Drag: The Musical

New World Stages, NYC, October 30, 2024

Reviewed by Chip Deffaa

Drag: The Musical, was great good fun, had the feel of a winner from the very first words we hear, spoken in a freshly recorded voiceover by Liza Minnelli. The show, a glitzy, bitchy, funny, over-the-top celebration of drag (with book, music, and lyrics by Tomas Costanza, Justin Andrew Honard, and Ashley Gordon)—was a clear crowd-pleaser. For those who might worry about such things, there was a bit of profanity, but overall the show was suitable for general audiences. The mostly young crowd who packed the house the night that I attended was enthusiastic throughout.

The production values were terrific. I liked the colorful mix of style and the wit shown in the costumes by Marco Marco (especially in the funeral scene). Jason Sherwood’s scenic design was a treat. There was even a little runway extending a bit from the stage and out into the house that gave some of the patrons a sense of being in a drag club. (I wish the runway could be extended from the stage to the very back of the auditorium; it would give more audience members a connection to the action, and it would give the drag performers an even greater opportunity to strut their stuff.)

The performers came from the world of drag (“Alaska Thunderfuck” aka Justin Andrew Honard, Jujubee, Jan Sport, and others) and theater (Nick Adams, Eddie Korbich, and other veterans of Broadway and Off-Broadway). Joey McIntyre, who rose to fame as a member of the New Kids on the Block (I was on Joe Franklin’s TV show with them a million years ago), did an excellent job playing the oh-so-straight brother of one of the drag stars. He’ll no doubt attract his fans to this show as well. Director/choreographer Spencer Liff has staged the show in a grand, utterly camp style. An actor friend of mine who is in his 20s caught Drag: The Musical at an early preview and told me: “You’ve got to see this show; it’s groundbreaking!” He’d never before seen a “live” drag show.

Would I call Drag: The Musical “groundbreaking?” Well, no and yes; here’s what I mean. In spirit, tone, and attitude Drag: The Musical actually reminded me very much of the drag shows I saw before my actor friend in his 20s was even born. The witty, catty zingers offered today by the show’s co-stars Alaska Thunderfuck and Nick Adams reminded me of shows that my friends and I enjoyed that Flotilla DeBarge and others would offer at the Barracuda Lounge (a popular Chelsea gay bar) a good quarter-century ago. The difference is that their shows were pretty much considered “underground” back then.You might have seen Flotilla DeBarge (or such talented contemporaries as Sherry Vine or Jackie Beat) at a gay bar doing shows they had created themselves on shoestring budgets. The shows were proud and funny, and sort of “inside.” The drag stars of that era were pretty much known only in gay circles. The best of the stars, such as Flotilla, somehow managed to let you share in their humanity. They could be caustic and bitchy, but in a good way. You knew it was an act, and they managed to let their humanity touch you as well.

So to me, Drag: The Musical is not really groundbreaking in terms of content. I saw and heard similar material at places like the Barracuda Lounge when I was younger. But what was considered  “underground” 25 or more years ago, what you had to go to gay clubs to experience back then, has become a part of the mainstream over the intervening years. There’s been a process of assimilation and acceptance of large parts of gay culture.

So now you have a musical like Drag, which anyone—young or old, straight or gay—can enjoy packing one of Off-Broadway’s best theaters. This is a large cast—16 performers without a weak link in the bunch—in a handsomely mounted show. Clearly a lot of money has been spent and spent well on this production. The drag queens I enjoyed when I was young would have died to have had costumes, lighting, and set design on this high-end level, and to have had an original score created by people who’ve created chart-topping hits. This production is groundbreaking in the sense that it offered the essence of a traditional drag show with everything now buffed and polished to a high shine and presented to the general public.

My favorite drag shows back in the day were the ones that managed to mix a little heart into the camp humor, and on this count, Drag: The Musical succeeds especially well. About halfway into the show we meet the youngest character “Brendan.” At the performance I attended, “Brendan” was played by Yair Keydar. This role is double cast. It is played at some performances by Remi Tuckman, but at the press performance I attended was played by Keydar. He was absolutely wonderful and made a huge contribution to the show. I’d love to go again to see how Tuckman plays the role.

Kaydar—who played a 10-year-old boy who wanted to try on the feather boas and other bits of drag costuming because “they’re pretty, gave the show heart. His performance was utterly natural, and utterly winning. He did not seem to be an actor in a play, just an awkward, uncertain, ordinary boy, and he sang like an angel. He had only two numbers, but no one in the show earned greater applause than this boy,who was making his New York stage debut. It was a beautiful, unspoiled, and sweetly tender performance—no attitude, no guile, just singing from the heart. He had good onstage rapport with both McIntyre, who played his father, and Alaska Thunderfuck, who played his uncle.

As the show wrapped up, we heard another voiceover from Minnelli. (It was so nice to hear her voice even in a recorded voiceover.) The show has a happy ending, of the sort that you can see coming from a mile away. You left feeling good; it was a fun show.

Here’s one small caveat: if you plan to see the show, I’d advise you to get to the theater early. The night I went, there was the longest line I’ve seen for any show in years, stretching from the theater (at 340 W. 50^th Street) all the way to 9^th Avenue, and it moved very slowly. The theater needs to find a way to admit people more quickly. Some patrons stood online for nearly a half hour—much too long for older theater goers.