It’s a musical.
It’s a drag show.
It’s for chosen family.
It’s for those who need a touch of queer culture in their lives.
And with opening night over a month behind them, the cast and creatives behind the hilariously spectacular Drag: The Musical are gagged to be talk of the town!
Starring some of the most beloved queens from the RuPaul’s Drag Race universe and an ensemble of incredibly talented Broadway names, this production is not just a must-watch, it’s a must-experience.
This week, Sasha Velour, Peppermint, Crystal Methyd, Lady Camden, Sapphira Cristál, Plasma, Plane Jane, and Jimbo paid an extra special visit to the show to meet and congratulate the cast.
Also in the photo from Drag The Musical are: Alaska, Nick Adams, Lagoona Bloo, Jujubee, Jan, Luxx Noir London, Nick Laughlin, Liisi LaFontaine, Eddie Korbich, J. Elaine Marcos, Cameron Mitchell Bell, Nicholas Kraft, Christine Shepard, Teddy Wilson Jr., and Kodiak Thompson, Remi Tuckman, Yair Keydar and Tomas Castanza.
This production is for family, by family and it’s always so encouraging to see queens supporting queens.
It was also announced this week that Jimbo would be joining the cast, taking over for Alaska’s role as Kitty Galloway, beginning January 13th through February 7th.
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Playing off-Broadway at New York’s New World Stages, the musical follows two Drag Houses, both alike in indignity, as they vie for supremacy in a wig-snatching journey of fashion, family, and forgiveness.
After a bitter split, two estranged queens bring their already simmering tensions to a boiling point when they open competing clubs.
In this queen-eat-queen tale of spite and survival, there’s only one rule: no lip-synching allowed.
The show includes a wildly impactful coming-of-age storyline of queer acceptance too.
No spoilers here, other than you’ll need tissues when you’re thrust into a kaleidoscopic vision of a world that’s possible if we could lead with love and compassion, especially for queer youth and for LGBTQ adults who dream of a childhood they didn’t have.
On top of starring in the show, the musical was written by Drag Race royalty Alaska, alongside her longtime musical collaborators, multi-platinum songwriter, Tomas Costanza, and chart-topping songstress Ashley Gordon.
The show’s resident straight man Tom Hutchinson is currently being played by the incredible Joey McIntyre.
McIntyre, who’s an original member of New Kids on the Block (NOTB), also starred in Tick Tick Boom on Broadway and played as the lead Fiyero in Wicked in 2004. His run on the show will come to an end on December 9th, handing resident “straight” role over to Rent star Adam Pascal, who’s run begins on December 11th.
This week, McIntyre, who’s been a fierce advocate for the LGBTQ and Broadway communities, appeared on The Daily Show to talk about his role, solo moment and the impact of Drag: The Musical.
“To me, it was the perfect post-election balm,” Daily Show said host Desi Lydic:
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Currently, the show stars Alaska as Kitty Galloway, Nick Adams as Alexis Gillmore, Eddie Korbich as Drunk Jerry, J. Elaine Marcos as Gloria Schmidt/Rita Laritz/Liberty Van Der Snatch, Jan Sport as Savannah St. James, Jujubee as The Tigress, Lagoona Bloo as Tuna Turner, Liisi LaFontaine as Dixie Coxworth, Luxx Noir London as Popcorn, Nick Laughlin as Puss Puss DuBois, with Remi Tuckman and Yair Keydar alternating in the role of ten-year-old Brendan Hutchinson.
Courtesy Matthew Murphy
With the first of cast runs preparing to change over in the coming weeks and months, the sociopolitical climate has evolved Drag: The Musical to be a profoundly timely and important production, fully meeting the moment we are in, providing a safe and surprisingly sacred space for laughs, for tears, for connection and certainly for entertainment.