-Our next guest is a talented drag performer and singer
who has won both "RuPaul's Drag Race"
and "RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars."
She stars as Mama Morton in the Tony-winning revival
of "Chicago" on Broadway at the Ambassador Theatre.
Please welcome to the show Jinkx Monsoon!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Jinkx, we are so happy to have you in New York City.
-Thank you. I'm having a great time.
-It feels like you belong in New York City,
but you, of course, are from Portland, Oregon.
How are you enjoying your time in this fair city?
-I'm enjoying it a lot because I'm staying in Brooklyn.
-Okay. [ Laughter ]
You're working, of course, in Broadway.
Does that mean you're not spending
a lot of time in Times Square?
-Normally I like to stay walking distance
from the theater because things can go wrong.
-Of course. -And --
But when walking distance from the theater
means living in Times Square, then we forego that rule.
[ Laughter ] -Okay.
So you're willing to take a subway.
-Well, imagine this trying to bob and weave
through the people on Times Square.
-Yeah, there are.
-If I had a staff and I could separate the people, you know,
like Moses. -You deserve that.
-Yeah. -You deserve a Moses staff.
-Come on! [ Laughs ]
-So, this is very exciting. You are doing the show.
You're playing Mama Morton.
And this is a role you loved and a show you loved.
-Yes. -Which was incredibly helpful
because you only had a week of rehearsals.
-I know, and they don't tell you --
when your dreams come true, it moves really quickly.
-Uh-huh. -[ Laughs ]
But, you know, "Chicago" is pretty much
why I started doing drag.
'Cause I was 15 years old. I was a "boy." And, um...
And I saw the movie "Chicago," and I was like,
"Well, those are the roles I should be playing.
I guess I have to start dressing up like a woman now."
And it was pretty much, you know, like two weeks later,
I was a full-fledged drag queen, which -- in Portland
you can be a 15-year-old drag queen. Did you know that?
-No, I did not know that. That's incredible.
What a wonderful feature to have for your fair city.
-Yeah. It's a good place.
-You have -- Speaking of a good place,
you've got a good place in --
This is some interior shots of your home in Portland.
And let me just say it is -- I would expect nothing less
than the design of your beautiful --
-Yes. It's a beautiful chaos. -Yeah, beautiful chaos.
You have room for lodgers, right?
You have people who -- -Yeah.
You know, we were doing Airbnb for a while.
You could stay at "Monsoon Manor."
Then, I don't know if you know, but there was a pandemic.
-Mm-hmm. -And that changed things.
So now I have long-term renters, and they all happen to be,
like, my chosen family members who I've known most of my life.
So it's very much -- It's -- I don't know.
It has all the makings of being a sitcom,
like, if "Friends" were just all gay people.
-Okay. -Yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-I think people would watch that.
-I think that's what "Drag Race" is, actually.
-Yeah. Speaking of "Drag Race."
You know, I'm not a super fan of the show,
but I am aware of the fact
that you have won two different seasons.
-Yes.
-You have not given yourself this title.
It has been bestowed upon you. "Queen of All Queens."
How does that -- [Cheers and applause]
-[ Laughs ] It's --
It feels funny because there are so many drag queens.
And to say one queen is the "Queen of All Queens"
is like trying to say an apple is queen of all oranges.
You know?
But you can't really disagree with RuPaul
'cause she's the Grand High Witch.
-Yeah, exactly. -You know?
So I'm taking it. I'm owning it.
-Yeah, you've got to. Did you --
Was the second win as exciting as the first win?
-Probably much more exciting.
Have you ever done something once every 10 years?
[ Laughter ]
You have a lot of time
to build up anticipation between two things.
-Yeah. -Um, Seth, may I ask?
-Yeah. -Are you straight?
-Yeah. -You sure?
-Yeah. -Okay.
Let me double check.
You can understand what I'm saying when I...
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Okay so, "Drag Race" is like the Super Bowl
if there were eight teams and each team was only one person
and they also had to make dresses.
-Okay. I think I fully follow now.
Thank you so much.
You spoke with your family,
and your family all came to see "Chicago."
Do you get a little extra nervous when you have family --
-No. I get nervous --
I want to make sure they're going to behave themselves.
-Oh, do you have that kind of family?
-It was like the Beverly Hillbillies do Broadway.
-Okay. -No.
It was really, really wonderful.
My mom hasn't made such a big trip in years.
And my best friend, who is also my business partner, did it --
set up everything for my family,
so no one even texted me even once,
which was a dream come true.
-I would love -- If I could have your friend
fill in for me, just for a week, would be wonderful.
-Yeah, yeah. They're a good buffer.
But my straight brother,
the only straight brother I have,
it was his birthday on opening night.
And he's also a middle child.
So I was so prepared for him to be like,
[Dull voice] "Oh, you couldn't have your opening night
on some other night?" -Right.
That's a very good straight guy, by the way.
-Thank you, thank you.
-I heard a little of myself in that.
Pretty much how I talk on my birthday.
I'm like, "I can't believe we got to do that on my birthday."
-But instead, he said, "You mean I get to spend
my birthday watching you make your Broadway debut?"
-That's pretty cool.
-They came out the stage door with me.
There were a lot of fans waiting, and I made them
all sing "Happy Birthday" to Jeremy.
And then I held him as he cried like a baby.
-Oh, well, there you go! That's a good birthday!
[ Applause ] Now, can you tell --
Obviously I imagine you can tell out the stage door,
but can you tell when the show starts --
are there drag-queen fans in the audience?
-Well, especially opening night, I have to say,
I am so proud of the LGBTQ+ community for opening night
because the energy was palpable.
And as we were getting closer and closer to my first entrance,
you could feel kind of like a rumbling building.
And there was just uncontainable excitement.
But even though they may have been there to celebrate me
that night, they also celebrated
every single performer, every single number.
It was the most generous audience.
And I was like, "Look at us showing up
at Broadway like this." You know?
[ Cheers and applause ]
-And you, yourself -- you talk about
that rumble in the crowd.
How are you at --
Do you get butterflies on that opening night?
Are you good at containing it? Are you good at --
-I am pretty good. I've been doing it for 20 years.
-There you go. Yeah.
-So I'm pretty good at, like, knowing what to expect.
But, really, what has made this experience so wonderful
is that I was able to rehearse a show in nine days
because the team is so fantastic.
They treated me like I've been doing this role for years.
They treated me like family.
And the performers.
Charlotte d'Amboise as Roxie. Brilliant.
Lana Gordon as Velma.
Her and I have most our scenes together.
We're electric together. I dare -- I do say so myself.
And then James T. Lane was taking over Billy
at the same time I was taking over Mama.
So I wasn't the only newbie to the cast.
And it was just -- It's just like a family.
And I wasn't expecting that.
I thought it was going to be work, work, work, work, work.
Instead, it's been like a party. -Well, that's wonderful.
I'm so happy to hear it's going so well.
And I apologize now. I am going to put you on the spot.
Because I know you are a wonderful impressionist,
and I've got three I would like to ask you to do.
-Sure, sure, sure.
-Could you do a little Judy Garland for us?
-[As Judy Garland] Oh, Seb. Seb.
I'm so happy to be here, Seb.
Seb, I love your show.
Are you familiar with Johnny Carson?
-Yes, of course.
-I did the Carson show a few -- I think.
I'm sure I probably did.
-Very good.
[ Cheers and applause ]
This is a little trickier.
This is a friend of mine this time.
This is Natasha Lyonne.
Can you do -- -Yeah.
[As Natasha Lyonne] Ah, Seth! Oh, my God! Seth!
Seth, I-I woke up late.
I took a little washy showy.
Oh, New York, right? Seth, you know New York.
Oh, my God!
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Very -- Nailed both the voice and the physicality.
-[Normal voice] And the mannerisms, thank you.
-Alright, now -- This one's a little tough for me.
'Cause I do an excellent Jennifer Coolidge, as well.
-You want to do dueling Jennifer Coolidges?
-Yeah, I'm a little worried, because I will say --
I know for a fact yours is worlds bett--
-[As Jennifer Coolidge] Wow, wow.
-[As Jennifer Coolidge] Wow.
What are you doing here?
-You know something, Seth?
The gays just love me!
And, uh, thanks to the gays, the three of us have been
in show business for 40 years and goin' strong!
Yeah!
-Yeah. I'm so -- Wow!
Wow. It's like looking in a mirror.
-[Normal voice] Are you sure that's not Owen Wilson?
-[Normal voice] It is Owen Wilson.
-That's Owen Wilson, yeah. -But I think the --
How dare you!
[ Laughter ]
See, so, like, Owen Wilson is to Jennifer Coolidge
what the Super Bowl is to "Drag Race."
-"Drag Race." Yes, exactly.
You're really starting
to put things together all on your own.
-It's all a puzzle piece. You know what I mean?
-Would you do me a favor? -Yeah, what do you need?
-Would you tell your brother Josh I've had a crush on him
since I was a teenager?
-Really. Well, hello, Jinkx!
-Well, I'm s-- I mean, you're very attractive.
-Well, nice save.
[ Laughter ]
-But I was a young person watching Josh on "Mad TV."
-Yeah. -And "That '70s Show."
-There you go. -Just so dreamy.
You're an attractive family. -Okay, well, thank you.
-Are there other siblings? -No, it's just the two of us.
[ Laughter ] It's just the two of us.
I will very happily tell him that.
And I'm so happy you're here. Congratulations on the show.
What a delight. Jinkx Monsoon, everybody!
"Chicago" is playing on Broadway at the ambassador Theatre.
We'll be right back with more "Late Night."