Drag The Musical

Apparently Liza Minnelli is now one of the producers.

Matt Rogers said: "ApparentlyLiza Minnelli is now one of the producers."



https://playbill.com/article/liza-minnelli-joins-the-producing-team-for-drag-the-musical

CoffeeBreak said: "She lives in LA now so it is likely in name only."

A little birdie told me…

I went last night on a rush ticket (rear orchestra O 104) and, while not perfect and in need of tightening, I’m hard pressed to think of a show that not only made me cackle like a fool, but was also surprisingly moving.

The plot basically starts as two rival drag clubs competing and struggling, and then it branches off into subplots of family conflict, finding yourself, and the external threat of gentrification. Yes, a bit unwieldy at times, but what I took away was that it borrowed elements from a lot of the “camp” classic movies - “Priscilla: Queen Of The Desert”, “Burlesque”, “The Birdcage”, “Too Wong Foo” and definitely some influence from the Aaron Spelling-“Dynasty” era. There’s also MANY musical theatre Easter eggs that had me heaving with laughter.

The performances were all unilaterally good - which I was a bit worried about with the Ru girls in the cast as script acting is not always the strongest suit for those performers - but they SLAYED. Particularly Alaska and Jan Sport being the two highlights. The songs are serviceable and plentiful - many are snippets that are about 1-2 minutes. Nick Adams and Joey McIntyre have some great scene work as brothers in conflict.

The true highlight was the child actor who plays Joey’s son. During his number after his father and Alexis (Nick Adams) fight, I was visibly crying - which is not something I do often. It reminded me of me as a child and I think seeing that character of a young child who is misunderstood and withdrawn, and just wants to be himself; watching him be able to do that actually healed a little something in me. It felt like a truly genuine moment.

The makeup and costume team is also absolutely on FIRE. The makeup job they did on Nick Adams to make him a drag queen was so convincing that I forgot he was in the show until he started flexing and I was like OOOHHHHHH.

Could this have been a campy cash grab to put some Ru Girls and Joey McIntyre on a stage? Yes. But in reality, it’s a fully realized show that has more to offer than the title suggests. Get thee to New World Stages!

Were there a lot of people? Did they put up barricades? I've only seen a handful of shows at NWS and nothing I would have stage doored but I guess with Teeth as well, soon there might be more people waiting than normal.

quizking101 said: "Also, almost the entire cast stage doors on 49th, including Joey McIntyre and all the Ru girls.

It’s a full setup though - which I haven’t seen at NWS before. Usually, its always been just free range on the sidewalk."



They did it for the revival of "RENT" when it first opened and I think they did it for a short time for "HEATHERS".

Gathering it is 1 Act. No intermission?

yyys said: "Correct. About 110 minutes when I saw it this past Saturday afternoon.



Lavieboheme3090 said: "Gathering it is 1 Act. No intermission?"


Normally these things don't bother me -- but almost 2 hours with no intermission for a camp musical that would only benefit from an audience that has a few drinks in them is just plain ridiculous. Bring back the intermissions!!

I was there last night as well, but I didn’t really start enjoying myself until about 20 minutes in.


While there is probably no world where anyone the creative team is looking at this… Edit. Edit. Edit.

Kill some of those darling and get this down to 90 min.
The show ran almost 2 hours last night, and we should be walking out by 9:30.


I did enjoy myself, but at a TDF price.

Okay, so here's the deal: If you're looking for a Shakespeare caliber book with a Sondheim caliber score, why are you buying tickets to Drag the Musical? If you're looking for a campy, ridiculously cheesy, over the top Rock of Ages meets Rocky Horror type of show, then this is the show you should be buying tickets to. Because what it is, is a fun, well staged, well performed little comedy show essentially. It won't win any awards, nor should it, but it's just a ridiculous fun evening.

Side note: At the performance I was at, there was a medical emergency that stopped the show midway through for around 15 minutes (thankfully everyone was fine). I will say, that pause killed the momentum in the show a bit. Obviously I'm not complaining about it and obviously they were 100% correct to stop the show--my point is, for those of you arguing that they should add an intermission, well, they sort of involuntarily did at this performance, and I'd say the show runs far smoother without one. So instead of adding an intermission, they should cut 10-15 minutes, which they could easily do.

Saw this tonight and thought it was alright. Some really REALLY funny moments in it and finally getting to see Alaska and Jujubee live was a HUGE thrill for me. But yeah, I think I was hoping it would just be…different? Reading just the basic plot description I probably could have written the exact same script in five minutes. Theres cliche and then there’s cliche lol. I’m not saying we didn’t have a good time, we absolutely did but as noted above, at two hours this is entirely too long for what it is especially when you know everything that’s going to happen.

Trailer drop

I feel this footage it's pretty reflective of the show itself having seen it a week ago — it's surface level, teetering on amateur musical theatre writing but the production value and performances pack a gigantic punch. The queens are stars and the show left me on quite a high. The Brendan subplot (the child actor), as reasonably unoriginal as it is, works quite well given how villainized drag queens are around children these days. It's sad and was really touching to see a bit of that narrative/story reflected onstage in a show of this scale.

Go in knowing that what you see in the trailer is about what you get in the show, if you can stomach some "in one ear, out the other" tunes and bookwriting, there is a lot to love about it.

Updated On: 10/30/24 at 08:59 PM