of his first — unsuccessful — Las Vegas residency makes this achievement even sweeter.

Jamal Sims went from backup dancer to chief choreographer and co-director. Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey went from in-person merch sales to award-winning multimedia producers. Drag artists are no longer required to impersonate pop stars on the Las Vegas Strip, they are the pop stars on the Las Vegas Strip. And RuPaul, yet again, has shown the longevity and tenacity of his decades-long career by reaching another absolutely fabulous milestone.

Viva Drag Vegas!

For tickets and more information about RuPaul's Drag Race Live! at the Flamingo Las Vegas, visit Caesars.com. New episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race season 17 air every Friday on MTV. The 1,000th show live-stream of RuPaul's Drag Race Live! is now streaming on WOW Presents Plus.