Long before the recent blue wave that saw Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate, and five state legislative chambers, Terence Alan Smith, a Black drag queen from the Detroit suburbs, ran for president. Well, not technically Smith, but his alter ego, Joan Jett Blakk.
In Ms. Blakk for President, the stranger-than-fiction story of how Smith and a renegade band of activists weaseled their way into the 1992 Democratic National Convention unfolds like an MTV video. Scenic designer David Zinn transforms Vineyard Theatre’s Off-Broadway space into a maximalist queer playground, with co-writers Tarell Alvin McCraney and Tina Landau sticking fairly close to the real story.
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Jackie O pearls with bratwurst sensibility
As the title character, Ato Blankson-Wood brings charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent to an era long before RuPaul made it a Drag Race mantra. But the bid for president didn’t happen overnight.
Smith had been living and working in Chicago at the height of the AIDS crisis, telling LGBTQ Nation, “I knew five people who killed themselves because back then HIV death was your destiny.”
Activist Mark (Gideon Glick) recruits Terence to run in drag for Chicago mayor against Richard M. Daley, wearing Chanel, of course. “She’ll need to have Jackie O pearls with bratwurst sensibility,” Terence tells Mark as the persona takes shape.
Later, Queer Nation takes over Chicago’s famous Ann Sather restaurant for its campaign launch, where Terence, as Blakk, proclaims, “If a bad actor can be elected President, why not a good drag queen?” followed by the rallying cry, “Lick Bush in ‘92!”
A four-person ensemble speeds through costume changes faster than a Wigstock lineup, with a three-piece band keeping the tempo driving forward.
But for all of its historical references and a lobby overflowing with queer dramaturgical ephemera, Ms. Blakk for President can’t quite find Terence’s personal stakes inside the bigger movement, even with the death of Mark’s partner from AIDS-related complications.
Instead, Joan Jett Blakk becomes a queer avatar for a fight that’s still at the forefront for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s a rousing and often entertaining campaign worth showing up for, even if Ms. Blakk keeps her most private platform under wraps.
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Is ‘Ms. Blakk for President’ worth seeing?
Ms. Blakk for President throws a glitter-strewn rally for a chapter of queer history too often forgotten, though the person beneath the pearls stays as elusive as a write-in vote.
- Vineyard Theatre, 108 East 15th Street, New York City
- Notable performers: Ato Blankson-Wood, Nic Ashe, Gideon Glick, Kelvin Moon Loh, Sawyer Smith, Adina Verson
- Running time: 105 minutes, no intermission
- Performances through November 29
