Performer and drag entertainer Jinkx Monsoon has built up quite the résumé since her time on RuPaul’s Drag Race. After two stints in Chicago broke house records for that long-running musical revival, she stepped up to a leading role in Little Shop of Horrors (as Audrey) and, last night, opened her first Broadway show: Pirates! The Penzance Musical, a New Orleans-flavored updating of the 19th-century Gilbert and Sullivan operetta.
The scene-stealing part of the love-lorn housemaid Ruth was a bit of a surprise to Monsoon (whose name offstage is Hera Hoffer), but hard-earned. At some point during her rise in the New York theater, she bewitched Scott Ellis, the artistic director of Roundabout Theater Company, which produces Pirates!. Monsoon was confused, at first, when he mentioned his idea for an upcoming revival, but followed a feeling in her stomach that, she tells Vogue, usually pays off.
And that it did: Soon, she found herself having the time of her life in a rehearsal process where Ellis encouraged her to follow her instincts, which stem from a deep love of Lucille Ball and Judy Garland...READ MORE