Get ready to defy gravity – and heteronormativity – as “Drag Race” stars Ginger Minj and Jujubee bring their “Wicked” drag parody show to Atlanta’s Out Front Theatre later this month.
“Licked: For Gay “ turns the Emerald City into a sapphic fever dream set inside the OzDust Barroom, where facts are never black and white, but the drama is pure Technicolor. Ginger stars as a sexually confused, brand-obsessed Glinda, and Jujubee brings Elphaba to life as a broom-riding butch. Local drag queen Tugboat rounds out the cast as the swishy and dishy bartender with a secret past.
Writers Ginger and Tyler Scott weave together themes from the Gelphie ship fandom and qualities of Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s relationship on the “Wicked” press tour into an unapologetically queer take on the world of Oz, set to the music of Grande.
“[The show] is all about taking the quirks of [my and Jujubee’s] relationship and filtering it through the lens of Glinda and Elphaba, as well as Ariana and Cynthia, as well as Kristin and Idina,” Ginger told Georgia Voice, “and trying to pull different aspects from each of these characterizations into one big, overarching, crazy love fest.”
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Ginger and Jujubee star together in “Hokus Pokus: Live!”, a “Hocus Pocus” drag parody show that will be returning for a North American tour this fall with a stop in Atlanta on Nov. 2. The duo released a cover of “Anything You Can Do” on June 5 and star in the forthcoming film “Stop! That! Train!” alongside other “Drag Race” icons, including RuPaul. The film will be theatrically released on June 12.
“You’re gonna see the connection that Ginger and I have,” Jujubee said. “You’ve seen us do it on stage, now you get to see us do it on the big screen.”
While “Licked: For Gay” promises to be raunchy and hilarious, Ginger said the show will also be an emotionally resonant look at the beloved characters.
“The show is not a joke,” she said. “There are jokes in the show, but there are really heavy moments that are done in a very fun and funny way that I think allow you to get a little deeper into these characters than any other iteration has allowed you… I think we found really relatable ways to reframe the story from a very queer perspective that anybody, whether you’re queer or not, can look at and go, ‘B*tch, I’ve been there.’”
“Licked: For Gay” opens at Out Front Theatre on June 11 with shows on Thursdays through Sundays until June 28. The show will then have a run in Provincetown from July 9 to 26. Tickets start at $35 on Out Front’s website.
