RICH LOPEZ | Staff Writer
Get ready to don your gay apparel: Drag icons Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme are back with a bigger production and bigger tour.
A year ago, the two headlined the Majestic Theatre. On Wednesday, Dec. 13, the two bring The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show to the Texas Trust CU Theatre. These two have been making such a mark on the holiday season that they are starting to become a tradition.
Written by DeLa and Monsoon and produced by BenDeLaCreme Presents, the production is also proof that these queens are doing it for themselves.
“With all the hatred, darkness and misinformation flying around our world today, it is an honor and a privilege to spend the holidays with tens of thousands of audience members each year, creating joyous community spaces where we can gather strength through laughter and celebration,” Dela said in a press release upon the show’s announcement earlier this year.
“Whether you consider it the most wonderful time of year or the most troubling, we’re here to tell you … you’re right! So let’s make it our own.”
Before they queer up Christmas, Kwanzaa and Hanukkah, the two talked about the show’s bigger package and why queer holiday celebrations won’t be stopped.
Dallas Voice: Everything is bigger in Texas, so it’s appropriate you’re bringing a bigger show this year. Dela: It’s amazing. We are in more cities and bigger theaters. When we started this in 2018, we played 11 cities and often in small bars with these tiny stages, and there might be, at most, 200 people. We didn’t know if this would work but it snowballed in a pretty astounding way.
You’re a legit big deal for the holiday season. Jinkx: Especially when you consider that DeLa produces and stars and writes this with me every year. This is a very independent endeavor. Thanks to the loyalty and enthusiasm of our fans, it’s gotten to grow more than either of us thought was possible
Every year, you provide almost the only place for queer folks (and others) to celebrate the holidays that’s fun and uplifting and irreverent. DeLa: This was born out of the lack of representation in the way queer community and family often manifest. We’re inundated with these heteronormative messages of homecoming. So the beauty of being queer is that we create those things for ourselves and have been doing it forever.
What’s even more impressive is that you create a new show every year instead of building on the previous one, which you probably could do to a certain extent. Jinkx: Yeah, there is a little bit of all of that double edge in writing a new show. It takes a lot of work and commitment to come up with fresh ideas every year. The lovely thing about a new show is that it always gets to be current and honest and truthful to experience that year.
The broad picture is that of queers at home for the holidays, but as the show goes on, we are more nuanced and bold with our commentary. That’s the joy of art created for our community by our community.
Is that a fulfilling feeling? Jinkx: It gives me hope to be that representation even though our oppressors undermine and poison our community. They might be loud and intimidating, but there are more people on our side. I think the proof is in the figgy pudding.
In some ways, queer joy is kind of a paradox, because it’s often born from discrimination or oppression. And here you are bringing said joy in the middle of a tumultuous political climate that is working hard to keep the queers down. Dela: The thing is that camp and humor and the language of drag has been passed down, but it has always been that kind of sparkle and humor that seems fully irreverent. It’s also an act of rebellion and a political act.
Our queer joy and celebration and humor is “fuck you” to the system. You’re not going to hold us down. We are emboldened to speak out and have a place of joy and celebration to show the world that we are not going to stop loving and coming together. We’re not going to be defeated by any of this.
Jinkx, you’ve had quite a year with Chicago on Broadway and were cast in Doctor Who and a solo tour. How is it to come back to this as well? (Ed. note: At the time of the interview, the SAG-AFTRA strike was going on and Jinkx could not mention the television show by name.) Jinkx: I’ve had an incredible year from one dream job to another, Chicago into some television show and then the solo tour and now this holiday tour. There’s a lot of momentum, and I am exhausted.
But this lady is also energized. I love that we get to come together. Both of us have careers as solo entertainers, but our annual tour is something that I’m extremely proud of. It’s like home, so I look forward to this no matter what.
What makes you a good team? DeLa: It’s a lot of things. It’s our common love of drag, first. We both have been doing it for so long well before being rich and famous! (laughs) But we love the same pop culture references; I think we have learned from each other and we have strengths that balance each other out. The great thing is that we’ve both been able to make it bigger than the sum of its parts. As queer people, as feminine people, the world loves to pit us against each other. So we actively work to support and reinforce our friendship. We’re stronger as a team and we’re grateful to be able to do this because the fulfillment helps make our world a better place.
For tickets, visit AXS.com.
