Drag Performances on Broadway
Drag Performances on Broadway#1
Posted: 5/2/13 at 1:48pm
Hey guys, for my Gay & Lesbian Studies class, I'm doing a paper on Drag/Transvestism and Broadway. Can anyone help me with some examples:
The list I've compiled thus far is:
- George Hearn/Gary Beach/Douglas Hodge - LA CAGE
- Harvey Fierstein - HAIRPSRAY
- The cast of PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT
- Billy Porter - Kinky Boots
- Bertie Carvel - Matilda
Drag Performances on Broadway#2
Posted: 5/2/13 at 1:56pm
The Mary Sunshines in Chicago.
Also, off-Broadway Tommy Tune's The Club - the cast was women playing men.
Drag Performances on Broadway#2
Posted: 5/2/13 at 1:59pm
Brian Bedford in the recent revival of The Importance of Being Earnest
Lea DeLaria in the revival of Rocky Horror
Drag Performances on Broadway#3
Posted: 5/2/13 at 2:02pm
Any woman who's played Peter Pan.
Julie Andrews in Victor/Victoria.
Are you distinguishing between roles that within the context of the play are NOT drag personas (such as Peter Pan or Edna Turnblad) and those that are (La Cage)?
Drag Performances on Broadway#4
Posted: 5/2/13 at 2:21pm
Yes, I am.
Any performance that involves an actor playing the opposite gender, whether part of the show's context or not, I would like to know about.
Drag Performances on Broadway#7
Posted: 5/2/13 at 2:25pm
Hm...perhaps Angel in RENT, though you also see him as a man as well.
Also, obviously Les Cagelles.
Updated On: 5/2/13 at 02:25 PM
Drag Performances on Broadway#8
Posted: 5/2/13 at 2:29pmAre you only focusing on broadway? Because if not, you'd have to include Charles Busch.
Drag Performances on Broadway#12
Posted: 5/2/13 at 2:52pm
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Sugar
Drag Performances on Broadway#14
Posted: 5/2/13 at 3:07pm
The Nance (part where Lane plays Hortense)
The Beauty Part (one of Bert Lahr's characters was a woman)
The Drag (Mae West play from the 20's)
M Butterfly
Hairspray
The Producers
Kiss of the Spiderwoman
Cabaret
Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Drag Performances on Broadway#15
Posted: 5/2/13 at 3:10pm
Any production of Two Gentlemen of Verona, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Charley's Aunt (Where's Charley?).
Pacific Overtures.
M. Butterfly
I Am My Own Wife
Updated On: 5/2/13 at 03:10 PM
Drag Performances on Broadway#16
Posted: 5/2/13 at 3:28pmI think this thread is pure Freud and I won't be a part of it.
Drag Performances on Broadway#17
Posted: 5/2/13 at 3:28pmEd_Mottershead, I disagree with THE PRODUCERS. Roger DeBris is merely a man who enjoys dressing in gowns. I do not think he is a Drag Queen, because he does not pretend to be a woman or try to convince people that he is a woman. He just wears woman clothes.
Broadway Star Joined: 11/15/07
Drag Performances on Broadway#18
Posted: 5/2/13 at 3:29pmTorch Song Trilogy is an obvious omission.
Drag Performances on Broadway#19
Posted: 5/2/13 at 3:36pmIf you want to really do your homework, look up Julian Eltinge, not only did he do Drag on Broadway, he had hs own Broadway Theatre. Now that's a story.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
Drag Performances on Broadway#20
Posted: 5/2/13 at 6:07pm
A Patriot for Me
The Seven Descents of Myrtle (Kingdom of Earth)
Drag Performances on Broadway#21
Posted: 5/2/13 at 6:15pm

Bert Lahr as Queen Victoria in TWO ON THE AISLE: "What Helen Hayes and Irene Dunne, I have also did!"
Joined: 12/31/69
Drag Performances on Broadway#22
Posted: 5/2/13 at 7:19pmPatti LuPone has been playing women's roles for close to 70 years.
Drag Performances on Broadway#24
Posted: 5/2/13 at 7:24pm
The Dentist track in LITTLE SHOP plays a female reporter during "The Meek Shall Inherit," if I recall correctly. Part of his "...and everyone else" duties.
The two Alabama Ladies in SCOTTSBORO BOYS are drag roles played by two of the Boys.
PETER & THE STARCATCHER had a drag role, too. Molly's attendant, I think it was? I'm not clear on my memory of the ensemble roles in that show, I forget. Surely someone else here knows.
Gary Coleman in AVENUE Q.
A number of parts, principally Sir Galahad's mother, in SPAMALOT, following Monty Python's traditional use of drag.
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