As its title suggests, Drag: The Musical has sass in abundance. Those willing to look beneath the off-Broadway play’s sequin-studded surface, however, will find a thoughtful tale about family, self-acceptance and the sanctity of LGBTQ-inclusive spaces. RuPaul’s Drag Race veteran Alaska Thunderfuck , one of the musical’s stars and also a co-writer, worked with director-choreographer Spencer Liff to create a show that would offer a “sneak attack” on audiences’ emotions.
“If you love drag, it’s going to make sense to you and it’s going to speak to you. If you know nothing about drag, it’s going to make sense to you and it’s going to speak to you,” Alaska told HuffPost. “It’s funny and stupid, but it also has something to say, and, I hope, could possibly make you cry.
” The writer-performer added: “You can bring the kids, you can bring your straight dad and you can bring your grandparents, and everybody will come away feeling like we have more in common with each other than we have differences.” Drag: The Musical , which opens Monday at New World Stages in New York after two successful runs in Los Angeles, centers on former lovers Kitty Galloway (played by Alaska) and Alexis Gilmore (Broadway’s Nick Adams ), who now operate a pair of competing drag clubs in the same town. Unfortunately for Kitty and Alexis, however, both clubs are in financial despair as the city around them is gentrifying and rents are skyrocketing.
Enter Alexis’ estranged br.