Press photo by Jiji Lee.
Produced by BenDeLaCreme Presents
Co-created and co-written by BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon
Directed by BenDeLaCreme
Performed by BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon
Featuring: Mr. Babygirl, Ruby Mimosa, Scott Spraags, Jim Kent, Chloe Albin, Jace Gonzalez, and Gus Lanza as Hunky the Elf
TOUR DATES
November 28, 2023 @ 8PM
Boch Center
Wang Theatre
270 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116
Review by Kitty Drexel
BOSTON — Thanksgiving has passed. The Black Friday sales are over. Unread Giving Tuesday emails have been ceremoniously deleted. So you know what that means… Deck your halls and gird your loins, folx, it’s time for the first seasonal siege of the War on Christmas!
Just kidding. Mostly.
The 2023 December holidays are near and that means preparation for Hannukah, Advent, Yule, Christmas, the new moon, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s. While other theatre companies are rehearsing their annual A Christmas Carol for the family set, BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are cinching their girdles for this year’s edition of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show for queer adults (NETG recommended 17+) and their allies.
Previous editions of The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show came to the Boston area. The Wang is a more suitable location for this year’s American panto meets drag show madcappery. Our queer community had lots more room to peacock in front of the second-floor faux fireplace and parade around in our Christmas cosplay.
The Wang’s bathrooms are cleaner and more accessible to our non-binary friends (unlike last year) and our disabled community members. The seats have more room to wiggle and dance along to the show.
Not all of the seats sold out, though. We’ll have to work a little harder to convince more friends to attend the next time Jinkx and Dela visit. And we should. The stars work hard to make their script and their branding LGBTQIA+ friendly. The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show is a boisterous celebration of queer holiday cheer and authentic queer storytelling with an intimate cast and extraordinary energy.
Production photo by Santiago Felipe.
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show is a continuation of the Jinkx and DeLa concert tradition. In it, our gals with their trusty henchman Hunky the Elf (Gus Lanza), and their spirited dance ensemble (Mr. Babygirl, Ruby Mimosa, Scott Spraags, Jim Kent, Chloe Albin, Jace Gonzalez) begin the show by ushering in a new season of holiday feelings.
This year is a little different. They decide against a parody of Irving Berlin’s White Chrismas. Instead of fighting each other and the holiday spirit, they take a sunny, leopard-printed vacation in a pink Cadillac.
Trapped! Production photo by Santiago Felipe.
Except – what is this? Their supertitles are self-aware! They’ve driven to Vermont! They’re drinking from empty prop glasses! The Show has gone meta and off the rails! The gals are trapped inside the Show and can’t leave! Our heroines fight to free themselves from the Show, discover the real reason for the season through song and dance, and learn some important lessons along the way.
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Show is heavy on sight gags, puns, innuendos, and single entendres (intercourse, if you know what I mean). Fans of their Holiday Special movie will recognize “That Kind of Holiday Show” and “Everyone Is Traumatized by Christmas.”
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special from BenDeLaCreme Presents on Vimeo.
Jinkx and DeLa have written Christmas parodies to rock favorites such as The Eagles “Witchy Woman” (Frosty Snowman), Wham!’s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” (Little Mug), and Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” Musical theatre fans will gush for their Sweet Charity/Fosse reward’s shopping parody, “Smart Spender.”
Interstitial videos allow the gals to make epic costume changes. Watch them jet off to California, and hock their merch. There’s even a fifteen-minute intermission crowd-confusing video that’ll usher bladders out of seats and into the long line down the hallway. Tip your bar staff!
The most important message Jinkx Monsoon and BenDeLaCreme have to share with us is the importance of togetherness. Jinkx and DeLa work together to resolve this show. They don’t fight as in past years.
2022 has thrown all manner of unconscionable trauma at the LGBTQIA+ community. The gals want us to remember that we are stronger together. We are truly free when we are all free together. This December, remember your queer+ community and try to be kinder to everyone.
Schöne Krampusnacht euch allen!
Production photo by Santiago Felipe.
