Sasha Velour is on a mission to take drag artistry to Broadway

Despite the entrepreneurial spirit and imaginative disposition of drag performers, there's a sense that the art forms they've perfected just aren't taken seriously in the Broadway world — a conundrum that Velour is tickled by. "It's funny because the reveals that I've come up with have influenced theater," she recalls. "There are three shows on Broadway right now that do a wig rose petal reveal: it's in Spamalot, in Titanique, and in Cats: The Jellicle Ball."

"I haven't gotten my free tickets to Spamalot and Titanique yet, although I think they owe me," Velour teases. "But Cats invited me. All the cats came and were fanning me, giving me my flowers. Queer people understand how to do an homage. You've got to give a little credit to where it comes from."

All tea, no shade! In fact, Velour makes these references to reinforce the mission behind Velour: A Drag Spectacular and explain why a production written by and starring a drag queen should have a place on Broadway.

"Instead of just copying the best parts of drag and putting them into the institutional art, the queer way is to invite the 'outsider artist' into this space and see what we can come up with," she explains. "We've already come up with reveals that are way better than that [rose reveal]. But I might give them a few little petals under the wig, just in case."

From Peppermint originating the role of Pythio in Head Over Heels to Jinkx Monsoon breaking records in Chicago and Little Shop of Horrors to Marty Lauter (a.k.a. Marcia Marcia Marcia) playing Victor — while being Eddie Redmayne's understudy for the Emcee — in Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Broadway is finally recognizing and casting performers who have had experience in drag. There are also drag artists creating their own stage productions, like Alaska's recent Drag: The Musical.

Velour has absolute praise for these icons who are proving time after time that drag artists can be in Broadway shows. However, she elaborates on why and how she's taking a different route:

"My approach is to show that the kind of work that we create — a drag show with lip sync performances, with reveals — belongs on these stages, too. There's an appetite for the kinds of artwork that we have created in our nightlife spaces. They've caught on so much. We have huge audiences coming to see us do our stuff in our own spaces. I think that's what theater is for… so open up the doors for different kinds of art! We're all interested in the same things: we want to entertain, tell human stories that make us connect with each other, and escape the sometimes ugly world with a little bit of beauty and hope."

This is important, Velour argues, because of the way drag artists deeply identify with the characters, personas, aesthetics, and sensibilities channeled through their work. "The big thing about drag is the idea that the performer plays a role in the creation of the show and in designing what they do on stage," she says. "This is personal to us. At times, that's been a difficult adjustment for people, but I think mostly a huge asset to the show."

Velour: A Drag Spectacular was created by Velour — who is now the first-ever drag queen to write a show opening at the La Jolla Playhouse — and Moisés Kaufman, a legendary theater director and playwright best known for works like 1997's Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 2000's The Laramie Project, and 2018's Here There Are Blueberries.

"I gave the book, The Big Reveal, as a present to Moisés Kaufman, who's one of my favorite directors and playwrights. He wrote The Laramie Project, which was literally the first piece of queer theater I ever saw," she recalls. "As a young person in rural Illinois, that show totally opened my eyes to how we can tell our stories on stage and change people's minds."

Velour also feels encouraged by the recent movement toward wider acceptance of queer sensibilities in mainstream theater.

"It's been so inspiring seeing the success of Cole Escola and Oh, Mary!" she says. "The idea that something that's so of a queer sensibility, and our sense of humor is breaking records, suggests that maybe this is the era where the stuff that comes from our twisted imagination is becoming mainstream culture… as we've been terrified it would, but secretly hoping it might, for our livelihoods. It's exciting."

It should come as no surprise that Velour is taking ambitious swings in the storytelling of this Drag Spectacular. But if you've followed this artist's work for a while, you're probably aware that she can explore complex themes in ways that are relatable, entertaining, beautiful, and oh, so emotional.

"The story follows my discovery of drag from childhood — which feels political and controversial at this time where people are trying to prevent children from accessing drag — as well as [the exploration of] my gender identity," she explains. "Alongside that, stories from the 20th century history of drag… characters that have similarities to me, in many ways, and propel me to understand the world in different ways."

Velour adds, "These are largely unknown stories in drag history, instead of running through the obvious ones that people know. Even though these characters are on the sidelines, we tried to explore stories that would be new to people, even to the biggest experts in drag. There's this running theme of, 'Why is it that our history hasn't been memorialized in the same way other trailblazers get remembered and uplifted?'"

"I keep pinching myself because I literally felt I had to give up any chance at theater because I didn't see how I could fit into it. I think that's a task of this show, too: to set the groundwork for celebrating and centering queer artists more in our discussions of history and art and culture," she remarks.

On the topic of celebrating queer artists and collaborating with them in Velour: A Drag Spectacular, she's also elated about working with a theater crew that is "excited to work on drag." Velour says:

"I'm always shocked how well me and my team, being like Johnny, my partner, Ettie Pin, who I've been working with on video projections for the last couple of years, Diego Montoya… we really know how to make magic out of nothing. So, when we have so much support, it's just a joy. We're having so much fun."

"Even the costume shop, which is top of the world here, is excited to work with Diego Montoya and me in creating these drag costumes that are really high quality," she highlights, adding that the show features about 14 brand-new creations by Diego Montoya. "It's a full collection, yeah," she says with a knowing smile.

Velour concludes, "Even the directing team, and Moisés, I feel like they've been dreaming of doing drag and crave the kind of joy that we have in our shows. I think the temptation in dramatic theater is to go to dark places. This show has that too, but every time it goes dark, there's a joke, there's a flourish, there's a bright, beautiful color. That's what we do. We cry through sequins."

To get more information and buy tickets for Velour: A Drag Spectacular, you can visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org.