Jinkx Monsoon Gets Stronger From Broadway Success As He Admits It
More than a decade after “RuPaul’s Drag Race” catapulted her onto the world stage, Jinkx Monsoon is happily embracing her Broadway era.
This spring, the actor, singer and drag icon originated the role of Ruth in Broadway’s “Pirates! The Penzance Musical,” a New Orleans-set Rupert Holmes reimagining of the 1879 comic opera “The Pirates of Penzance,” which also starred Ramin Karimloo and David Hyde Pierce. A month after his “Pirates!” When her career concluded, she joined the hit comedy “Oh, Mary!”, replacing Tony Award winner Cole Escola as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
Monsoon has been honing his theatrical chops for some time, having made his Broadway debut two years ago in “Chicago” and later joining the off-Broadway company of “Little Shop of Horrors.” However, as a transgender artist, she is hopeful that young trans or non-binary actors and singers will be encouraged by her recent success.
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“This was exactly what I wanted to do and exactly how I wanted to do it,” he told News. “It was always knowing in which roles I would be best and [knowing] It was unlikely that people would cast me in those roles. But I put that idea aside and now I am playing those roles.”
She went on to note, “I’ve realized this entire year that I’ve played female characters who thrive in extenuating circumstances and with limited agency. And right now I’m witnessing my agency being taken away from me every other day as a trans woman in America.”
Although “Pirates! The Penzance Musical” completed its Broadway run in July, Monsoon’s performance of Ruth has been captured for posterity on the show’s official cast album, released this fall on Center Stage Records. And fans will soon have another chance to see her performance in “Oh, Mary!” when it returns to the show in January for 30 performances.
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Describing his “Pirates!” experience as “very affirming,” Monsoon is happy to promote the talents and welcoming presence of her co-stars.
“Ramin said, ‘I’m a Virgo, you’re a Virgo. Michelle Visage loves you, that’s why I love you. Let’s do this,’ every trans woman should be so lucky,” she recalled. As for Pierce, she added, “He was really someone I looked up to when I was young, when he gave a speech at the Tonys.” [in 2007] thanking her husband. I don’t want to say ‘fatherly’ because I don’t consider him older, but I felt like he was a friend for life from day one.”
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Monsoon has several projects in the works for 2026 and is eager to continue appearing on Broadway, including Mame Dennis in the musical “Mame” as a dream role. She and fellow “Drag Race” veteran BenDeLaCreme will spend the final weeks of 2025 on the road with the latest installment of “The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show,” now in its eighth year.
The pair kicked off their annual tour this month in Atlanta, with additional performances scheduled in New York, Los Angeles and Seattle, among other cities.
This year’s show takes inspiration from “The Twilight Zone” and “Tales From the Crypt,” among other horror and sci-fi franchises, with a campy Christmas twist. As for performing the show in Kentucky, North Carolina and other conservative regions in the current political climate, Monsoon explained, “Our whole damn world is a mess, but when you get close, you can find hope.”
“The silver lining is that queer people are used to adversity, and this isn’t the first time we have to look out for each other,” he said. “Even in our best moments, hate crimes were still committed against us. So we are doing the best we can, given the adversity.”