@showsiveseen Front-row seats to Tomas Costanza, @alaskaalaskaalaska, & Ashley Gordon's "#Drag: The #Musical" at New World Stages. Starring Alaska Thunderfuck & Nick Adams. Farewell @Joey McIntyre🔹 & hello Adam Pascal. I laughed & cried in this ostentatious feel-good irreverent show. Review: showsiveseen.com/10470 Photos: Matthew Murphy Director/Choreographer: Spencer Liff Music Direction: @Andrew Orbison Stage Manager: Jennifer Rogers & Matthew Herrmann #camp #theatre #showsiveseen #offbroadway #DragQueen #DragShow #lgbt #gay #queer @DRAG: The Musical ♬ Drag Is Expensive – Nick Adams & Max Von Essen & Monét X Change & Divina De Campo & Lagoona Bloo
Elevator Thoughts (aka Tweet): Front-row seats to Drag: The Musical at New World Stages. Starring Alaska Thunderfuck & Nick Adams. Farewell Joey McIntyre and hello Adam Pascal. I laughed & cried in this ostentatious feel-good irreverent show. #camp
See it, especially if you enjoyed Kinky Boots the Musical or Priscilla, Queen of the Desert the Musical … or just plain drag!
My Synopsis (No Spoilers): Dueling drag clubs struggle to stay afloat financially.
Synopsis from the Licensor or Theatre Company: Two Drag Houses, both alike in indignity, vie for supremacy in a wig-snatching, diva-licious journey of fashion, family, and forgiveness. Leave the lip syncs at the door, darling. Get ready for Drag realness: REAL singing, in a REAL theater, with REAL DRAMA. After their bitter split, fishy queen Alexis Gilmore opened her club, The Fishtank, as glamourpuss Miss Kitty established The Cathouse. Heels click and tensions rise as old wounds are opened and the two clubs fight to survive.
Type: Musical
World Premiere: No
Several or Few Scenes: Several
Several or Few Settings/Locations: Several
Static (Stationary) or Dynamic Set: Stationary
Prior Exposure/Knowledge Required: Obviously, you’ll appreciate this more if you’re gay.
Defined Plot/Storyline: Yes
Live Band/Orchestra: Yes
Union Actors: All
Total Actors: 18
Perceived Pace of the Show: Medium to fast
Was there an intermission? No
Length (Including Any Intermission): 110 minutes
Was This the First Time I Attended a Production of this Show? Yes
Would I See It Again 3 Years from Now? I’d consider it
Mainstream Appeal: Medium
Other Rave(s) Not Mentioned Above
- Simple Storyline: The storyline was thankfully easy to follow just like in Back to the Future: The Musical. There are some shows out there (especially plays) that could use some dumbing down.
- Brendan: While the script was irreverent and light on depth (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), there were genuinely touching moments, particularly with Brenden (played by young actor Yair Keydar) as he navigated his self-discovery. In the song “I’m Just Brendan,” I was moved by his interaction with the actor in the mirror. It resonated with the gay kid in my past who lacked a gay role model growing up.
- Costumes: Naturally, a drag-themed musical demands a dazzling and diverse repertoire of costumes, and costume designer Marco Marco delivered just that. The pièce de résistance was undoubtedly the giant-assed hat featured in the funeral scene.
- Nick Adams: Nick Adams’s toned and muscular silhouette interestingly contrasted to his drag queen persona as Alexis Gillmore. He truly embodied the lyric that he was a “the cheerleader and the quarterback.”
- J. Elaine Marcos: As a Pinoy, I loved how J. Elaine Marcos spoke a Filipino auntie accent as one of the characters she portrayed. Represent!
- Gags: Throughout the show there were repeating funny gags like Pus Puss DuBois’s eyebrows or the mystery of Alexis and Kitty’s falling out.
- Gay-ish Pop Culture References: The script was filled with hilarious references to gay-ish pop culture like Cats, Britney Spears, Golden Girls, Shakira, Miley Cyrus’s “Wrecking Ball,” and Hillary Duff’s iconic TikTok dance trend. My favorite moment was when a queen quoted Mommie Dearest with “I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at the dirt!”
- Nick Laughlin: Puss Puss DuBois (played by Nick Laughlin) was a hilarious mix of Jennifer Coolidge and a southern belle.
Rant(s)
- Romantic Side Story: I was disappointed that the love interests were cis heterosexual characters. This is a gay show for crying out loud! At least one of the love interests need to be LGBT.
Other Musing(s) and Observation(s)
- Female Drag Queens: I was surprised to learn that cis heterosexual females could be drag queens.
- Soundtrack: Strangely (or more like “obviously”), the soundtrack didn’t nearly evoke the same feeling as experiencing the songs performed live. I’m actually thinking about deleting the soundtrack from my Broadway playlist except for “Drag is Expensive.” I love the “Ohhhhhhhh” chorus harmony in that song!
- Singing: Every time I attend a drag-themed musical, I’m always a bit worried they’ll lip-synch like in a typical drag show. Fortunately, all the drag performers in this show sang.
- Seat Choice: Choose tickets at “house left” or “house center” away from the band. It’s almost never a good idea to sit close to the band in a musical because the accompaniment often drowns out the vocals. That being said, my “house right” tickets were acoustically not terrible.
Venue: New World Stages – Stage 3
Venue Physical Address: 340 W 50th St, New York, NY 10019
Venue Classification: Off-broadway
Price Range: $47-184
Ticket Affordability Options: Check out the show’s website for online rush or lottery tickets. You can also likely buy discount tickets at the TKTS booth.
Dates: 10/21/24 was opening night. As of 12/12/24, Telecharge was selling tickets as far as 3/30/25.
Seating: Assigned Seating
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Pictures: See production pictures below by Matthew Murphy.
Cast and Production Team: See pictures below.
