Featured photo by Matthew Murphy.
Part drag show, part musical, and all uproarious good time, DRAG: The Musical is a hit in New York City, thanks in no small part to its leading lady, drag superstar Alaska Thunderfuck.
Alaska not only stars as drag matriarch Kitty Galloway, but co-wrote the show’s book, music, and lyrics alongside Tomas Costanza and Ashley Gordon. Together, they crafted a story about two rival drag clubs — one run by Alaska as Kitty, the other run by her ex-lover Alexis Gillmore, played by Nick Adams — and the wild cast of drag performers that perform there, with a dash of family drama when Alexis’ brother and nephew come to town.
INTO sat down with Alaska to talk all things DRAG: The Musical, from sharing a dressing room with Luxx Noir London, to seeing a twisted version of the show on The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, to which fellow RuPaul’s Drag Race winner will be the first to take her place in the musical.
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Hey, Alaska! Congrats on the current run of DRAG: The Musical in New York! I know the current cast is chock-full of fellow Drag Race alumni, including Luxx Noir London, Jujubee, and Jan Sport, along with legends from NYC’s drag scene (like Lagoona Bloo), the world of Broadway (like J. Elaine Marcos), and even from the music industry (like New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre). What’s it like working with this cast?
It’s just a really good family and a good vibe, and that’s so important. Like, we’re kind of stuffed backstage together, and there’s so many costumes, and there’s so much drag, and there’s so many people in the show — and so if the vibe wasn’t immaculate, it would be trouble with a capital T. So we’re very lucky to have really great people, and I love going to the dressing room every day. We’re fucking crowded as hell, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, because I get to sit between Luxx Noir London and Jujubee, and you can’t beat that.
What are they like in the dressing room?
Well, Luxx Noir London and I just sort of speak in Drag Race references out of context. Like, something will just pop into our mind and we’ll just say it. If there was ever a transcript of our conversations, it wouldn’t make sense to anyone else, but it’s very entertaining to us.
I get to sit between Luxx Noir London and Jujubee, and you can’t beat that.
– Alaska Thunderfuck
Gorgeous. This production has been open since October — what has the response been like to the New York run?
It’s been really good. I think people walk away feeling happy and uplifted. And I think people also walk away feeling a little bit surprised, because they don’t know what to expect. A Lot of people say to me after the show at the stage door, they’re like, “Well, I wasn’t expecting to cry today, but I did, and I loved it!” So, we love that. We love the tears of people.
And speaking of the tears, I was curious how you and the other writers landed on the tone and plot of the show. DRAG: The Musical is, of course, hilarious and campy, but it has very grounded moments of realism, too.
Tomas, who’s one of the writers with me and Ash, was like, “We have to touch on real stuff.” And so that meant doing some kind of difficult work, as far as drawing on stuff that I had experienced when I was a kid, or I had experienced with my own brother and my own family, and he drew on stuff with his brother, and Ash drew on stuff from her family and her childhood. We had to go to places that weren’t necessarily fun or comfortable, but it was really important for us to do that, because that’s how you fire on all cylinders, and that’s what you want in a musical, I think. You want stupid and fun and hilarious, but you also want to touch on some real stuff.
Totally. And on the subject of real stuff, the storyline that spoke to me the most was about Brendan, Alexis’ 10-year-old nephew who’s discovering the magic of drag and self-expression. It’s a beautiful story, but having a child in a show about drag artists — especially given the results of the presidential election — could be controversial to more conservative audience members. What led you to including Brendan’s storyline, and what would you say to any critics of his story?
It’s pretty wild, because we started writing this seven or eight years ago. So the whole, like, “Is drag appropriate for children?” conversation — well, it’s not even a conversation, because conversations make sense. It’s just sort of madness, and that’s the trigger word. But all of that had not even come into the scene of politics or whatever. So we weren’t thinking about that, because we were just writing from a reality standpoint.
It’s like, drag artists do interact with their family! I have a niece and a nephew, and there’s nothing weird or crazy about that. That’s just the reality of life. And so we didn’t think it was controversial by any means, but we thought it was important. Brendan as a character, it’s not just a queer coming out story. We didn’t want it to be that. It’s just really a story of, he wants to express himself more than he’s allowed to do. And I feel like that resonates for anybody who has ever been a young person.
Absolutely — I certainly found it moving. You mentioned before how many costumes and wigs there are in the show. It’s a real spectacle: the costume design feels like a character in itself. Do you have a favorite costume to wear in the show?
My friend Lola came and saw the show last night, and she was like, “That costume and wig budget, I don’t even want to know what that number is, because it must be astronomical.” And indeed it is! But I love getting to wear all my clothes. My opening outfit is this red, sparkly-ass rhinestoned thing, and you can’t help but feel like a million dollars when you put on something that’s been handcrafted by someone like Marco Marco. We’re all really lucky, and we feel it every night.
I also get to wear this crazy wig during “Wigs” — there’s a song called “Wigs,” naturally — and I get to wear this wig that has these three-foot long huge spikes coming out of my head. And I sometimes get through the door without banging it into the walls, but usually I hit the walls. But if I get it through the door without, then it’s a nothing-but-net kind of vibe.
That number was especially impressive because of how quick all the wig changes were. What does it look like backstage with all of these quick costume changes into elaborate drag outfits?
It’s chaos. It is not glamor; it is chaos. Luckily, now it’s like a clock. There’s all these different parts, and we have our traffic patterns: As this person is running this way, we’re leaning against the wall so we can go on right after them. It’s very choreographed backstage, and we have to keep the train on the tracks, and thank god we have amazing people back there making it all happen.
Practice makes perfect! The show has so many fabulous musical numbers. Do you have a favorite number to perform?
I love to sing the song called “It’s A Drag,” and that music was composed by my best friend Jeremy [Mikush], and so it’s sort of like getting to sing a song with Jeremy every night. It’s sort of slowed down. It’s just a piano, a spotlight, and a martini glass, and just singing a song about how everything is fucked. And I love that kind of song, so that’s really fun.
Very “Ladies Who Lunch.”
Very that.
We had to go to places that weren’t necessarily fun or comfortable, but it was really important for us to do that, because that’s how you fire on all cylinders, and that’s what you want in a musical, I think.
– Alaska Thunderfuck
On a separate note, I’m also a fan of The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, and I know that a month or so ago, songs from DRAG: The Musical were featured on Dragula with spooky new lyrics —
Girl.
And you were the guest judge! What was it like to be in the room for that now iconic challenge?
God bless them. And I mean, I’m really grateful to the Boulets, because they really just leaned into it, and were so game for it. They were like, “Yeah, you should do a couple of songs, but rewrite the words to have a spooky Dragula feeling.” So the Cat House became the Rat House, and the Fish Tank became the Snake Pit, and they each did a song.
These Dragula monsters did this singing live in one take, which is like — even if this is what you do and you’re a musical theater person, that’s still terrifying and daunting. That show is about facing your fears, and I’m telling you, those queens did it, and they did a really good job. It’s also really funny to watch, because when you get one take, it’s like, if something goes wrong, you just try to get the train back on the tracks. But they did such a good job, and I bow down to them.
Absolutely. It did feel like a bit of an extermination challenge in itself.
[laughs] It truly was!
But I loved it. It was camp. In other DRAG: The Musical news, it was announced that Jimbo will be taking over your role for a month, starting on January 13. Is Jimbo the first person to play the part other than you?
Yeah, it’s always been me. It was written for me, I’ve always done it. I have to go out of the country in January, so we were like, “What are we gonna do? Who can do this?” And I was like, can Jimbo sing? Like, no shade, but I just didn’t know. And so she came in and she sang some stuff for us, and we worked on some scenes. And she was just so amazing and I think is the perfect fit for this role. I hope that I get to see her in the role, because I’ve never gotten to sit and watch this fucking musical, and I love it, and it’s been a part of my life for seven years. So I think she’s gonna be amazing, and I can’t wait to see her.
Do you have any advice for her on how to embody Kitty?
I think she’s gonna kill it. I think that she’s gonna bring her own sort of — I think that’s the advice, is like, you have to make it your own. I wouldn’t want to see someone do an impression of what I’m doing. I’d want to see their interpretation of this queen who sort of runs her drag club like the navy, and like, what does that look like for her? So I’m looking forward to that.♦
DRAG: The Musical is now running at New World Stages. Tickets are available at dragthemusical.com.
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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