By Jude Cramer
Drag superstar Plasma joked to a rapt crowd at Joe’s Pub this week that she was on a little program last year called America’s Next Extreme Homo Makeover. In reality, she appeared on Season 16 of the Emmy-winning RuPaul’s Drag Race. After the show wrapped, Plasma faced the same question as every RuGirl before her: What comes after reality TV?
For a self-proclaimed theater queen like Plasma, the answer emerged in the form of a live cabaret and recording session for her debut album, Plasma: Is Miss Thing On?
Beyond being an all-time great pun, the album’s title is a reminder to keep tuning in to drag artists’ careers, even when they’re not broadcast via reality TV. “This show is all about milestones and celebrating the next chapter of things, which is why I ask, is Miss Thing on?” Plasma explained during her set. “You don’t necessarily know what to look out for [from] people who move past that era of their lives.”
Is Miss Thing On? was a one-night-only affair, offering an exclusive opportunity to be “in the room where it happens” for the album’s recording session. With a voice tailor-made for Golden Age goodness, Plasma sang everything from musical theater classics like “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (which she already gave the full music video treatment during her Drag Race run) to deep cuts like Stephen Sondheim’s “More” (made famous by “Oscar Award-eligible actress Madonna,” as Plasma quipped, from the film Dick Tracy), and even an original song or two (no spoilers on that front).
Is there now a ‘Drag Race’ to Broadway pipeline?
Plasma’s not the only Broadway baby to come from Drag Race. Two-time winner Jinkx Monsoon has appeared on New York City stages in shows like Chicago, Little Shop of Horrors, and Pirates! The Penzance Musical. Beginning August 4, she starts an eight-week stint starring in the Tony-winning comedy, Oh, Mary!
Other Drag Race alum with Broadway credits include Marciax3 (Marty Lauer, currently appearing in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club) and Miss PepperMint, who starred in the Go-Go’s jukebox musical Head Over Heels.
