Theater review by Melissa Rose Bernardo
Your ears are not deceiving you: That is indeed the voice of Liza Minnelli, the patron saint of pizzazz, narrating the pop art–inspired opening of the bubbly, bedazzled Drag: The Musical. After all, the showbiz icon is one of the producers, so what better way to kick off this sequin-studded song-and-dance story? Drag, which arrives at Off Broadway’s New World Stages with a studio album and a Los Angeles run under its garter belt, is exactly what you’d expect: high heels, big hair, sassy one-liners and enough RuPaul’s Drag Race contestants to fill their own season.
The fishnet-thin plot centers on two rival drag clubs, each facing its own set of troubles. At the Cat Housewhere Savannah St. James (Jan Sport), The Tigress (Jujubee) and Puss Puss DuBois (Nick Laughlin) hold courtgirl boss Kitty Galloway (Alaska Thunderf*ck) is dealing with imminent eviction. Across the street at the Fish Tank, house mother Alexis Gillmore (Nick Adams, of Broadway’s Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) is deep in the red with the IRS; fellow queens Tuna Turner (Lagoona Bloo), Popcorn (Luxx Noir London) and Dixie Coxworth (Liisi LaFontaine) strongarm herno easy feat, considering the size of Adams’s armsinto seeking help from her estranged accountant brother, Tom (played by Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block). Did we mention that Alexis and Kitty used to be lovers?
Drag: The Musical | Photograph: Courtesy Matthew Murphy
In the script by Tomas Costanza, Ashley Gordon and Justin Andrew Honard (Alaska’s civilian name), the jokes are well-wornwhen Tom asks to see the club’s books, Alexis suggests some Danielle Steeleand you’ll spot every twist a mile away. (Of course sparks fly between Tom and Dixie, the gorgeous “resident cisgender heterosexual AFAB queen.”) The score is catchy, especially the super-swingy “Drag Is Expensive,” but it could use a little pruning: “Cathouse Fever” owes too much to Peggy Lee; “Straight Man” seems shoehorned in to give McIntyre a number. And the sound mixing should be better; it’s a shame to obscure lyrics like Alexis’s self-description as “underestimated, caffeinated, X-rated, school of Britney-educated.”
Perhaps most important, however, the wigsa gravity-defying collective effort between the cast and creative teamare amazing, and director-choreographer Spencer Liff works in some terrific hairography. (He also cleverly incorporates a few “Hot Honey Rag” moves into the catty Alexis-Kitty duet “Two Bitches Are Better Than One.”) And Marco Marco’s sculptural costumes are bejeweled works of art: cascades of chiffon, lamé, satin, and lace, not a paillette out of place. As Alexis might say: They’re gorge-a-rella.
Drag: The Musical. New World Stages (Off Broadway). By Tomas Costanza, Justin Andrew Honard and Ashley Gordon. Directed by Spencer Liff. With Alaska Thunderf*ck, Nick Adams, Joey McIntyre. Running time: 2 hrs. No intermission.
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Drag: The Musical | Photograph: Courtesy Matthew Murphy
