Marcia Marcia Marcia entered RuPaul’s Drag Race shortly after her official New York City debut, but it did not take long for her competitors to realize that she was most definitely a force to be reckoned with. Following a scorching lip sync against Anetra, Marcia Marcia Marcia departed the competition, but has plans to use the Drag Race platform to catapult herself to all mediums possible! I sat down to chat with this self-proclaimed New York City “Quaran-queen” about her Drag Race run, the Kinky Boots impact, and why meeting and chatting with Ariana Grande truly remains a pinch me moment.
Michael Cook: You are now the queen who holds the record for the most consecutive safe placements in RuPaul’s Drag Race herstory! How does that feel?
Marcia Marcia Marcia: It’s very funny to me, I think it’s funny more than anything. I’m very happy to have lasted so long and when you really look at the trajectory of my time on the show sure, on paper I was safe for ten weeks. I also had a lot of great high points and I was never in the bottom. Hey, sixteen girls, that is pretty impressive!
MC: Looking back, how do you look at your Drag Race experience?
MMM: It was very positive. I got on the show after doing drag for a very short amount of time. I think I maybe had been doing drag for the least amount of time out of the group. They took a chance on hiring a new kid and I really really appreciate that. It allowed me to grow at a rate that I could not have imagined without it.
MC: How long had you been doing drag when you got cast on Drag Race?
MMM: I had been doing drag online, I started during the lockdown. By the time I got cast on the show I had been working in New York City for about seven months.
MC: I think we are going to see a clear distinction now in queens that started pre-lockdown and then after lockdown, do you think that’s fair to say?
MMM: Oh absolutely, the “quaran-queens”. Going back into a bar to perform, it’s New York, you get started doing the local competitions, whatever it is that you do. It was a really positive experience because so many queens that I admire saw for me for the first time and were impressed. They said I was “so great for having never done this before”. I think that is one of the benefits of the “quartan-queen ism”, you got to bake at three fifty for a while before you took yourself out of the oven.
MC: As someone who has seen you performer live, I was very aware of what could happen when Malaysia Babydoll Foxx chose to you to lip sync against during the Lip Sync La-La-Pa-Ru-Za challenge. What was going through your mind when she chose you to battle against?
MMM: I think because I got to choose the song it was absolutely not a good idea. Standing there though, I was honestly hoping that she was going to choose me, I really wanted to go first and win so I could hang out and drink ginger ale in the werkroom all day- and that’s what I got to do.
MC: Whenever someone does a male Snatch Game character, it’s a definite risk. Your Tim Gunn however, was a revelation and spot on. Have you heard anything from the fashion maven?
MMM: I have not heard anything from Tim Gunn, I’m not sure if he watches Drag Race. He’s probably helping people with fashion (laughs).
MC: You got to do so many of the signature and amazing Drag Race challenges from Snatch Game to the reading challenge. What challenge did you get to do this year that you truly are happy to be able to have participated in?
MMM: My favorite challenge every season is the Ball challenge. I think it’s so much fun and I love seeing what the queens come up with when all of the resources are equalized and all that you have is your creative bone and some random object. I love to see the really creative moments. For me, drag is so much about art and making the things that really are true to you. It’s always my favorite and I am really happy that I got to do the Ball.
MC: Your season has a great deal of big personalities, and you stayed pretty even keeled with your competitors for the most part, until you butted heads with Malaysia Babydoll Foxx in that Untucked episode. Was that surprising to you?
MMM: A little bit. I can tell you, right before when I said “let’s talk about something else” in my brain I thought “we’re in Untucked, let’s do something sassy’ (laughs)! I think a lot of that reaction was Malaysia’s frustration with the whole situation. It was a very long day of filming, so I don’t necessarily think that her response was for me. I am glad that was the one to receive it and it was not someone else who might have retaliated. Being there is very very very stressful and I should have had the forethought to think that we have all been through a lot today, maybe this isn’t the time to dictate the conversation.
MC: What do you think your rose and thorn are of your RuPaul’s Drag Race experience?
MMM: Oh my God, I love that. My rose was definitely the talent show I think, getting to do something that really translated very well, my performance style and my perspective on comedy. Having Ariana Grande be there and have her share her thoughts on it, that I was so happy with; it was amazing and just so cool. I would say that my thorn was when Selina EsTitties took Mistress (Isabelle Brooks) from me.
MC: When Ariana Grande was in the werkroom with you, you truly seemed to find it more surreal than almost anyone else on the cast.
MMM: I could not believe it. She truly is one of my favorite people on the planet. It was a sign that I was meant to be there at that moment. That is when I knew, I could have gone home today and it would have been worth it.
MC: You are a Broadway baby, and I think that makes you a bit of a workhorse. Most importantly, you know that a great deal of Broadway is a great deal of waiting around and cooling your heels. What did being a part of shows like Kinky Boots and Hello Dolly provide you with that you were able to take to Drag Race knowledge-wise?
MMM: I think anybody that goes onto Drag Race without having any theater experience is at a disadvantage; it was imperative to my success on the show. While the experience is very fast, it allows you to slow it down in your head and focus on what you really should be focusing on and not get caught up in things. People always say how hard and fast the experience is, and I think for me, I was really able to take it day by day and moment by moment and approach things with a rational solid head which I am so grateful for.
MC: Kinky Boots is true Broadway magic and truly what our community needs now more than ever.
MMM: Absolutely. Director/Choreographer Jerry Mitchell calls it a “joy machine” and it is very much that.
MC: What do you want to do post Drag Race?
MMM: I am non-binary, so seeing a to of that visibility and representation is is so incredible. Seeing Jinkx (Monsoon) in Chicago was just incredible. People are writing roles for people all of over the gender spectrum, which is just so incredible. Definitely Broadway, definitely tv, film, music, fashion, I want to do all of it. Now that I have access to all of these people and these potential experiences, I want to live all of them.
MC: What was it like for you to see Jinkx Monsoon in Chicago live?
MMM: A bunch of the Season 15 gals went and they were absolutely fantastic!
MC: As a non-binary person, you have unique perspective. How do you think our community pushes back on the rhetoric that is cropping jus towards our community?
MMM: I think that the most effective thing that we can do is really present the truth and the facts amongst all of this misinformation. You see so many headlines and things about queer people being groomers, but you look at who is currently incarcerated for those crimes and none of them are drag queens. I think it is really about everyone keeping a solid head on their shoulders and giving the truth at the forefront of these situations. Reinforcing that out of everything, truly queer people are born out of love and only want to spread love. Anyone that disagrees with that has probably never met a queer person.
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