BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon bring holiday cheer and LGBTQ pride to Dallas
STEVEN LINDSEY | Contributing Writer
StevenCraigLindsey@gmail.com
Sorry, Mariah. Lights out, Rudolph. Hasta la vista, Santa Baby.
For scores of queer people across the globe, the holidays don’t officially begin until the curtain rises and the spotlights focus on two larger-than-life entertainers: Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme. The dynamic hall-decking duo co-writes and co-stars each year in a completely new version of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show, preferring to keep things fresh as Santa’s jockstrap just out of the dryer on Dec. 26.
The yuletide legends mark their return to Dallas’ Majestic Theatre on Nov. 20, but not before joining Dallas Voice on a Zoom call to chat about everything from politics to the importance of drag queens performing in Texas.
Dallas Voice: Let me say how happy I am we didn’t scare you away from Texas. Two years ago, protestors were outside the show as people entered the Majestic Theatre. You all gave a really moving speech saying that simply attending a drag show these days is still an act of protest and bravery. Do you think anti-drag protestors have a clue that they really only unite us more and bring us closer as a community? Jinkx: Well, let’s not set that precedent! (laughs) No, I don’t think we need protestors to bring us together. We’re in more cities in the South this year, and that was a conscious effort by DeLa and her production team. We had to leave out some cities that you would normally see on our tour dates, but it was very clear where we needed to take the show this year.
We always hope to take the show where it’s needed when possible because it’s more than just two hours of entertainment. If that’s all you need, we’ll provide it for you. But if you come for two hours of being in a safe space with like-minded people who want to talk about the issues of today in a lighthearted, easy-to-access way, then we’ve got that for you, too. All we ever hope is to galvanize you and send you back out into the world feeling empowered.
DeLa: You know, I think one of the biggest things about this show is not just what we do on stage, but that we gather like-minded people in one room. And in a world in which a lot of us feel constantly under attack and that we need to be on the defense, we hope to give people two hours where they know that they’re protected and loved and, yes, that is a political act.
Being a queer person in public is a political act. Loving each other is a political act. And that galvanization and that unity is what’s going to get us where we need to go as a country and beyond.
There were years when artists like Madonna wouldn’t come to Texas back when George W. Bush was president, but that’s when we need support the most. Jinkx: We’ve had big conversations about that, and as queer, marginalized, independent artists, we have been on the road performing, being one big old target. We’ve been on tour when [the] Pulse [shooting] happened in Florida. We were on tour during [the] Colorado Springs [Club Q shooting]. It’s like, gosh, this constant reminder that this is still unsafe.
Just being your authentic self onstage is still unsafe, and, as scared as we were those years, and now more than ever, we have to get on the stage. We’ve doubled down the security efforts to ensure the space is safe for patrons. But it was never a question in our minds to keep going because we have always kept going.
Let’s get away from the politics a bit. The fact that you create a brand-new holiday show each year is just so impressive. What’s the motivation for you to constantly update it and keep the show so fresh? DeLa: When we first started this tour back in 2018, it was a much smaller scale. But when we started thinking about 2019, we were like, “You don’t have to make a new show.” We were told that by a lot of people. But we were very steadfast that we were building something that we care about as an annual tradition. We need to give people a reason to come back and spend each year with us, because they want to see what we are going to bring to the stage that year.
It’s definitely exciting to go every year and not know what you’re going to do or what the plot will be. You’re often very topical, too, like when you had the Covid bunker in the show after the pandemic. Do you plan to incorporate the election outcome at all? Jinkx: We had big discussions about this at the top of our writing boot camp as we call it. Essentially, what we are striving to do is to focus on what is going to be true no matter what huge changes need to be made in this country and the way our system works. We should never be in this position again, where one of the candidates is a fascist, right? How did we get here? And yet, here we are. Now I’ve forgotten what I was talking about!
DeLa: We can’t write two different shows, and we can’t shoehorn in something. So what we had to do was address, like Jinkx said, what’s true no matter what. What’s true no matter what is that we have been through something very traumatic. We continue to go through traumatic things. There is so much left to do, and that’s always the plight of the queer community. And the thing that the Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show has kind of always strived to remind the audience and ourselves is that part of the work is to take a break and celebrate what we’ve accomplished.
Any plot points you can share? DeLa: We like to keep it mostly a surprise, but this year, as in past years, we are taking a beloved holiday classic and one we’ve never actually touched before, and turning it fully on its ear with the Jinkx and DeLa spin in ways that I think will be very unexpected. I think it’s gonna be very good.
Jinkx: Yeah, I like to end our interviews — especially after we’ve talked about all these very important, very serious topics — by saying, WE’RE COMEDIANS! (laughing) We have the capacity to talk about these things. We don’t shy away from these things. And yet, we have chosen drag and comedy as our way to do this, because that’s where we are skilled and powerful. … This is how we feel, and let it be known, but you’re going to show up for some dick jokes!
To purchase one of the few remaining seats to The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show, visit JinkxAndDela.com