“Ask any other chickies in my pen, they’ll tell you I’m the biggest mother…hen.”
Guess who’s joining the second longest-running musical in Broadway history (that’s set to be *the* longest now that “Phantom of the Opera” is ending its run next year)? You’ve read the title—it’s none other than two-time “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner (oops, was that a spoiler?) Jinkx Monsoon.
The musical-loving drag queen will be making her big Broadway debut playing as “Chicago’s” Matron “Mama” Morton. She will be the first drag artist to play the role. Other stars who’ve taken up the mantle: Queen Latifah (in the movie adaptation), Jennifer Holliday, Sofia Vergara, and even reality TV icon Nene Leakes.
“I never question my blessings, I just thank Hecate for them,” Monsoon says about getting the part.
“Chicago” tells the story of two rival vaudevillians-cum-murderesses who are competing against each other to hog the popular-and-beautiful-murderer spotlight. Mama Morton is the seemingly nurturing matriarch (she’s introduced with the number “When You’re Good to Mama”) and warden of the henhouse that is the Cook County Jail women’s cellblock, where the musical takes place. It’s a fitting role for Seattle’s self-described youngest MILF.
“I cannot stress enough that this has been a lifelong dream of mine. To be making my Broadway debut, as my favorite role, in one of my favorite shows—that lifelong dream is coming true and then some,” Monsoon said. It’s a serendipitous moment for her, as “All That Jazz,” the musical’s opening number, was the first song she ever performed in drag, she added.
The drag queen will be doing an eight-week run starting Jan. 16 at Broadway’s Ambassador Theater, where it’s been held since 2003. While it’s not the longest running musical yet, it’s already got the top stop as the longest running musical revival, with this iteration of the musical opening its curtains way back in 1996.
Featured photo screengrabbed from “Best of the Queen Of All Queens: Jinkx Monsoon” on YouTube
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