Logo is sending some lucky women to summer school with the premiere of “RuPaul’s Drag U,” a spin-off of the drag icon’s hit “RuPaul’s Drag Race. ”
Each week on the new show, a handpicked trio of drag queens from the first two seasons of “Drag Race” team up with some (how do we put this gently) … some aesthetic-deficient women to see who can best unleash their dormant diva qualities. Then they bring in their friends and families to watch them strut their stuff on the runway with RuPaul, Lady Bunny and a string of guest judges grading them on their overall newfound glam swagger.
The returning queens for “Drag U” include Jujubee, Ongina, Raven, Nina Flowers, Morgan McMichaels, Pandora Boxx, Shannel and Tammie Brown. PGN caught up with Ongina from season one and McMichaels from season two to get the glittery dirt on the new show.
PGN: What sets “Drag U” apart from other makeover shows? O: The fact that there are drag queens making over biological women. The other is that we don’t just make over the women from the outside. We make them over from the inside. A lot of them are sort of down and out and [have] sort of given up. We find the diva and fabulous in them and bring it out so they can feel empowered as a beautiful human being. MM: “Drag U” is every woman’s dream: to be made over by a drag queen. It’s not like “The Swan,” where you’re competing against another woman. The other makeover shows, you’re competing against each other and there’s a winner. On “RuPaul’s Drag U,” all the women are winners. It’s very inspirational. There’s no negative competition. All the women work together. There’s never any segregation during the show with the competitors. Each episode, the girls became a team.
PGN: Now that there are no prizes at stake, are you and the other queens less likely to be catty to one another? O: I think in any situation where you put eight different queens in one show, there’s going to be a level of competitiveness. We want to try and makeover our girls the best that we can and help them overcome a lot of what they’re afraid of doing. Even though it’s a friendly competition, the word “competition” plays in your mind. I think that the basis of the show is that you’ll see that these women compete among each other and we’re there to guide them all the way to the end with the fabulous makeovers we do. MM: There’s always a healthy competition with the teaching staff. Everybody wants their girl to be the best girl. Just being drag queens we have a competitive nature. You’ll see on some of the episodes, the professors take all of the girls together and give them little pep talks.
PGN: How was working with Lady Bunny? MM: Lady Bunny is insane! She is definitely the funniest person I’ve ever come across, on and off camera. She’s sharp and witty. I’ve formed a very good friendship with her. All of the contestants and all of the professors, the cast and the crew just warmed to her so much. I can definitely understand why her and RuPaul are friends. O: I love Lady Bunny. I like her humor. I had the chance to meet her before working with her in New York City. She’s a legend, she’s amazing and she’s done a lot for the community. She’s a really funny gal. Aside from being funny, she has a lot of motherly insights to give to girls. I’m still learning a lot about being a queen. I take a lot of that information from her and I’m happy I got to work with her. It’s never a bad thing to steal a few things from a queen to elevate your persona.
PGN: Which season of “Drag Race” was better: one or two? MM: I would say season two because I was on it. Both seasons were groundbreaking. I think that season one had a lot more diversity with the casting. There was every facet of drag. On the second season, RuPaul pushed the envelope with the sexuality of drag. There was a lot of sexuality on season two. Straight America thinks drag is big hair and big boobs. When RuPaul came onto the scene, she knocked that door down, like “Look, I’m tall, skinny and beautiful.” I think a lot of the girls on season two are very provocative with their drag. They were risqué with their clothing. We walked the streets on Hollywood Boulevard selling cherry pie. The innuendo was quite good. O: I would have to say season one was better because I was in it. But season two was equally entertaining. The best thing about watching season two was I was able to relate to season two. Every week I was tuning in and watching the show. I think they were both entertaining, but if you put 12 catty girls in a season, it makes for a more entertaining season.
PGN: What effect did being on the show have on your career as a performer? O: There’s this platform that I’ve been put on, and I never thought in a million years that I’d be on it, where I get to entertain worldwide. Having the chance to travel in different cities and countries to entertain the masses is pretty amazing. I really enjoy the stage, so if I can bring that to a wide range of audiences, I’m happy. MM: It has opened a million doors. RuPaul really capitalized on this thing we call drag and has made a fabulous career out of it. She gave us the opportunity to follow in her footsteps. We all have bookings all over the country. We have international bookings now that the show is airing outside of the country. Some of us are going to Britain on a little “Drag Race” tour. We’re noticed everywhere. The best thing about it is we get a lot of inspirational letters and people telling us that we changed their outlook on life and how they look at themselves as people. So it’s been all-around positive.
PGN: Did you think “Drag Race” was going to cross over into the mainstream like it did? O: What ended up happening was that there was so much more hype for the second season and the marketing department spent a lot more money than they did on season one. We did cross over to VH1 and that’s why we had such a big following. It’s going to continue to be a very successful show. I have fans all over the world that watch the show and it’s not just for our community, but also for the entirety of the human race. Everyone can learn a thing or two from drag queens. MM: After watching season one of “Drag Race,” I did everything in my power to get on season two. I knew that the masses were going to watch season two. I knew that it was going to be insane. I don’t think RuPaul has had a bad idea. She knows what the market want and when they want it. She did that very well.
PGN: Morgan, were there any queens from the first season you weren’t on that you were looking forward to working with? MM: Ongina, Nina Flowers, Shannel, BeBe and Jade. When I saw the first season, I was enamored with Ongina and Nina Flowers. I thought they were the best things ever. And meeting them, they are the most amazing people.
PGN: Ongina, was it always your intention to go public with your HIV status on the show? O: Actually, no. That was something I did not plan on doing. I remember that day and that moment when I won that challenge and became a spokesperson for MAC Viva Glam. I was overwhelmed with such emotion and happiness. I announced my HIV status on national TV out of being so happy for being able to represent a company that solely believes in the well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS. To spokesperson for that, I just broke down in tears of joy and my knees got really weak. I overcame something within myself too. I overcame my demons of being afraid and not wanting my parents to know, and now I have their support and I have the world’s support. I’ve been criticized many times about what I did but I’ve also gotten love for what I’ve done, and I’m very happy that I did that. I have no regrets.
PGN: What’s next for you after “Drag U?” O: At the moment, I’m the host of “HIV & Me” on Logo.com. It’s a web series where I interview HIV-positive people and they tell their stories. It’s really nice to know that there are outlets where you can relate to stories of other people going through the same thing you are. It makes you feel better knowing you can live a life with HIV as happy, glamorous and healthy as you want to and know that there are people out there that will support you no matter what. Hopefully, there’s more to come in the future. Ongina is just not done yet. There’s more to come. MM: I finally got my website up, morganmcmichaels.com. I’m working on some music. I’m auditioning for TV spots. Hopefully, I’ll be asked back for season two when it happens, because I’m confident that this show is going to be bigger than “Drag Race,” because it is so inspirational and different. I think every woman wants the secret of what we do and I think we give that to these women on the show. So many people have so many woes and worries, especially women who take care of their husbands and kids and work. They struggle. They lose that spark and they don’t have that thing that drag queens have on stage. So giving it back to the women, I think the show is going to be so crazy. And it’s good for straight men too because I think they are going pick up on some tips on how to woo a woman.
“Drag U” premieres at 9 p.m. July 19 on Logo.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected] .