The plot of Drag: The Musical is as thin as a spaghetti strap, yet the show is a crazy hoot and worth enduring a cliche or two. The exposition is delivered in a voice-over by producer Liza Minnelli accompanied by the gorgeous video design of Aaron Rhyne. Two rival drag clubs are faced with bankruptcy and eviction unless the performers can pull up their brassieres and pile up their hairdos to overcome the shuttering of their beloved establishments. The Fish Tank is headlined by Alexis Gilmore (Nick Adams), whose management skills don’t equal his pizzazz and flair. His straight brother Tom (Joey McIntyre, formerly of New Kids on the Block), is called in to help straighten out the books, family issues are re-raised, and Tom’s 10-year-old son Brandon (Yair Keydar at the performance attended) reveals an affinity for his uncle’s glamorous fashion style. Meanwhile the Cat House, run by Alexis’ former lover Kitty Galloway (Alaska Thunderfuck, who also co-wrote the book and score), is also in danger of closure due to skyrocketing rent.
The book and score by Tomas Costanzo, Justin Andrew Honard (Alaska’s non-drag name), and Ashley Gordon trade heavily on snarky drag humor and stereotypes of all kinds. The gags are broad and so is the direction by Spencer Liff who also supplied the snappy choreography. The evening works best when the authors kid the format and indulge in self-deprecating humor. At one point, Alaska snidely comments that she feels as if she were in a sleazy Off-Broadway musical, “playing down the hall from something called The Gazillion Bubble Show,” mocking the New World Stages’ long-time fellow tenant.
Marco Marco’s fabulous costumes and Jason Sherwood’s bedazzled, exploding jewelry-box of a set are as appropriately cuckoo as the characters and the story. Aside from Adams and Alaska’s outrageous divas, there are plenty of yucks to be had from Nick Laughlin as a bearded fledging drag queen named Puss Puss DuBois, J. Elaine Marcos as three cartoonish villains who steal the spotlight, and Eddie Korbich as an alcoholic patron with a juicy past. Drag: The Musical has no ambition to be the next Rent or Hamilton. It’s silly fun and full of glitz and giggles.
