- Hello, my blossoming blueberries.
Welcome to another episode of "Whatcha Packin'"
(upbeat music)
Joining me today from New York City, it's Plasma.
- Hello mother.
- How are you doll?
- I'm wonderful, I'm rested, I feel lovely.
- Where did you grow up?
- I grew up in Northeast Texas.
I was born in Austin.
- [Michelle] Okay.
- And then I moved to Northeast Texas
to a town called Mount Pleasant.
- Where's it by?
- It is by a whole lot of absolutely nothing and nowhere.
- Right.
- Yeah.
- How did a flamboyant child like yourself
do in Northeast Texas?
- I like to say I won the parent lottery.
I have a wonderful, fantastic, unbelievable family.
And my mother and father
are the most supportive people in my life.
- So are your parents still there?
- Yes, they still live there.
- Wow.
- Yeah, and my grandparents live there,
and like my extended family lives there.
I have a ton of stories about my genuine relationship
with my grandparents and like, the people who shaped me
into the human being and the artist that I am now.
- Did you even need to come out to your family?
Or did they...
- My mom sat me down one day and she said,
"If you ever have something you'd like to tell me,
I got the rainbow flag in my purse."
(Michelle laughs)
- I love her.
- And I was like, "Stacey, you ate that".
- Oh my gosh, what about grandma who you're so close with?
- Well, it's another credit to my mother
who is a huge fan of yours, by the way.
And she is like, she's also a,
what we call a PhD, a platinum hair diva.
- Oh, I love it already.
- But my grandparents found out that I was queer
when my parents hosted a dinner party.
And my mother was like, "Sarah, take your brother out
to go get some ice cream."
- Stop.
- And so, yeah, so we left the house and the story goes
that my mother stood up at the dining table,
and like Margaret Thatcher style,
like in the situation room.
And she was like, she looked at her parents and she said,
"I have very high expectations of you,
and if you would like to be a part
of your grandchildren's lives, I already know
the kind of response I'm going to get from you
with the information I have to share."
- And how was the response?
- Favorable, very favorable, my grandmother looked at me
and said, "Well, as long as you bring a nice man home
for fried chicken, we don't really care."
- Oh stop.
- [Plasma] Yeah.
- Does your family sound like that?
- Yes.
- Then, how do you sound like this?
- With a lot of hard work and a BFA.
(Michelle laughs)
- Where did you go to college?
- Went to the University of Oklahoma,
and it was actually, it was lovely.
- Okay.
- They have a huge queer alumni network,
and they have the Gender and Equality Center
at the University of Oklahoma
that put on the largest drag show in the state of Oklahoma.
- How amazing is that?
- Yeah, the first year they brought in Kennedy Davenport.
- [Michelle] Oh yes.
- [Plasma] Oh yeah, I was a freshman, we were gagged.
- Yeah, I bet. - And then,
- [Plasma] the next year they brought in Alyssa Edwards.
- [Michelle] Oh, all these Texans?
- [Plasma] All these Texans.
- Did you major in musical theater?
- What gave it away?
- I mean, I don't know.
When do you decide New York City is where I need to be?
- Oh, early.
- [Michelle] But you didn't apply for schools in New York?
- I really, really wanted a classic college experience.
I wanted to keep my car.
I drove a red and white Mini Cooper.
I loved that car.
I named it Bernie after Bernadette Peters and her red hair.
- Obviously.
- But I was always meant to live in New York.
I saw "Wicked" when I was in fourth grade.
My parents say that they were just watching me
the whole time because I was...
- [Michelle] Yeah.
- Like drooling over "Wicked".
- I was, first time I ever heard the soundtrack,
original cast recording of "West Side Story".
It was the only record we had in my house.
And I was like, what's this?
I put it on and I went and learned every single moment
from overture to finale.
And that was the moment my life changed.
And it sounds like that was the moment
your life changed when you're, how old were you?
- I think I was 11.
- 11 seeing "Wicked".
How many times did you audition for "RuPaul's Drag Race"?
- This would be my first.
- Your first?
- It's my first audition.
- First and done.
Okay, so you get the call and you say you've been cast.
What goes through your mind?
What happened?
- I was hosting a viewing party
for the season 15 reunion that evening.
- And had you always been involved in the viewings in this?
- Yes, I had done the whole viewing party circuit
of the whole season at a little bar
in the West Village called The Duplex.
- So what took you so long?
- I did not wanna audition until I felt ready.
I wanted to be in a place of self awareness
to be able to receive criticism in a way
that would make me stronger and not overwhelm me.
- Well, you are a theater kid,
so criticism is part of what we do.
- [Plasma] Well. Yeah.
- So I think it's a given, and you know
what you're walking into when you come on this show.
That's why I don't understand people
who are offended by critiques.
Like, it is what it is, and you have to take from it
something that you can work with.
And did you find you were able to do that?
- Oh my God, yeah. - I know you did
- [Michelle] with the makeup critiques that I gave you.
- Oh, I owe you a thank you for that.
'Cause I am now a pretty girl.
I feel pretty, if you will.
- Oh, so pretty.
- Oh, so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and Honey.
Honey.
- Very gay.
So you're standing outside preparing to walk
into the Werk room for the very first time.
What is going through your mind?
(Plasma gasping)
- That, yeah, yeah, yeah.
A whole lot of absolute panic.
Some light nausea.
- Right.
- Some feelings of accomplishment.
And also like, what the (video beeps) did I just step in?
- Right? - Yeah.
- [Plasma] Like I need to scrape off my shoes and walk in.
- [Michelle] And then you did.
- [Plasma] And then I did in a Dior suit.
- And the world turned technicolor.
- Oh, I love that.
- [Michelle] Isn't that sweet?
- That's so sweet.
- [Michelle] It comes to Snatch game,
and your choices besides Patti LuPone were...
- Bernadette Peters, which involved a lot of gyrating
and laughing and barking like a dog
because of "Broadway Barks".
- It's all in the mouth too.
♪ Ooh ♪
- Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, lots of that.
And Jennifer Coolidge.
Yeah, who I, oh, I just love her.
- And you went with Patti.
- I went with Patti because I thought that I'm pretty sure
Ru at some point on the show has said,
"Why has no one done Patti LuPone?"
And I said, "Well, Ru, let me tell you.
I would like to do it."
- Let's talk about the Sound of Rusic.
Let's talk about your big win for the Rusical.
- Yes, let's.
- [Michelle] That must have meant something.
I know if I were competing that and Snatch
would be two probably really important things.
So what was it like to win the Rusical and play Mariah?
- Well, I hate to sound redundant,
but everything is shrouded in the overwhelming presence
of my grandparents being in my plasma sphere.
- [Michelle] Okay.
- Grew up watching "The Sound of Music",
has have always loved "The Sound of Music".
And when I graduated high school, my grandparents
and my grandmother, who is no longer with us,
wrote me a card that just had the lyrics
to "Climb Every Mountain" in it.
- Oh my goodness.
- And it, I just remember weeping, I wept, and I wept,
and I wept with gratitude for, you know,
them choosing a reference in such a pivotal moment
in my life that meant so much to me.
And it just like, was very profound.
And I've always loved "The Sound of Music".
- I've always... - And you fought
- [Michelle] for that role.
- And I fought for that role because the last time I,
you know, the last time I was assigned a role, it went well.
But and nobody else in the (video beeps) room
knew "The Sound of Music".
I literally had to go around and tell people the plot.
- [Michelle] Not normal.
And when I say normal, I mean in a drag room,
it's very bizarre.
- Right. Yeah.
I mean, it's got everything.
It's got nuns, it's got children, it's got singing.
It's got a little bit of, you know, fascism.
- It's got leder-hey-oosen, Lederhosen.
What's not to love?
- It's got puppets, and everybody loves puppets.
- Thank you. - Right?
- [Plasma] Like it's got everything.
And then getting to do my Hello Dolly My Fair Lady inspired.
- [Michelle] I was just gonna say, yeah.
- [Plasma] It was like a match made in heaven.
- Yeah.
Let's talk about your looks.
Some of these looks that you brought here, Plasma.
Let's talk about this white number.
Do you have different designers?
- [Plasma] I do have different designers.
- [Michelle] Okay.
- [Plasma] I have two pieces here by Howie B
who's based here in LA.
This is my Carrie Fisher Intergalactic Princess moment.
- [Michelle] You can see it.
- [Plasma] Because I am a huge "Star Wars" fan.
- [Michelle] How could you not be?
- [Plasma] Well, how could you not be?
- Yeah.
It was just as much as a fantasy in a different realm.
But everything that Carrie Fisher wore in the OG series,
it's like, wow.
And this beautiful one.
- [Plasma] In my heart of hearts, I love Texas culture.
- [Michelle] Well, you sound apologetic about it.
- Well, I think that my aesthetic
doesn't really speak a lot to my Texas heritage.
- No, it speaks to the 1930s.
So, I mean, it doesn't, you know what I mean?
- Growing up in Texas,
I was very much steeped in Texas lore.
I mean, the Northeast quadrant of Texas is very,
very conservative and a little bit more traditional.
- [Michelle] So you wanted to wear chaps
and make 'em really gay?
- [Plasma] Well, yeah.
- Okay. - Yeah.
- And I was like, who doesn't love a chain fringe hat?
It's giving me Billy Porter.
I don't know.
I love this look.
- I do too.
And this one?
- [Plasma] This is my old Hollywood (video beeps).
This is based on a costume that Dolores Gray
wore in a movie called, "It's Always Fair Weather".
- [Michelle] Okay.
- [Plasma] During a number called,
"Thanks a Lot But No Thanks".
- [Michelle] I just love that you know who Dolores Gray is.
- Oh yeah, the diva.
- Your reference points are amazing for being so young.
- I've always admired the courage and the strength
and the resilience of women everywhere, and specifically,
women who chose to work in Hollywood in that time period.
Because of course, all you see is Dolores Gray
and she's doing her number, and she's ripping a fur,
she's having a reveal, and it's fabulous.
- [Michelle] Right.
- And then you hear of the stories
of what was actually happening.
- [Michelle] Right.
- And to me, thinking about putting on the facade.
It's almost kind of like getting a drag
because like, your problems just sort of melt away.
And you're at the ideal.
- Well, here's the news flash,
it's still happening to women in Hollywood.
- [Plasma] Yes.
- It's happening everywhere.
That's why I think there's such a kinship
between strong women and gay men.
- Absolutely. - So
- I that you love that.
And I love that you brought my idol, Patti LuPone
to the Snatch game.
Was your experience in "RuPaul's Drag Race"
what you hoped it would be?
'Cause you did quite well.
- In almost every way.
It exceeded all expectations.
- Yay.
- It really did, like I had no idea
that I would win anything,
let alone two things that are so important to me.
- [Michelle] Exactly.
- [Plasma] Yeah, like the fact
that there was a Barbara Streisand sketch.
- [Michelle] Which was the RDR Live.
- [Plasma] Which was the RDR, yeah.
And I brought my gold dress that,
well, that's a Halston, by the way.
That gold dress I wore as Barbara was a Halston.
- [Michelle] Really?
- Yeah, I borrowed it from a friend.
- Oh good.
- [Plasma] Yeah, well then like I had the perfect-
- Meaning, I'm glad you didn't buy it 'cause...
- Oh yeah.
Yeah. No.
Being able to sing live doing Barbara was,
you know, like my 15-year-old self
who sang "Don't Rain on My Parade"
in the shower in Northeast Texas was living for that.
And then of course, when the Sound of Rusic comes up,
I'm like, well, don't fight what you're right for.
- No.
Plasma, you were such a joy to watch.
Your looks were fantastic.
The way you grew, the way you listened to critique
and took it, and applied it is what this show is all about.
It's what life is all about.
You're still 24 years old.
You are literally an embryo.
So your whole life is ahead of you,
and you've already accomplished this and you did quite well.
So I'm so excited to see what your future brings,
whether it's Broadway, the West End,
whatever you're gonna be doing,
I know you'll be doing loads of it,
and we'll see your name everywhere.
Thank you for joining me for another episode
of "Whatcha Packin'".
I'll see you next time, bye.
♪ So it's goodbye ♪
- Barbara's Barbara.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, don't get twisted. - It's en entity.
- Oh yeah, she's the LLC.
- She's the HBIC, LLC.
- Yes. - BLT.
- W9. - All of them.
- Yeah. Incorporated.
- Yes. - Yeah.