If a musical about drag queens — written by a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner, with costumes by Emmy-winning drag designer Marco Marco — doesn’t sound gay enough for you, maybe this will seal the deal: Broadway legend Liza Minnelli is one of its producers.
“Drag: The Musical,” a fabulously queer fantasy, marks the first time the EGOT goddess has produced a full-length musical. It’s now ready to make its official New York City debut after slaying audiences in L.A.
Written by drag powerhouse Alaska Thunderf*ck, alongside platinum record producer Tomas Costanza and chart-topping singer-songwriter Ashley Gordon, “Drag: The Musical” opens Monday at New World Stages in Hell’s Kitchen.
Featuring an all-star cast complete with drag royalty (Jan Sport, Jujubee, Luxx Noir London), Broadway stars (Nick Adams, Eddie Korbich, J. Elaine Marcos) and even the ultimate ‘90s heartthrob (Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block), the musical tells the story of two drag houses fighting for supremacy “in a wig-snatching, diva-licious musical journey of fashion, family and forgiveness.”
The show marks a back-to-her-roots moment for Justin Andrew Honard, the off-stage name of Alaska Thunderf*ck, who studied theater at the University of Pittsburgh but traded the thespian drama for the just the drama, mama.
After moving to Los Angeles in the late aughts to pursue an acting career, the Eerie, Pa. native realized her real calling was to become one of the world’s best-known drag stars.
“Being an actor is really hard, requires discipline and hard work,” the 39-year-old told the Daily News while embodying her full drag persona. “And I just wanted to party,” she joked.
But while Alaska, the character, is often seen as a prom-queen-gone-wrong, her creator is a hard-working, multi-talented artist. She became famous as a fan-favorite on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” whose “Hieeee” greeting went from reality TV catchphrase to pop culture gold — and who’s now headed for theater glory.
The idea for “Drag: The Musical” evolved from kiki sessions Alaska had with co-writers Costanza and Gordon some seven years ago.
The two Long Island-born prodigies, with whom Alaska had been “making music for a while,” suggested a stage production could be their next project.
“Sure, that’d be easy,” Alaska joked, recalling her first reaction. “Well, it was not easy, but I’m glad we did that.”
Apparently, so were audiences who packed Hollywood’s famed Bourbon Room during the show’s premiere staging in the fall of 2022.
Praised by critics as the perfect blend of “the rowdy fun of a drag performance with the glamor and polished veneer of a Broadway musical,” the groundbreaking show took home a BroadwayWorld Los Angeles Award for Best New Play or Musical and a Queertie Award for Best Live Theater.
“Drag: The Musical” returned to the Bourbon Room earlier this year for an encore run as the cast premiered for their much-awaited off-Broadway debut.
A slightly modified third iteration of the show will feature several of its original cast members, including McIntyre, Adams and “Drag Race” musical theater diva Jan Sport.
Jan, a New Jersey-born, New York-based queen who also found her drag calling through acting, said she’s thrilled to be back in the Big Apple doing “a combination of all of the things I love: musical theater and drag.”
It’s “ceremonious and fun,” the 31-year-old said, noting that even when something goes awry onstage — whether due to a mishap over a “box full of wigs” or when fellow star Jujubee starts laughing and has “to look upstage” — the cast’s remarkable ability to improv can “absolutely” salvage the situation.
“That’s what it’s all about,” Jan said. “And that’s also the cool thing about the show.”
A surprising turn of events was how Minnelli became involved as a producer for the off-Broadway run.
With lines about the “Cabaret” star already woven into the musical — “because you can’t write a show about drag and not mention her” — producers were hoping to get Minnelli to provide a voiceover for the show.
But when they reached out to the 78-year-old star, she had another idea.
“She was, like, ‘Well, I don’t want to just do that… I want to come on as a producing partner as well,’” Alaska said. “And so we were like, yeah, okay, yeah, you should do that.”
“Drag: The Musical,” now in previews, opens Monday at New World Stages and runs through the end of March. Tickets are available on Telecharge.
