DRAG: The Musical is days away from beginning its encore run at Hollywood's Bourbon Room—and the musical's getting some new material. Listen to RuPaul's Drag Race star Alaska and Broadway favorite Nick Adams sing "It's a Drag," newly joining the show's score, above. The limited engagement runs March 15-30, with opening nights planned for March 22 and 23.
"'It’s a Drag' started as an idea for a song I wrote a few years ago," says Alaska in a statement. "It was a morose ballad about all hope being lost. I had some lyrics in my voice memos, and I asked my best friend and musical genius Jeremy Mikush to compose some music to go with it. I sort of put it away and forgot about it. A year or so later, Tomas Costanza and Ashley Gordon and I were further developing the musical and we were stuck on this one spot in the script. We needed an 11-o’clock number that told us a lot of back story. Then I remembered that morose ballad, and I played it for them and they loved it. We wrote some lyrics together, and it’s since become one of my favorite songs in the show."
Drag: The Musical made its world premiere at the Bourbon Room in 2022, and producers have their eyes set on an open-ended NYC run this fall. Check out highlights from the 2022 premiere here, and listen to the cast recording here.
RuPaul's Drag Race star Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, known mononymously as Alaska, wrote the musical alongside collaborators Tomas Costanza (who also produces) and Ashley Gordon. The show follows two rival drag bars, each fighting for survival while dealing with financial troubles.
Along with Alaska, the cast will be led by Joey McIntyre, reprising his performance from the musical's 2022 world premiere; and fellow RuPaul's Drag Race star Manila Luzon, alongside Jujubee, Jan Sport, Lagoona Bloo, Jamie Torcellini, Kayden Koshelev, Nick Laughlin, Nick Adams, and J. Elaine Marcos.
The production is directed and choreographed by Emmy nominee Spencer Liff, with lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg, costume design by Marco Marco, scenic design by Stephen Gifford, and projection design by Aaron Rhyne.
Along with Costanza, Bourbon Room owners Matthew and Hillary Weaver, Scott Prisand, and Janet Billig Rich are producing the 2024 run. Co-producers include Concord Theatricals, Paolo and Jodie Coppola, Aron and Gabe Alves-Tomko, Timothy Boynton, and Alvin Providence along with general management team Kevin Bailey and Matthew Herrmann. Additional executive producers include David Charpentier, Jacob Slane, and Ryan Aceto on behalf of Producer Entertainment Group.
