Gay Hijinks and Lots of Good Fun in "Drag: the Musical" and "The Big Gay Jamboree"

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” is now in its 16th season and its Emmy-winning celebration of gay and trans culture has spawned a half dozen spin-offs and scores of international versions. And now its influence seems to be hitting New York theater as well. 

Or at least I suspect that its broad-reaching popularity may be one of the reasons that so many different kinds of people have embraced Oh, Mary, the nonbinary playwright Cole Escola’s unapologetically campy and totally hysterical version of Abe and Mary Todd Lincoln’s marriage, which features a barely closeted Abe and the trans actor Bianca Lee as Mary’s chaperone.  

This hasn’t usually been my kind of humor but I had a great time when I saw Oh, Mary before it moved to Broadway, where it’s extended multiple times (click here to read my review). And over the past week, I saw two new shows that turned out to be just as proudly queer, intentionally silly and almost as delightful. Drag: The Musical, which opened this week at New World Stages, is pretty much a direct descendant of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” 

The main creative force behind this goofy feel-good comedy about the rivalry between two drag clubs run by erstwhile lovers is Justin Andrew Honard, who under the drag name Alaska Thunderfuck was the runner-up on the fifth season of “Drag Race” and the winner of the second season of “Drag Race All Stars.” Honard co-wrote the musical's book, music and lyrics and Alaska stars as one of the show's club owners.  

Several other former “Drag Race” contestants also show up in the cast and even though their acting abilities vary, director and choreographer Spencer Liff makes sure that each has an opportunity to show off their special skill, be it hitting high notes or dropping into dramatic splits. 

Broadway vet Nick Adams, who’s appeared in such shows as Priscilla Queen of the Desert and La Cage aux Folles, is totally up to all he’s asked to do and is having great fun playing Alexis, the very buff owner of the rival club. And one-time New Kids on the Block member Joey McIntyre does a very nice job as Alexis’ straight brother Tom who is troubled by Alexis' drag identity (click here to read an interview with him).  

But the true heart of the show is Tom’s 11-year-old son Brendan, who has his own awakening at the club but refuses to be defined by any traditional labels. His anthem “I’m Just Brendan,” not only underscores the show's message of tolerance and acceptance but brought down the house at the performance I attended. And we should all keep an eye out for young Remi Tuckman who alternates the role with Yair Keydar and delivered the song with the polish and confidence you might expect of someone twice his age. 

The second show I saw was The Big Gay Jamboree, which is playing down at the Orpheum Theatre in the East Village.  Jamboree is the brainchild of Marla Mindelle, who was one of the creators and stars of Titanique, the long-running spoof of the movie “Titanic” as filtered through the music of Céline Dion (click here to read more about her). 

This time out, Mindelle and her collaborators—Jonathan Parks-Ramage co-wrote the book and Philip Drennen co-wrote the music and lyrics—have created a kind of original story about a woman who finds herself trapped in a Golden Age Broadway musical. Like Dorothy in Oz, she gathers a trio of also-unhappy inhabitants who try to get back to the real world. 

The show ends up being a cross between the first season of AppleTV’s “Schmigadoon!” and a Forbidden Broadway for millennials. Only a lot raunchier than either. 

Titanique’s success has apparently made it possible for Jamboree to enjoy a bigger budget and it’s spent the money wisely. There are countless costumes changes, many of them laugh-out-loud funny in their own right. Keep an out eye out for the dancing zucchinis.

Meanwhile, the set by the trendy design collective dots makes smart use of both old-fashioned flats and up-to-date video projections. Their set also includes sly refences to the turntable in Les Misérables and the chandelier in Phantom of the Opera. But again, it’s the performances that make the show.

Mindelle is a go-for-broke comedienne and has such an impressive belt that it’s surprising she isn’t already a bigger star. But the entire cast, under the nimble direction of Connor Gallagher, is terrific.  

A special shoutout goes to Paris Nix, who plays Mindelle’s character's love interest and has one of the best baritones I’ve heard in a long time. He delivers a showstopping anti-gospel number that almost justifies the cliché of a Black performer doing a gospel number. And cheers also to “Saturday Night Live” vet Alex Moffat for being a game villain, even though he’s under used. 

It’s unlikely that either of these two shows will make it to Broadway, although I said the same thing about Oh, Mary.  And sitting in the front row at the performance I attended of Drag: The Musical was the Tony-winning producer Tom Kirdahy. So who knows?