If you make the trip to the Las Vegas Strip and catch “RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!” anytime soon, you’ll be treated to the hosting stylings of one Ginger Minj.
The two-time “RPDR” all star currently serves as hostess for the live stage show at the famous Flamingo showroom, and she couldn’t be prouder to be back in action. Especially since she can see the effect she and her co-stars have on the Sin City audience.
“The fact that you can walk out into the casino and pretty much guess who everybody voted for in this past election … but they’re also the same people that are paying to come and see us every night,” Ginger told TheWrap at the 1,000th performance red carpet on Saturday. “They start the show with their arms folded, no smile, no reaction at all; and by the end, they’re so moved that they’re on their feet, they’re clapping, they’re screaming, they’re dancing, they’re singing along, they’re having a good time.”
“I think what we’re able to do — with drag in general, but particularly with ‘Drag Race’ — is reach people that would not have necessarily ever been reached,” she continued. “They hear our message and they see that we’re just people like everybody else, just trying to make the world a better place.”
After first making her mark as a runner-up on “Drag Race” Season 7 in 2015, Ginger has gone on to write “Southern Fried Sass,” appear in “Dumplin’,” “AJ and the Queen” and “Hocus Pocus 2,” drop three studio albums and star in two seasons of “RDPR All Stars” so far: Seasons 2 and 6. But the dream all started with her childhood love of “The Wizard of Oz” and “Showgirls,” which she aptly noted are actually very similar movies.
“When I was watching ‘Showgirls’ growing up, I always wanted to be a showgirl, before I knew what drag was, before I knew it was something I could actually do. But in the back of my mind, my whole life I was like, I just want to be a Las Vegas showgirl. Now it’s never lost on me that I’m standing in those wings waiting to make my entrance, and I just feel that rush of joy for my 11-year-old self in little podunk Florida. And at the Flamingo, which is one of the most incredible, historic places on the strip.”
But if you’re not able to get to Vegas, WOW Presents Plus is now streaming this past weekend’s 1,000th performance starring Ginger, Jaida Essence Hall, Plane Jane, Asia O’Hara, Morphine Love Dion and special guest RuPaul.
“The beautiful thing about this show is that it does change every couple of months. So even if you watch what we’re doing tonight, come back in six months and you’re going to see a completely different show,” Ginger teased. “That’s the most fun for me. I got to host it two years ago, but now I come back and, in the interim, I stopped by to watch three or four different casts do it, and you always get a different experience and it’s just so much fun.”
“RuPaul’s Drag Race Live!” has performances Thursday-Monday at the Flamingo hotel and the 1,000th Show special is available to stream on WOW Presents Plus.
