Everybody Cut Your Wig Loose with Marcia Marcia Marcia

Lucky for us the Marcia of all trades, Marcia Marcia Marcia, is here! She talks all about her first time watching Drag Race and how she applied those “more make-up” notes during the competition. Alec and Loni are seated front row for Wigloose the Rusical. The queens were tasked with bringing the house down while bringing drag to a small town. Plus, Alec and Loni share how you can educate yourself about the anti-drag bills popping up around the country and helpful resources. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hello, Hello, Hello, and welcome back to another episode of
Squirrel Friends, the official RuPaul's Drag Race Podcast. I'm Alex Mapa,
and I'm here to introduce the Queen of all media,
everybody's favorite future billionaire, Blahnie Love. Oh my, you are
so precious. How are you, Alex? I'm good. I'm calling it, Lonnie.

(00:25):
I think that you are very quietly, while the rest
of us are napping at taking weed gummies, you are
slowly building an empire. You know. I am enjoying this
platform with you. I'm enjoying the fact that we are
pushing an art form that is beautiful and exciting and entertaining.

(00:46):
And I am just happy, arted very very endangered, and
we're gonna see about that. How have you been, though,
I'm good. I'm going on a cruise next week. I'm
going to a Central America. I'm leaving next Thursday. And
I want to get a little botox, a little freshen up. Okay, yeah,
good for you. I think that would make me happy.

(01:08):
I want on your instagrams. Yeah, and I saw that
you had a old glamor filter, have you Okay, see
I'm not on TikTok, but somebody told me about the
bold glamour filter on TikTok. Have you tried it? No,
I'm gonna try it now because I think you look
but you know what, you look beautiful the way you are.

(01:29):
I just want you to know that you have a
very good, structured face. Thank you, And it's just gorgeous.
And you know, I'm all for people being whoever they
want to be and expressing and loving themselves from whatever
they want to do. That's what it is. That's what about. Listen,
I'm a mature woman. I'm notuch older than you are,
so I have to there's a little maintenance issue. Speaking

(01:52):
of looking good, you've kept up your weight loss and
you've been posting some pretty pictures on your Instagram. Oh
thank god. Black dress that you had in the day
of science encouraging black girls to take stem classes. Yes, yeah, absolutely,
really great. I mean there was a very important message
in there about black girls in science. But of course
I went directly to that dress and I was like, wow,

(02:14):
you look amazing. Well I have to thank my squirrel
friends and my queens because I think for a long
time I thought, as a woman, you know, oh, looks
don't matter, and as long as I'm clean and I
don't smell because you've always been like, you know, I
think it's funny people. It's like the premium has always
been on our sense of humor and yep, and everybody

(02:35):
forgets that. We want to look pretty too. Speaking of pretty,
we're gonna be covering yes, episode twelve of season fifteen
of RuPaul's drag Race. That's going to be filled with
all kinds of spoilers. That's just a really great episode, Lonnie,
What are we gonna be covering? We at the top six,
We're at the top six, the final six. We're gonna

(02:56):
talk about the wig loose rusical I love rusicals, the
drama over who got which part, the rehearsal, the final product,
the runway is everybody say glove and as always, the
lip sync and someone is going home. Everyone has been
every episode we have had an elimination. We haven't had

(03:17):
a double save this season at all. Oh and Squirrel Friends,
stay tuned from my interview with Marsha Marsha Marsha later
later later in the episode, it was a lot of fun. Well,
Squirrel Friends, it's time for fifteen seconds to say this
is where Alec and I had fifteen seconds to race
and say all of our most important thoughts and takes
on topics given to us by our lovely producers. We

(03:38):
in this episode, here's Selena say, if she makes it
to the end, she can convince and talk the judges
into giving her the crown with no wins. She hasn't
had any wins. So when it comes to winning a competition, Alec,
you get fifteen seconds to say, do you think a
track record matters? Ready? Say? I say it matters in

(04:03):
competitions where they are adding up the scores, but this
is like a subjective competition, and it's Rue's decisions. She's
always saying, the final decision is mine. So if Rude
decides you're gonna stay, you're gonna stay. Okay, all right,
my time? What was a question? Uh, when it comes

(04:24):
to winning a competition, do you think track record matters? Okay?
Ready say yes, it does matter. And it's because in
this type of competition, like you said, it matters because
it's a way for everybody to get into everybody's head.
So if you haven't won anything, you're gonna get, you know,
feeling bad on yourself, and then everybody else gonna feel

(04:45):
like they feel good, and that's the reason why you
have these type of competitions. So you need these little
mini wins to make you feel good. You really under
we're becoming all experts at this. Okay, listen, I think
that if your bottom and you're the bottom a whole bunch,
it's not gonna be good for you in this competition. Historically,

(05:07):
if you lip sync more than three times, you're out.
Really yeah, But but the exception in the last season
of UK there was a black queen named black Pepper
who was in the bottom three times, but she had
had wins. Yes, previously she didn't have any wins. Selena
didn't have any wins, So I think that just makes
it hard to see that's the thing. But it's a competition.

(05:29):
And also we're gonna see in this episode how not
having wins versus having wins can be detrimental. Yes, and
I'll point it out when we get to that. But
it's also a lip sync for your life, right, So
if you have a bunch of wins and you lip
sync against somebody and you shit the bed at the

(05:49):
lip sync, then that's what I'm saying. Yeah, it's always
a competition until Rue Paul says it's time to go home.
That's it, you know. So if you want us to
have something to say for fifteen seconds, DM or message
us your ideas. Alec Mappa on Instagram or comic Linnie
Love Instagram and Lonnie Love. Let's get into this episode, Alec,

(06:10):
because it's a lot to cover. It's a lot. We
said goodbye to Marsha Marsha Marcia last week. Week week
she went home, and I felt like it was her time,
you know, I felt like, okay, that was that. That
seemed correct to me. Yeah, Selena has no wins yet
and feels like her and Mistress should have won. Now
here's the thing, this is a really complaining season. Why. Yeah,

(06:35):
we talked about this last week. It's kind of like
I listened to the podcast in the car and there's
a lot of like I didn't get this, I didn't
get that, and it's kind of like there's a real
lack of gratitude and what I don't like about that.
And they mentioned this on this episode is while you're complaining,
I think it spoils victory for the person who won

(06:55):
that week. Oh wow, I didn't think about that. Yeah, Like,
if you want a competition and you were surrounded by
people going, man, yeah I should have gotten this, and
you're like, well, like my drag right, like like like
that's true, Yeah, that's true. And you see at the beginning,
because you know, Selena did not hold back, and what
you're feeling is emotion from her because she knows that

(07:16):
she hasn't had a win, she's been on the bottom,
she's had some challenges that she just wasn't good at,
and she doesn't hold back. And then here comes Lucy
being Lucy, yeah, you know, saying what she felt that
she should have been. And so as a change, while
they're sitting there in the workroom right after the elimination,

(07:38):
they're trying to change the feelings. So they say, well,
what era are you gonna be in now? And so
you know it's like so now you know, Selena is like,
I'm in my winning era, and then you know Mistress
is like, I'm gonna be in my angel era. I'm
not gonna be you know, you know, the villain anymore.

(08:00):
Warn you know, so everybody's going through their eras and stuff.
You know, they got more errands and share all these errors.
She does have a million eras I mean, there are
a lot of artists with eras. Remember that there was
a different Madonna era every year. It was like here
it comes come out on Madonna. Here comes grunge Madonna,
Here it comes. RuPaul comes into the workroom, and like

(08:24):
you said a couple of weeks ago, we are back
to suit RuPaul and we've left mister Rogers palm springs
RuPaul behind. RuPaul is wearing kind of like black and white,
almost like do you ever like make a messy Xerox
copy in the office and it comes kind of like
this black, shadowy black kids. But okay, well, back in

(08:44):
the day, they used to have this thing called a
Xerox machine. But you know, they don't have any more.
Kids don't have any more dittos. Remember dittos when you
would get that in your math class and just smell
the ink and just be like just me. You know.
I used to work for Xerox and they did always
get us. Yes, I was an in eineer for Xerox,
and they would say, we don't call it a Xerox machine.
We call it a copy machine. Because they weren't able

(09:07):
to trade market. So if every copy machine was named Xerox,
they wouldn't be able to necessarily sell. Oh well, we
did use that. That is like an ancient verb at
this point, I need to zero and it meant copy.
But yeah, but yes, we've back to our regular rue Paul.
And this is a thing too about this competition right now,

(09:29):
from the last episode, Sasha was a little low, you know,
from the last episode. So I believe now you're seeing
that people feel like, Okay, now they're getting a boost
because Sasha was coming in low. It's like, because you know,
Sasha was killing, killing, killing, but this has given the

(09:50):
other queens a boost. Yes, they smell blood in the water.
They smell blood in the water. But you know what,
when you get out to the bottom six every year,
it's like, this is what the pressure builds. It's like
when you get rid of the first six or the
first seven in this case, I think there were thirteen
queens this season, then it's kind of like six. There
were twenty two thousand, six hundred queenses, so many we forgot.

(10:15):
I know, when you get rid of the first half
of the queens, when it comes down to this, the
last six, then you're doing everything you can to stay
on the show, and the pressure is on you because
now we're gonna split hairs. Yeah, definitely, And the pressure
is on me because I gotta take a break. So
all right back because I want to talk about the
Maxi Challenge. Well, okay, and we are back the Maxi Challenge.

(10:45):
We get a rusical this week. Rue tells the Queens,
in a world where people focus on our difference, never
underestimate the power of song and dance to bring us together.
For this week's Maxi Challenge, they will be starring in
the all Day Dancing, all Dancing rusical wig Loose. It's
set in the eighties of the small town where drag

(11:06):
has been outlawed. Imagine you know, wow, life imitating art. Yeah,
it's really topical. First of all, let's talk about the
rusical because the Rusico I did a Rusico for Celebrity
Drag Race the most fun I've ever had, the work
most fun. It was myself, Vanessa Williams and Tammy Roman. Yeah,

(11:29):
you did the rusical nine to five. Oh, I remember
it was. So it's such hard work because you gotta
remember the dances, you gotta remember the song, you got
the words. I don't even remember how we got it
all together. But we did it, I seriously and ours
was short, so this one is really really long, but

(11:54):
there is such a meaningful purpose in it, so you know,
getting into it, we start with the workroom. The first
thing we got to talk about is the parts and
picking the roles. Okay, like remember last year in Bosco
they were doing the rusical was mulan Rue. They were
gonna do mulan Rue and Bosco wanted the lead so bad,

(12:15):
and I think that if you want the lead, you
have to kill it. And what happened last year is
Bosco really wanted the lead, didn't do a fantastic job,
and Lady Camden got a smaller part as the Leader
of the show, the MC of the show and won
the challenge. So there's all kinds of opportunities to do
better and lots of opportunities to fail. Well, everybody wants

(12:37):
to have the lead role when something, and it's like
the thing is when you have a choice to pick
a role. Yeah, the first thing you do when I
don't know about you, When I get a script, I
read the whole script, even if I just read my
lines first and then go all right, then you say
blah blah blah, and then I'm on page three hundred
and sixty five. I read the whole scrip because you

(13:00):
want to developed the character, so sure, you know they
have to. This wig Loose is based off a foot Loose,
So all the characters, you know, it's like cute, is
Heaven Bacon, Mama Bacon. Yeah, there's a villain called the
Preacher Teacher. There's Carl who is the husband of Preacher Teacher,
and there are two kids called Christian and Tuck. And

(13:20):
this is based on the foot Loose. So I thought
that that was really really cute. It's really cute and
in foot Loose for those of you I've never seen
it before. It's a local from the eighties starring Kevin Bacon.
Sarah Jessica Parker's in it, weirdly enough, and there's a
small conservative town that Kevin Bacon. This is back when
Kevin Bacon could play high school characters. He visits this

(13:40):
small town that is led by this preacher played by
John Lithgow, who has outlawed dancing. They no dancing aloud.
Dancing leads to the devil blah blah blah, and Kevin
Bacon can't help it, and he gets the whole town
dancing again. So this is a take on that, and
given what we're going through right now, it is so relevant.

(14:02):
It's just kind of like, I'm worried for our community.
But you know, the also thing, there's a viral video
going on right now with John Stewart talking to somebody,
a senator. He's talking to a senator about the banning
of drag and he says, is that free speech? Are
you impinging on their First Amendment rights? And the senator
says no, and he goes, they can do it, but

(14:24):
they can't do it in front of children. And John
Stewart says why and he says, because we have a responsibility.
The government has a responsibility to protect children. And John
Stewart's like what, And he goes, we have a responsibility
to protect children, and he goes, what's the main killer
of children in the USA right now? And I'm gonna
give you a hint. It's not drag, queen readings, or children.

(14:48):
And the senator the senator is Oklahoma Senator Nathan dom
And the senator says, I'm presuming you're gonna say it's firearms.
And John Stewart says, I'm not going to say it
like it's an opinion, it's firearms. And so what you're
saying is you are willing to band free speech, the
First Amendment rights of these people in order to protect

(15:08):
children from this shapeless threat that you're thinking of. But
when it comes to actual children who have died, you
won't do anything about that because that right, the Second
Amendment won't be infringed upon it, because that's the height
of hypocrisy. Well, and that's the reason why we push
to have programming like Rupause Drag Race, because of the

(15:31):
fact that you know, this is a way to invite
people who don't know about drag, who don't understand LGBTQ issues.
This is a wonderful way for people to at least
get an introduction to it and listen. So that's why
this is I'd be the first to tell people that
there's no place for a child in a nightclub at
two am where a drag queen is performing. But if

(15:55):
it's a library reading, you know, full of kids and
a drag queen like Nina West, and it's all about
acceptance and diversity and respecting each other's differences. I mean,
if you've ever seen one of Nina West's readings to
kids online. It's so beautiful you'll just start crying. So anyway,
regardless of that, let me hop off of my apple box.

(16:18):
Well we'll get back to it, but first let's get
to these roles because they you know, here we go.
What I like is that Sasha being the professional. She
automatically looks at the role. She says, I want Carl.
Carl plays the husband of the villain. Mistress. Of course,
this is like, I feel like I'm related to being
the villain, the preacher, teacher. I can do that. And

(16:39):
then you have Selina takes tough, she volunteers for that.
And then Lucy and Lux fight over Heaven Bacon exactly
because Lux wants to be the league and Lucy wants
to be the league. Now remember last episode they actually
one teamed up and one. Yeah, so they were best
friends and they're fighting again again, so again point and

(17:04):
what happened was Lucy wanted the lead and Mistress is
just lying in wait, you know what I mean, She's
watching her like a hawk, and Mistress has an inability
not to call out the thoughts that are in her
hid And so when Lucy says, I want to play

(17:25):
this part because I feel that I can really play
this part. Well. Mistress called bullshit and said you want
it because you want the lead, which made Lucy like
fly off the handle. Now, what's your opinion on that.
If Lucy had really just wanted it to just because
she felt like she could do a good job, do
you think she would have been as defensive? I mean,

(17:47):
first of all, Lucy is Lucy. Lucy is about the business.
Lucy wants to win, yeah, and she also hasn't had
that many wins, so she's trying to and she's had
too she's questioning herself and so she knows that she's
good at musical theater and so she's standing up for herself.

(18:08):
But it's just something about her where she's not having fun.
And they said it. We'll get to the judge's critiques later,
but you said that in the previous podcast and in
this time they said it would think even when she
speaks like in her confessionals, I feel like it's like
this urgency, this fightingness, and it doesn't it doesn't feel genuine,

(18:31):
and it's like I feel so bad for her. Yeah,
And so what you see Mistress doing is Mistress is
just eating up on that. She's feeding off of it
because Mistress is about competition. She's trying to get rid
of her. Yeah, and the British. The British call it
taking the piss out of something. So it's always about
like calling people on stuff. And the thing is I

(18:52):
bet Lucy in a relaxed environment where she's doing your
job at Connecticut or whatever club she works on, you know,
in our gigs, and then she's a lot of fun.
But with this high pressure situation and the spotlight on her,
she's tensing up. So they are fighting. They're fighting. They're fighting,
they're fighting. Why would you have solved this rock paper
sisters simple or a coin toss? Do you know what

(19:15):
I mean? It's kind of like we need to rehearse.
We don't have time for this back and forth. On
a previous episode, I think they had people auditioned for it.
They had people read it out last. That's what I
was thinking. They should have auditioned, had them audition But
what I like about Lux, I think Lux was just
doing that just to mess with Lucy because they think
so Yeah. I think she just did that to mess

(19:35):
with her because she said, you know, I'll take Christian role,
but I'm gonna volunteer. But I had already had because
if Lux would have kept pressing, Lux would have got
the league. Yeah, but this was different also because nobody
was in charge of casting, like usually they have the
winner from last week's Oh did they have somebody in charge? No,
they didn't. They didn't have anybody. They allowed them to

(19:57):
sit there and pick the roles themselves. Which is what
I'm saying is that Sasha immediately said, you know what,
I'm gonna take Carl right and then, which was a
big risk for a trans woman. I was watching it
with my friend Calpurnia, and she said that she, as
a trans woman, she wouldn't have done that. So she said,
because Calpernia spent her whole life kind of like cultivating
her womanness, her you know, herself as a woman and

(20:20):
getting away from all the masculine stuff. So she said,
it was a big risk for Sasha to do that.
And we'll get to that well, you know, later on
in the show. But what part would you have wanted?
What part would I have done? I would have had
fun with the preacher teacher. You like the villain. I
like being villains. I love playing villains. Yeah, but then
this is the thing. Lucy kept thinking that that was

(20:41):
the lead, but actually there were so many solos that
you weren't the lead. Yeah. There are some ricicles where
it's like, well, you guys, shit part there really wasn't
allowed to do there. But in this one, as we
see when they show the whole thing put together, everybody
had a chance to shine in this one. The reason
why they have you audition for roles and you know this, Alec,

(21:02):
is because they want you to be the best. They
want you to shine. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of times
we think we see a role and you think you
can do it, and then you get up in that
audition you're like, I'm not right for the time? Which
role would you have played? Which one would you have taken?
I would have took one of the kids, Christian or time.

(21:24):
You know, just something that's small and fun but it's
meaningful and actually the Christian one is the turning point
is what we'll see. But you know, it's important to audition.
It's important to know who you are as an actor
and not just take a role because you know, okay,
it's got more lines, right, It's like it doesn't matter
about the lines. I always tell people I became a

(21:46):
serious regular off of an audition with one expression. It
was supposed to be for a guest starring role, and
I went in, I did the audition and it was
something like a star is born. They were like, Okay,

(22:07):
we don't make your series regular. That's it, and that's fantastic,
and you really kind of like it takes foresight to
know that. When I first came to Los Angeles, I
think I've talked about this before. They used to have
these roles called under five and that all that means
is you have under five lines, and so I would
always be like, how can I maximize this? How can
I create more stories for myself? And so like I

(22:29):
had one line on Friends a Thanksgiving episode, and now
that's played as a meme all the time. But I've
also found that if I do one line, and when
I first started out and I really gave it my
all and I made it interesting, they would give me more.
They would give me more to do. If I made
it the writer's lap, they'd go, Okay, just do it.
They would do it. So they finally picked the roles

(22:50):
and then here comes RuPaul, and RuPaul does just a
little bit of coaching and asking about themselves stuff. Basically,
he spoke to Sasha and why did Sasha pick the
role of Carl. And she also says that her and
her mother no longer talk right and not a communication,

(23:10):
so she picked Carl because Carl reminded her of her father. Yes,
and that's what I mean. But that's the example of
if you're gonna pick a character and not being auditioned
for it, at least be able to relate to the character.
Then while that's going on, Lucy and Selena are talking. Yes,
and Lucy really starts crying on Selena's shoulder. She feels

(23:35):
like she's being picked on. She's like the world is
coming at her. She feels bullied. She feels triggered because
she said, every time I opened my mouth she goes.
When Mistress calls me on stuff or criticizes me, it
kind of brings back that memory. Have you ever gone
too far with somebody where you were kidding with them
and they were like took it the wrong way? Yes,

(23:55):
I mean being a comic, you know, but I now
know when the pool back yeah on someone. Yeah, And
they're just some people you just can't They're just not
like that they're just not like no, they can't take it. Yeah,
and just and what you do is you just leave
them alone, don't don't keep antagonizing them. But but mistress
found a squishy spot and is now poking at it.
Well because it's a competition though too. Yeah, and then

(24:18):
in that point, I think you should breathe and you
should manitate and all that kind of stuff. Well that's
what that's the advice that Rue gave to Selena as
titties because she was like Selena did word vomit about
like I'm too much this, I'm too much that you know,
I'm not that fat, I'm not that thin, blah blah
blah blah blah blah blah. And then Ruth said, take
a breath, take a breath. And the thing is that

(24:40):
is like such simplistic advice, but it's the truth. It's
kind of like you're in drag, we're playing dress up
and we're singing and dancing. Where's the fun? Have fun?
A Nature came up and said she chose the mother
part of Mama Bacon because one of the lines that
Mama Bacon says is a drag saved my life. And

(25:02):
Aneta says that drag saved her life because she was
walking around drag Con years ago and all of a
sudden felt so at home and so happy, and rich said, well,
I'm so glad that happened to you, because you were
born to be a drag queen. And a Nietza said
her whole drag journey took off from there. And I

(25:22):
love that story. And this is the reason why the
work room is so important and for Rude to take
the time to come in and spend some moments with
the queens and actually get their stories, because I think
it was a Nietsra that said, here is the person
that started drag race, that started drag Con, that helped
save my life. Right, and I'm able to speak and have,

(25:44):
you know, a few minutes with him. That means so much,
I know, you know, and it opens it up. And
here again, no one in this country can say that
we're not trying to provide a way for people to
see other people's lives. Right, I understanding lifestyle, So you
have no excuse. You can't say, well I didn't understand,
Well I didn't know. This is a perfect example that

(26:07):
you get everybody's whole story exactly and it's the personal
story that changes hearts and minds. I mean every year,
at the beginning of the season, I'm like, I'm not
going to get involved. I love last year's nay nay Na.
And then all of a sudden, I hear everybody's story
and it's like, oh, I love them, and I meet
your story. She talks about that she was on her
way to the Olympics. She was taekwondo expert, and then

(26:29):
that didn't work out, and all of a sudden she
was adrift and not knowing where to go next, and
drag gave her the direction to become a performer and everything.
And it's just and I'm going to sell some drag
Con tickets here. If you ever get a chance to
go to drag conco, it is so happy. You walk
into the La Convention Center and there's this big banner

(26:50):
that says hello, Hello, Hello, as soon as you're walking in.
On the very first day of drag Con, they had
this thing called the Queen's Walk. Now down the middle
of the carpet, they had this gigantic this it's so wide,
it's like as one as a football field. A pink
carpet that goes through the whole convention center. And on
the first day they announced all the queens, all the
queens that have ever been on the New Paul's Drag

(27:12):
Race Show, and they all walk down the pink carpet,
one right after the other. So you can see Alaska,
you can see Trixie, you can see whoever's in La
at that point. And it's so much fun. See you.
That's what's about. So we still got we got to
talk a little bit about the rehearsal. So after the
whole conversation with Route, we go into a little bit
of the rehearsal, and the choreographer, Miguel Zarant says he's

(27:37):
looking for energy and personality. Yeah, so Lucy, of course
it's like I pick up choreo quickly. Yeah, you know. Yeah,
and actually, you know, looking at her with Miguel, she does.
She picks it up. But she's a little stiff. Yes,

(27:57):
you know, she's just a little like because she's in
her and she's not having fun. It's like, have some fun.
I remember when we were going through our rehearsals for
nine to five, the rusical, and I was so like
trying to That's why I can relate to Lucy on
this because I was so in my head trying to
figure and make sure and that I was looking stiff,

(28:20):
and I was like, just have fun. Once you relax
and you have fun, have fun, you take the pressure
off of your take it off perfect. Here's the thing.
Perfects boring. It's perfect is boring. I think that if
you see somebody who gives you a flawless routine but
there's no joy behind it, you can feel that, which

(28:40):
is what happened with Lux. Lux is not the best dancer,
but the attitude. And Miguel said, her attitude is so
so great that it was just like you felt joy.
I wanted to see her whole rehearsal. You know, Lux
is competing. Lux, make no mistake, and she's competing. I
think she gets a little sabotage with the other girls

(29:01):
in ways that she doesn't need to, in ways that
like I used to have when I did stand up.
I'm going on a cruise next week, but I did
do stand up with a comic. I'm not gonna mention
any games. Okay, who would come up to me and
talk to me right before I went on kind of
get in my ear like, hey, I have this joke,
what do you think it's funny or just kind of
distract me. And finally I had to go, you know

(29:22):
what I'm about to go on, don't talk to me,
just don't. I just need my space. You know what
I hate? I hate when I'm in an audition when
we used to have auditions before now they just do
zoom auditions. But when we have to go into a
room and there's a bunch of you know, actresses and
they want to talk to me before the audition, and
I would I would just go off into a corner.
I would go off into a corner or put on headphones,

(29:44):
which is the universal sign don't talk to me. But
the thing is, you were so exciting because a lot
of us hadn't seen each other because you know, if
it's co It was like, oh my god, oh my god,
oh my god. Yeah, you know, but now I realized that,
you know a lot of times that was just a
ploy for you to get thrown off of your game,

(30:04):
them getting into your head exactly like when it last
week's went during the comedy thing, which he going, there's
a lot of pressure on you. I mean, you could
really flop in this one. You could really there's an
opportunity for you to It was like, oh, no, stove,
but we got a lot more to get too. But
let's take this quick break. We'll get to the runway
after this. And we are back. We are in the

(30:36):
workroom on elimination day and the Queen's talk about the
legislation going around trying to ban and criminalize drag. Now,
there have been drag laws on the books before, Like
right before Stonewall, cross dressing was against the law in
New York City, and it was to discourage drag. It

(30:58):
was to discourage present yourself as a different gender. The
police just decided they didn't like that. And I think
now it's really it's really about these conservative areas kind
of having a very narrow definition of who belongs and
who doesn't. Right in the public conversation, and Billy Porter
said something interesting on the view recently, they're all fighting

(31:19):
against this change that's already taken place. You go on TikTok,
I mean, like the Twins are all over TikTok. Most
of their fans are girls, most of their fans are kids,
and they don't care. And the thing that bugs me
about this kid thing is they're making it seem like
drag queens are out to groom kids. First of all,

(31:40):
groomers are stealth, right, you know, if you talk to anybody,
and I know so many people unfortunately who have been abused.
Groomers are people who are They're usually a member of
the family. They're usually a trusted friend, or maybe somebody
in the church, or a teacher or a Scout leader.
In order to groom somebody, you can't dress up at
a costume and say look at me. That's it's antithetical.

(32:04):
It's two separate things and two separate things, and they're
trying to lump it in. That's the thing, and that's
just wrong. And one more thing, nobody ever takes a
kid to a drag show by accident. You know, they're
making it seem like this is being imposed on children.
If all those people who are taking their kids to
the library to have a story time with a drag
queen are there because they want to. All those people

(32:26):
who take their kids to a drag brunch because they
want to have brunch and see the queen's lip sync
and the daylight, they're doing that because they want to.
Nobody's being taken there against their will. No, and yeah,
and just so that the squirrel friends know, it's a
very vague law. So what they're trying to do is say, well,
we're just saying we're not banning drag shows. Is just

(32:48):
in public areas and this and that. I know, but
they're lumping it together with like strip clubs or something
like that. But they're already obscenity laws on the books
in Tennessee exactly. There are already obscenity laws. And also
it's about the demonization of drag queens and transgender that's
the point number one. And when I brought it back

(33:09):
to it's a very narrow definition of who belongs. If
you're straight, if you're white, if you're this gender, you
fit the profile of who belongs where, and anything that
deviates against that kind of threatens the authority of you know,
it's footloads. It's like the preacher at Footloads is listen
to me because dancing made the kids too rebellious if

(33:33):
they have to think for themselves. And this is well
for the things I say, what can I do? First
of all, read up on what's going on, especially in
your state. Who is voting for these type of legislation
that is just discriminatory, is vague, and really is unconstitutional.

(33:53):
Support organizations that are fighting so that we have clarity
of what they're trying to saying what they're trying to do,
and also support events like drag Con Now Bonnaru, which
is a music festival that's held in Tennessee. They put
out a statement responding to the new legislation in Tennessee
and they said that Bonnaroo has always been a place

(34:16):
for inclusivity, a safe haven for people of all walks
of life, and a champion of self expression. So when
you hear expressions like that and people are posting in
organizations and events, support those events because they support us.
And so that's what's important. And to have this type
of conversation on this show, I think was great for

(34:39):
the producers of Rue Paul's Drag Race to have that
type of and for it to come out now. I
mean the show was filmed a year ago when we
were going yes today, so that lets you know that
this was last year and look at what's happening. So listen.
It's just you know, also, Tennessee, Nashville is a really
show busy town and has a big pride, you know,

(34:59):
where they're drag queens in the parade. I don't know
how they're gonna I just don't know how they're gonna
force enforce this. Yeah, people don't realize that this may
affect pride, this may affect high school musicals. It's and
there was an interesting meme that Michelle Fassage put up,
and it was basically all of these drag queens that

(35:20):
were in entertainment like bugs, Bunny Bugs, Bunny, Milton Burl,
I mean just like and it's like watch and drag
all your life. Yeah, and now you want to complain,
you Knowmber Geraldina slipils and there was nothing funnier day,
Mdia Ndia. It's like, that's a really conservative audience. Martin

(35:44):
Lawrence in Big Mama's House, Yeah, Eddie Murphy in the
nuttie Professor. It's just like it's that whole thing. And
then the meme was you've been entertained by drag queens
your entire life. Stop pretending like it's a problem now.
And then somebody, I think Willham posted Republican drag Race
showed Rudy Giuliani and drag showed that guy from Tennessee
who's banding drag even yeah he did. Ard Santos, the

(36:08):
governor of Tennessee, did drag. Yeah, and he actually got
called out for it and got mad. And it's like
it's been here, but you know, all right, and now
let's head to the main stage. Oh so mad, okay,
main stage. RuPaul comes out in the main stage outfit.

(36:29):
This is like an air Veleger bandage dress. Remember those
were so huge in the nineties. But this time the
bandage dress is in rainbow Sherbet colors. Remember rainbow Sherbet.
It's like orange and by those orange and pink Sherbet colors.
I love that combination. It's a bandage dress that turns
into sleeves, almost like sleeves going down RuPaul's arms. She's

(36:51):
wearing her platinum blonde, frizzy hair wig with these giant
hoop orange earrings. And the other judges this week are
Orville Peck country western singer who never shows his face.
I thought that was interesting, and Michelle and Ross and
Ross and Bossy Rossy Skinny Ross Matthews, who we still

(37:13):
have to call that nutritionists. That Ross is that all?
And so we start with the competition wig Loose the
rusical Oh my goodness, What did you think of it?
I think, okay, I don't love all the rusicals sometimes
I think they're kind of corny, but I always laugh.
I always laugh at the camp references. But because I

(37:34):
think there was something going on world of Wonder that
they said, we really have to kill it this time.
And what they did was presented a hilarious musical that
wrapped the whole message up in a way that was
easily digestible for the country. It's they made all their
points without being preachy. You know. This is about a

(37:54):
small town that is trying to ban drag, you know,
based on foot Loose, But it was because of everything
that was going on today and in this world. It
was really touching. It really was. And can I say
that all six of the queens did excellent and like
I said, it really to me, the so called leads,

(38:15):
with the solos, with the dances, everybody. This was the
first rusical that I actually saw that everybody shine, Yeah.
And this was the one where it's like I don't
know who to send home? Yeah, because it was really, really,
really good And I go back Squirrel Friends and watch
it again because there's a definite message and I hope
that World of Wonder puts it out. So I always

(38:38):
retweet whatever you know, and there's something this important because
I think it's something that everybody should look at. It's funny,
it is inspiring, it's that hard. It was everything, and
it was joyful. I think the thing that they really
brought out in this rusical was that it's so joyful,
you know, getting dressed up and entertaining people. It's so

(38:59):
joy Mistress was hilarious as the villain. She had that
whole song it's all black and white, there's no color,
Everything's black and white, get rid of all the colors.
A Nietzchro was fabulous. A nietzsch was fabulous as the
drag mom. She really took that to heart because at
the musical at the end she brings out all the
kids who were formerly hiding as their drag characters, and

(39:23):
she had that whole solo that was everything's built on drag,
This whole movement's built on drag. Drag Saved by life,
really really touching. Sasha was hilarious as the dad. She
came out in a full beard, unrecognizable. I really liked
her as Carl, hilarious Selena did wail as Tuck the
cowboy because you know she doesn't do cowboy choreography. Yeah,

(39:45):
so she was really really good. Ed had to play
a really butch character and d said, she's not comfortable
that way. But when she came out as her drag
character for the finale, you could really see the joy.
I thought lux did a good job too. Yeah, and
the runway category, everybody say gloves, So these are like
fashions with gloves. Yes, okay, okay, you can you can

(40:08):
build you can build a whole outfit around gloves. And
I was like, how are they going to do this?
But they did it. First to come out is Lucy Leduca.
She came out in a short kind of body hugging
like leotard in green, and she had gloves that made
her look like the creature from the Black Lagoon. I

(40:29):
like this, but I thought it could have gone further,
kind of like she had the creature of the Black
Lagoon on her body and her hands, but it wasn't
evident anywhere else. It was creative, but you know, I
would have given myself gills and maybe had fishnet stockings,
you know, fishnet signs with like swap stuff in it
and a green wig, but her makeup's pretty. And next

(40:52):
up was a Nietsra who came out kind of like
an aon flux, kind of Japaname. I love this black stockings,
blue gloves, a blue kind of bikini on top, midnight
blue almost like patent leather blue wig, and on her
the palms of her hands, she had raver lights that flash.

(41:13):
There were laser lights that shot out of her hands.
I thought it was pretty cool. I thought it was good.
She was beaming, that's what they said. Next was Mistress
Isabel Brooks brought Texas into the room. And here's the thing.
She's like the one who's like she does what Eureka
did best, proportionizing for the big girl. And it's like
when you have a big drag queen come out. She's

(41:34):
beautiful and sexy. You're messing stuff up because you're breaking
all the rules because our society says a big girl's
not supposed to be sexy and Kurnie. She came out
in this bright yellow dress, big Texas drag. It was
a floor life gown with these huge puffy sleeves yellow satin,
and the puffy sleeves turned into yellow gloves and dripping

(41:57):
from the yellow gloves. On her right hand were jewels
like strings of diamonds, and she had like a huge
blonde wig on top. The naked was correct. The wig
was amazing. She looked elegant. She said this was her
Sunshine era. I loved that. Part of Next was lux
noir London. Okay, all right, listen, we've been really nice

(42:18):
on the show because we want to show the queen's love.
If you watch the pitstop with Bianca del Rio, she'll
like flat out said I hated this, like chill, you know,
I got where she was going. She was wearing raver pants,
black raver pants with the straps, red platform sneakers, and
instead of wearing gloves, she had on white casts on

(42:38):
both arms like she was a skeeter. She looked like
a skeeter girl, and she had a page boy wig
that was in black and red. This kind of looked
a little hot topicky to me. It didn't seem like drag.
I didn't know what the glove part was. Was the cast?
It was the casts. It was kind of covering, and
so for that reason, I didn't feel like they red
light gloves. But there's also what I like looks, and

(43:01):
she's a great designer. She brings great looks to the runway.
I didn't feel like this was up to the level
of the stuff that she had previously brought. Yeah, I
didn't understand. I felt it fell out of place with
the other queens. So that's why I wasn't. I mean,
I liked the look, but I just felt for this,
it could have been a little more elevated. That's what
I felt like. So up next with selenas Titties. Selena

(43:24):
as Titties comes out with these giant inflatable gloves hilarious.
They almost looked like lobster claws. But she had a
body suit that had a face on it. She had
eyes on her boobies that looked like a you know,
a cherry on top of her nipples and a nose
in the middle and a heart shaped mouth at her
crotch area. Red pattent beatherloots, leather let red patten beather loots,

(43:48):
red patent leather boots has that for a twister, but
I didn't, Okay, I thought that the red gloves made
her look like a lobster. So what I would have appreciated,
like a lobster dress, and I didn't understand, Okay, you
have a face on your body with these big red
lobster hands coming out. Are those her ears? Are those

(44:09):
her arms? I didn't quite understand it. Yeah, the judges
didn't really like the big gloves as well, So I
just think it didn't go with the rest of the outfit.
If you were a lobster, this would have made sense.
Like if the entire dress was red patent leather, then
it would have. I just didn't I think there were
two different things going on here. Yeah, it was a
lot happening. Yeah, And last, but not least, was Sasha Kobe. Okay,

(44:31):
Slasha Kobe does this thing every week where if everybody's
doing one other things, she'll go in the opposite direction.
Like for the Start Your Engines challenge, everybody was looking
like Rue, you know, with a drag race kind of
a jumpsuit, and she came out a gown that was
in the colors of the drag race jumpsuit. What she
did here was come out with a miniskirt and almost

(44:52):
like a bikini top. They'd entirely out of baseball gloves.
I thought that was so genius. They were baseball gloves
all st together. She who had like a version of
Timberland boots, but they came up above the knee. And
this was so clever. I couldn't stop looking at it.
And she did wear gloves on her hands because she
had them all over her body, all on her body. Yeah,

(45:14):
that I understood. That was amazing. I'm telling you. When
you talk about experience, you know, being edgy and being fashionable,
you know Sasha is gonna give it to you. So yeah, okay,
we're talking about that. But you know what I want
to get to because the judges every time the final six,
this is the final six. The judges they gave their critiques,

(45:34):
but before they actually gave their critiques, they asked the
queens the question of who should go home and why
and why? And here's the thing I've been saying for
years that the correct answer is that person should go
home because they're my biggest competition. Okay, they're my biggest competition,

(45:54):
and that way you can say that without insulting somebody, right,
And somebody once said, I didn't say the best queen
because I want to be up against the best queen
when I compete. And it's like, well, it will be
between you and the best queen when you compete. Well,
this is what happened, this is what had happened. Why
does she go first? Yes, she says Selena based on

(46:16):
stack record, based on track record, and then Selena was like,
you crowd on my shoulder, bitch all the business right.
She felt it was disloyal. It was disloyal. What you
eat the bitch and somebody else you crowd on bars,
which I have to give it to her. She had
a point. She had a point. Do you think like
Lucy owed her because they had an intimate emotional moment backstage.

(46:37):
I mean, don't come crying to meeting, I felt was
Selena felt right? Then? I felt it. The next was Antra.
She says Selena based on her track record, and I
think that that's nothing personal too, because those are facts, right,
I mean facts. But this is what Selena said. She says,

(46:58):
that's not what you say backstage to oh so so
Anita saying, you girls haven't been saying this backstage, and
now this is no Selena said her. Yeah, Selena said,
you girls haven't been saying this stuff to me backstage.
It's been you know, you're good or you're okay or whatever.
Now when it's you know time, now you mentioned in

(47:18):
my name. Dude, this is tough. This is tough because
like I'm a cancer startik everything. Personally, this would be
really hard. Yeah, I mean yeah, it's like, wait what
you know what I mean? You always talking to me.
I thought you guys like me. I thought we were friends.
So then Mistress, she goes by your formula. She mentions Sasha.

(47:39):
She says Sasha should go home, Slash should go home
to meet and greet. That's what she said. She says
that this whole competition has been one big Sasha Kobe
meet and great. I was like, that's kind of a
really backheaded compliment. Oh, it's kind of like everybody is
a fan of Sasha, and she's like, you know, I'm
a fan too, but this is a competition. But I

(48:01):
was like, you're the first person, mistress, if you're listening
right now, and I know she does, she's the first
person who has answered that question correctly. Yeah she did,
and she admitted. She says, she's my biggest competition. You know.
Next was Lux. She chose Lucy. Now, this is the
thing that Lux did. Lux did a power point of
all of the queens. Yeah, she was like a lawyer

(48:25):
kind of, this is my summation, ladies and gentlemen of
the jury. If it doesn't fit, you must have quit.
She basically gave her opinion of every single queen on
the runway. I've never seen anybody. Nobody asked, Nobody asked.
She was very thorough in her answer. She was like,
Sasha brings something new, Mistress brings Texas blah blah blah.

(48:48):
And her thing with Lucy was nothing new. Yes, she said,
it was a generic side of drag. So she does good.
And then Lucy slow burned looking at her. She just
turns her hand roll slowly. It was like, what, you
know what, it's really hard to take criticism when especially
when it's what you don't see and people don't know
what you went through. And this is the part where

(49:12):
it is cringey because it's like, that's why you try
to do constructive criticism. But there are some people they
just they're gonna give them. You ask, I'm gonna give it,
and you know, you just have to take it. But
as comics, we get our feedback instantly. Yeah, if a
joke is working, if your routine is working, you get
the laugh. There's no kind of like I wonder how

(49:34):
I did you know. It's like you know right away
whether they're quiet. So then we get to Selena. You
got to pick somebody. She got pick herself. I picked myself.
I picked myself. The French girl Nicky Doll picked herself
one time. She's like, I'm out of my element here

(49:55):
and picking me. Like did she go, yeah, yeah she did.
She picked herself. Sasha Colby says Lucy yea lucks. She
said Lucy or lux Lucy, they're her biggest competition. Oh yeah,
that's how she said. She didn't say mistress, no, no.
If I was Mistress, I'd be insulted. But Mistress is

(50:16):
really kind of like I don't care what anybody says
or does. I'm in this for me. That's what I
love Mistress. I'm learning so much to handle criticism by
watching Mistress, Like I really am learning how to cope.
And it's just a lot. Yeah, but if you were
Mistress were friends. If I was friends with Mistress, she'd
be that type of friend who's like, if I don't

(50:37):
want to hear the truth, I'm not going to talk
to you. I have a friend like that in Hawaii.
Like if I'm mulling things in my head and I
don't want to hear the truth, yeah, then I don't
call her. She'll tell me the truth, whether I wanted
or not. Yeah. Well, we finally get some of the
thinking from the judges because this is the extended episodes now.
It was really good to hear their critiques. I kind

(51:00):
of I agreed, we agreed most of them. I mean
it was it was really great and stuff. And they
said what you said last week that Lucy didn't look
like she was having fun. Yeah, And the thing is,
like I did watch it back. I've watched it back
a couple of times. There is nothing wrong with what
Lucy did. She hit all the mark Yeah, she did
all the choreography. She did a great job performing, But
there was an element of fun missing. Yeah. Like I said,

(51:23):
she's really into her head. And at a certain point
it was like even on camera, like I said, during
her confessionals, Lucy just seems like she was Guys, I'm
meant for this, and it's like, girl, just show people.
You don't have to. She's talented, sheedy, but you have
fun with it too. The challenge winner was a ntruck.

(51:45):
She won a cash prize of five thousand dollars. That
left the bottom of two which was Lucy La Duca
and Selena s Titti's and they lived sync to Running
Up That Heel by Kate Bush. I love that song song.
I love that song, very dramatic. The lip sync winner
was Lucy, but I felt like doing that lip sync,

(52:06):
in my viewpoint that they should have had more fun
with it. They both were like doing the same thing, yeah,
and it was like running up to heal act like
you're running up to heal, like you're getting tired or
you know what I mean, why make it so you know?
And there was like not a lot of movement. I
think that Selena could have won that lip sync had

(52:28):
she gotten more campy instead of trying to go yes,
I'm you know serious. I think she was like she
couldn't decide which direction she wanted to go because she
started out real campy, and then she looked over at Lucy,
who was doing it like she was at the Royal
Shakespeare Company. She was doing it like she was doing
a Shakespearean monologue. She took it completely seriously, I mean,

(52:50):
because that's a deep song. The song is about men
and women. If we could change places, if I only
could I make a deal with God and get them
to swap our places so you could feel what I feel.
I could feel what you feel as men and women.
And they said, if we could understand each other, if
we could walk a mile in each other's shoes, I
could run up that hill with no problem. I could

(53:11):
run up a building. You know, I'd be invincible. So
there's a lot of earnest is there, But you're right.
Lucy took it really seriously and she won. She won.
And what was Selena's exit line? She said, as titties,
as titties, my titties, not your titties. All right, baby,
the titties are coming. She just liked to say titties

(53:33):
like titties is a fun word. Let's taken. I'll take
a little break as a niece of water. Okay, let's
take a break, but don't go anywhere, because when we
come back, I'm gonna play ball in the house with
our very special guest. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha. We'll be right back,

(53:55):
and we're back. I am thrilled, thrilled, thrilled to have
our guest here. Today. Looking at her zoom, I would
say she has on the perfect amount of makeup for
this interview. I'm also happy to report it looks as
though her nose is fully yield. I just hope the
same goes for her heart. Well you please, welcome to
the program. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha, you look terrip it. You know,

(54:17):
our school friends can't see you right now, but you
look like you're about eight years old, and that you're
posing for the J. C. Penny Boys catalog for the
New Ball looks. You look so young. Thank you so much. Yeah,
I've gotten that a lot. It's probably because you are young.
How are you? How are you doing? I'm honestly really good. Yeah.

(54:39):
This whole experience is that's like a crazy ride that
they're like a little bit of peace, knowing that it's
it's taking a bit of a pause for at least
a couple of episodes, right right, So you get on
the show, the show starts airing, and the response is go,
relatives are texting, people are stopping you on the street.

(55:00):
What happened? The response is really really great. I mean
I got a lot of love for my promo. Look,
people really seem to connect with my meet the Queen's
yeah analogy, which I really really appreciate. My favorite thing
is when I see people online like, oh my gosh,
she's just like me, like the weedest thing in the world.

(55:20):
Do you read the comments? Are you a comment reader? Um?
It depends on Instagram. I usually do because they're usually
pretty nice, But like Twitter, I try to avoid TikTok.
I try to Yeah, yeah, I was. My last Broadway
show was in the nineties and a reporter from The
New Yorker called me an amateurish little fellow. So after that,

(55:44):
I was like, I'm never reading anything again. It really
hurt my feelings. So you were very memorable on the show,
and we're very original. I love the ballet that you
did for your talent thing. That was very clever, very
very smart. And you went out on one of the
most epic lip syncs of the season. You know, I

(56:05):
was thinking, Okay, this season is going to the lip
sync highlight, is going to be a Nietra and Sasha,
and you kind of surpassed it. I mean it was
incredible of that, No, I mean it was just incredible.
How did it feel doing that? Well, first of all,
I just have to say, I absolutely love the NTRA.
So so we worked together a lot ye season. We

(56:28):
really vibe our personalities matched very very well, and I
think that kind of like cohesive energy is what helped
the Lips think to be so great, right always not
just like aware of one another in the space, but
like aware of one another like on a like a
metaphysical level. I feel like nice. Now, do you feel

(56:50):
like your experience as a dancer kind of like help that.
I mean, you certainly dance the funk out of that
lip sync number it was bananas. But do you feel
like space that helped you in the competition? Oh? Absolutely?
I mean and I both have theater experience, and I
think when you have that, it really helps your foundation
for all things. Right, So what came first for you?

(57:12):
Drag your theater? I was theater? Yeah, yes, I went
to school for I went to Boston Conservatory and that's
when when of my best friends introduced me to drag race,
and I like fell in love with it immediately, and
I started like experimenting like here and there. But then
it wasn't until like after school that I really got
into it and really started like learned to sew and

(57:35):
experimenting with makeup in wigs and things like that. Right right,
thank god you learn how to sew, because every time
a queen comes under the show and says, I don't
know how to sew. I don't have a snatch game
character as like, have you been watching the show? It's
like coming on Survivor and not knowing how to make
a fire. So what's the highlight for you for your
experience in the show. Do you have a favorite memory? Gosh,

(57:55):
favorite memory? I was really nervous before a snatch game
because you never know how so that going well was
like a really great And of course, meeting Ariana and
hearing her thoughts on My Talent show with like unbelievable.
Right yeah, because you're an Ariana queen. You were like,

(58:17):
you're an Ariana stand as the kids say, Yeah, so
seeing her in person must have been like set your
blood pressure up a little bit. Oh yeah, changed my
perspective on life forever. Okay, you're like among a new
generation of queens. You said earlier that you grew up
watching the show, and for a show that's been on
fifteen seasons, I imagine a lot of kids, young baby

(58:39):
queens watched the show and were influenced by it. When
did you start watching I started watching it was my
freshman year of college and it was season seven, was
the first season that I watched. That is a Violet
Chatsky and Tricksie and Katya and those children. So what
walk us through the revelation of watching that for the
first time as a young queen? I remember, Yeah, my

(59:03):
friend telling me like, oh, I think you'd really like
this show, and I was like, what is it? And
I was like, d I didn't really know what Drag was.
I knew obviously, like what it was, but I didn't
have like a realistic understanding of what it was in
like the drag world right right outside of like TV
and things like that. And this is while you're in Boston. Yes, okay,

(59:24):
and watching that first episode like really like blew my
mind open because I was like, Oh, they're all just
people that have like created these personas that are made
up of like all of their favorite things and they
get to like lived through that, which I think is
like such an incredible job, an incredible art forcat. Yeah,

(59:48):
as an artist, do you just think you just get
to live through your favorite things? Yes? The worst thing ever. Yeah,
so Marsha Brady was your favorite thing. I do love
Marsha Brady very very much. Yeah, I really love Marsha
Bady too. And the fact, I mean, you're instantly memorable
if you come out with a name like Marsha Marshall Marsha.
So you took your Boston Conservatory training, you came to

(01:00:11):
New York and you started doing shows. Correct, you did
Broadway shows. You were in kinky boots. Correct. Were you
with Billy? I saw Billy on the last part of
his Runway. I think he came back at a certain
point and he was coming back to the show. I
think I saw his last week. Were you with him?
I was not with Billy. I was with the company
for the last six months of the Broadway run the

(01:00:33):
vacation thing. But yeah, I mean we saw a lot
of really cool Charlie's, a lot of cool Lola's. Yeah, yeah,
Jay Harrison g at the time. Oh, I just saw
them at the Broadway show. Some like it hot and
they're they're fantastic. Their career is like really really peaking off,
which I think is so exciting. Yeah. I've heard some

(01:00:54):
really really incredible things and they can't wait to see it.
It's so so good. So you were one of the
jels in kinky Boots? Correct? Which one were you? Which?
Which British outfit did you have At the very very end,
I was in the Pink Scots. Oh, very very Yeah.
Now I'm an old queen from way back when I'm

(01:01:15):
a far more mature woman than you, and I was
on the Broadway and then Butterfly doing eight shows a
week back in the Jurassic era. Did you find that
your drag and that show influenced your drag in the clubs?
Honestly when I started doing drag like on my own time, yes,
walk us through that because theater was such a big

(01:01:37):
part of my life and it still is for such
a long time. Like I don't really do like musical
theater songs and any of my mixes, Like I never
performed in that way. Right, So if we want to
see a Marsha Marsha Marsha show, what is she doing
up there? Lots of dancing and I do. It's a
very big thing in New York City that you make mixes,
so it'll be like multiple songs, multiple little sound bite

(01:01:59):
things like that. So yeah, yeah, I take little like
things from like all my favorite like movies and TV
shows and I'm working on one right now. About my
makeup journey on the show, great sound byte, let's talk
about that for a second. You kind of kept on
getting through critique more and more and more. So how

(01:02:20):
was that received by you and did you kind of
take the note? Yeah? Absolutely, So when I got to
the show, I had only been performing in New York
City like as a drag queen, like as my job
for like seven months. So I was very young. So
I went into I had no like disillusions that I
was fully prepared, right, So I was very receptive or

(01:02:43):
prepared enough to get on the show. A girl you Yeah,
I did subtape and they were like GE's next. Yeah.
And I think one of the reasons that I was
selected was because I had a lot of potential. And
I think it's important for people to kind of see
that kind of arc. But I think potential, it's like
the seed of the flower, you know what I mean. Absolutely,

(01:03:03):
I really I went in with an open mind and
I really was like, there's a lot that I can
improve on, and anything give me, I'm really going to
try and apply it because I'm as an artist, you're
always evolving and changing and improving. So sure, sure, So
what's the takeaway here? What is the takeaway here from
the show? Having interacted with experienced queens and RuPaul himself

(01:03:27):
and having gone through the experience, how has it changed
your drag? For a really long time, I didn't want
my drag to be like really big or take up
too much space or anything like that. I've always had
a kind of more. That's a very unusual take for
a drag queen. Yeah, I'm out here to take up

(01:03:48):
space or do too much. I always wanted my presence
and my performance to be the forefront. I didn't want
it just to be I don't know. I felt like
for a long time that like the big outfits ever,
was like a distraction for a lack of something else. Right,
And since I've been on the show, I've really spent

(01:04:08):
a lot of time kind of like figuring out how
to make things bigger and how to take an how
wearing big sparkly things in addition to like a great
performance just like elevates the whole thing. And right, I
think that's the word I was looking for. I think
that essentially, I mean it was clear from the get

(01:04:30):
go you're very talented. It was clear from the get
go you're great to look at. Do you know what
you mean? And you brought you brought really lovely energy
to the show. It was very clear while you were cast.
I think all the critiques were about, like, let's elevate,
let's build on what you've already brought here. So I
ask everybody on the show, because this is what I
feel about drag queens. They're like superheroes to me, and

(01:04:52):
like you're Clark Kent and then by night you're turning
into a superman and Drag kind of gives you permission
to have that. And what would your superpower as a
queen be? My superpower? I feel like I would love
to be like elastic or something. No, but what do
you feel like when you're in drag? What do you

(01:05:13):
feel what separates you? She's pretty I mean, you can
be as elastic as you want. Please welcome to the stage,
Miss Silly Putty twenty twenty three. Now what I meant
was being in Dragon dows you with what elevates in
you when you're in Drags Russia Marsha Marsha, I think
it allows me to be. I'm sure a lot of

(01:05:36):
people say this. It makes me feel bolder and more confident,
more beautiful, and so also it's like a more confident
in like helping others. I think I'm a very self
sufficient person and I like helping people. I like offering
a hand when it's needed, sometimes when it's not needed,
right right, But yeah, I think it widens my emotional

(01:06:01):
and like mental space for others and for myself. It
sounds like it magnifies that thing in you that wants
to give to people, is what it sounds like. So
what's happening next for Marsha Marsha, Marsha. Where can we
find you next? Where are you performing? Um? Well, I
mean right now we're doing that year one kind of tour.
I'm all over ye, So yeah, we're traveling the country

(01:06:23):
right now. We're going a little music perhaps, yeah. And
also yeah, just working on Marsha, elevating every single day,
sewing more, sewing, harder, more interesting things, you know, stuff
like that. We're all we're just we're just on the
train and we're riding. We're on the Marsha Marsha, Marsha.
Trade watch out, she's coming down the track. Where can

(01:06:46):
folks find you on your socials? Oh my social media
across the board is Marcia x three NYC Marcia x
three and y see. You know what, we're big hands
of yours here on the show, and we're so happy
for your journey and that lip sync that you did,
really did. It's killer. It's gonna be it's gonna be

(01:07:08):
the ones that people remember for a real long time.
And by people I mean me because I stay up
late at night I watched the Elyssa Edwards Tatiana from
their All Stars. Yours has just been added to the rotation.
So thank you so much for being on Squirrel Friends today.
All the Squirrel Friends wish you the absolute best good

(01:07:28):
luck on this tour and we can't wait to see
what's next. From Marsha. Marsha, Marsha, thank you so much.
Welcome and we're back, Lonnie. That was such a good episode.
Oh my goodness, it was a lot. So I feel
like in the last couple of weeks we're really kind

(01:07:50):
of like you know, with the lip syncs being as
good as they've been in the competition, as tight as
it's been, we're really seeing some really great drag definitely,
and is what drag race is about. You know, we
got entertainment, we have information, we have drama, topical everything, everything.
And remember this is a time when all of the

(01:08:12):
queens and allies of LGBTQ plus people are going through
things and you know, I'm retweeting stuff, I'm giving out
my information. There are a lot of the queens. They're
retweeting I like their stuff. Be kind to each other
or right social media. I mean, this is like, the

(01:08:33):
only reason these politicians come forward with these anti drag
bills is because they think that the public is gonna
support this. Now, if everybody who loves drag comes out
and says, no, my brother's a drag queen, or I
love drag, or it's not what they're portraying it to be,
don't demonize our community. If everybody stands up for these
queens online, I mean, Lottie and I want you to

(01:08:55):
do that. Anyway. Our point is long story long. If
you go online, if you go on social show these
queens love. Another place you can show some love if
you would like and are able to, is ACLU dot
org Forward slash Drag Defense. The American Civil Liberties Union.
ACLU is a great resource to educate yourselves on what

(01:09:16):
LGBTQ plus folks are going through. Take action and support
queens across the country today, and don't forget to show
us some love. Tweet me or you can dm us
on Instagram if you have questions or hot takes for
the queens. At Alec Mappa on Instagram, at comic Lonnie
Love on Instagram, at Lonnie Love on Twitter. Lonnie Love

(01:09:38):
has one point seven million followers on Instagram. And I
am catching up with thirty six thousand, four hundred and
look at you. I'm telling you you're running up here.
I'll tell you yeah. You can listen Squirrel Friends the
Fisher RuPaul's Drag Race podcast on the iHeartRadio Apple wherever
you get to podcasts, and if you like this episode,
make sure to rate and review us five stars. Please

(01:10:00):
and tell a friend. Watch all new episodes of RuPaul's
Drag Race Season fifteen every Friday on MTV. Then come
and listen to us on Friday's wherever you hear your podcasts.
That's right, We'll be back next time for an all
new episode of school Friends, the official RuPaul's Drag Race Podcast.
We'll see it soon