Todrick Hall is a name some MAY be familiar with, but it’s definitely one you SHOULD be acquainted with. The American Idol alum turned YouTube star has since starred on Broadway as Lola in Kinky Boots, been a re-occurring guest judge on Rupaul’s Drag Race and has released a visual concept album which went number one on the pop charts. Pretty impressive for someone who was told they would never make it. Todrick’s first tour of Australia sees him bringing his album “Straight Outta Oz” to life in a musical meets pop concert experience.
While the sold out crowd in Brisbane took their seats a compilation of his most famous YouTube videos played with some of his biggest fans standing up and performing all the choreography that they’ve passionately rehearsed in their bedrooms for years. The show then began with Todrick Hall and his troupe of 13 dancers taking to the stage to deafening screams as they introduced the concept for the show; The Wizard Of Oz. They refreshed the audience with a re-telling of the story through pop favourites like “Sorry” by Justin Bieber and “Green Light” by Lorde which also paid homage to the format of his original YouTube videos. The 90 minute show saw Todrick re-enacting the visual concept album which is available to watch on YouTube (a must). It tells the story of him trying to make it in OZ (Los Angeles) while struggling with his sexuality, his family values, society stereotypes and his rise to fame while candidly making reference to The Wizard Of Oz. It’s a quirky, emotional and powerful story that comes to life through his original songs that will be stuck in your head all night. “Expensive” was a brilliantly choreographed dance number while “Low” and “Wrong Bitch” saw him in Drag walking through the crowd. But it was intimate moments like “Over The Rainbow” and “Water Guns” which stole the show with raw emotion and reminded you of his powerful vocals. Everyone in his cast had their time to shine with a solo number, skit or duet and it just constantly left me floored by how incredibly talented every single person on that stage was. It was an artistic interpretation of his hard times and triumphs which succeeded at inspiring the diverse crowd in attendance. For the encore he performed a couple of his most famous YouTube videos like “Haterz”, “Freak Like Me” and his Beyonce medley which had the crowd dancing in the aisles. Everyone in that theatre walked away feeling like they just got to know Todrick because of how intimate the show felt even while having dozens of costume changes, props, video footage and dance numbers. “Straight Outta Oz” is not just a musical or a concert, it is a pop EVENT.