Each season on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” there’s a big song and dance group number that showcases the queens performance abilities. Dubbed the “rusical” — an amalgamation of RuPaul and musical — it’s the chance for each of the competitors to show off their acting, dancing and lip-syncing skills.
For the competition series’ milestone Season 15, the rusical was “Wigloose,” inspired by the 1984 Kevin Bacon classic “Footloose.” The number starred the top six queens: Anetra, Loosey Laduca, Luxx Noir London, Mistress Isabelle Brooks, Salina EsTitties and Sasha Colby. “Wigloose” is set in the fictional small town of West Bumtuck, where a local teacher (Brooks) seeks to outlaw drag. The local youth (EsTitties, Laduca, London) protest the law by holding a secret drag ball. In the end, the teacher is reminded by her old friend (Anetra) and husband (Colby) about the power of drag, and the law is overturned.
TheWrap spoke with Miguel Zarate, the choreographer of “Wigloose,” to talk about how the 12-minute rusical, which you can watch in full below, came together in a very short amount of time.
What are the first steps in choreographing the rusical number?
I receive musical tracks and a script. That’s it. Everything else that you see on that stage is 100% what I do and what I bring: where the queens enter, the formations, how they should express something, how should they say something. So it’s a lot more than just dance steps. It’s creating a show.
When given the script, I thought it was really funny. I was really excited to put it on, but you have zero to little time. I would say I got everything two days before I started working with the queens. So I just did a bunch of choreo cram sessions and tried to figure out how can I bring these songs to life.
For this musical, all I kept hearing was [the chorus] “Wigloose!” So I was like, “I gotta think of something that exaggerates that line.” So then I did this move [throws both hands up next to his head]. I’ve learned through the seasons that drag queens have big hair. I used to do choreography around the face. And then they’d be like, “No, I can’t do that. I literally can’t do that my wig is this big.” So it’s just finding things like that. And then I just I go from there. I like to be really systematic about it. So I start from the beginning and then I just finish it, because that helps with transitions and segues. And it makes my life easier to stay on task and go from the beginning of the script all the way till the end.
You’re working with queens with different levels of ability when it comes to dancing. How do you accommodate that?
Obviously, I’m not working with professional dancers, aside from the pros that I bring to dance alongside them. What you’re seeing on television is something that I can legitimately stand by where I think, “OK, that’s credible. That’s good.” And if I were to see it, I would like it. It’s not 1,000% dancer. But it’s also not dumbed down. Something that I’ve mastered is to find the middle somehow. If I’m working with a queen, and it’s really not sticking in their body, then I’m like, “OK, let me change that for you.” But I can tell when a queen just doesn’t want to do the move versus when they can’t do it, so if they don’t want to do the move then I’m like, “No, figure it out. I’m not changing it.” It’s a fine line, but I enjoy working with them.
It seems this group of queens really stepped it up.
What you’re seeing is 24 hours of rehearsal, and we’re not rehearsing all 24 hours. So what you see really is what you get. They’re doing it on the spot. They learned it the day before and then the next day they’re filming it.
Did you have a favorite scene in “Wigloose”?
I really loved the classroom scene because I came together really beautifully with the set designer. Originally, they had given me like a landscape of what they want the stage to look like. And I was like, “OK, maybe let’s put the chalkboard here. Let’s put the chairs and the desks there.” And then I thought, “You know what? It’d be so cool if the desks could move. Can we put the desks on wheels?” The problem was, the chair was attached to the desk. And I was like, “We need to separate the chair as well.” But when it came to life, I was able to choreograph in the desks, and then the set moved. It was such a cool thing to see. Because it originally wasn’t supposed to be like that.
How did it feel to see the queens perform the finished product?
It’s exhilarating to see. I work a lot. And I’m so thankful that I do. I’m used to seeing an amazing finished product. Because I know myself, I know my talent, I know my dancers and we have usually ample time. The thing is, we had no time here. So when you see a final product and it’s actually great, it’s astonishing because these queens are learning it in 24 hours, I just recently choreographed it, the dancers are learning it. The costuming is just getting done, the set design is just getting done. So in the end, you’re like, “Oh my God, this is phenomenal.” It’s one of the best feelings ever.
Not only does the rusical serve to entertain and showcase talent, it’s also a commentary on the anti-drag legislation sweeping the country. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” MTV, and World of Wonder have donated to and raised support for The Drag Defense Fund in support of the ACLU’s LGBTQ+ rights work.
All episodes of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 15 are streaming on MTV.com.
