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Matthew Murphy
Alaska Thunderf--- is opening up about what's next for Drag: The Musical.
The RuPaul's Drag Race alum (born Justin Andrew Honard) co-wrote the musical alongside Tomas Costanza and Ash Gordon, and it opened in Los Angeles before recently completing a successful Off-Broadway run at New World Stages in New York City.
The show — in which Alaska starred alongside Nick Adams as competing drag club owners — wrapped on April 27. Before the final curtain call, they dropped a live cast recording album, streaming now.
After finishing their Off-Broadway stint, Alaska opened up to PEOPLE about what's next.
"Well, I'm going to sit down for a little bit because wearing heels and getting in drag pretty much every day is a lot," the RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars season 2 winner quips. "So I'm excited to grow a beard for a couple of weeks!"
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PEG Records/Warner
PEOPLE: Why was it important to you to release a live cast recording from the Off-Broadway production?
Alaska Thunderf---: Well, we did the original soundtrack early. It was one of the first things we did. We recorded that before we had ever put it on stage or put it on its feet, and so it was sort of like a concept album. And so from that time to this production Off-Broadway, much changed. Songs were taken out, songs were added, songs were shortened, characters were changed. So we wanted to capture what we were doing here in New York, and I think we really did that. It really feels like you're there in the room. And I'm really glad that we have a record of that excited energy, because it really has been amazing.
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Matthew Murphy
PEOPLE: Liza Minnelli — who was a producing partner for the Off-Broadway run — is featured on the album. What did it mean to work with a legend like her?
Alaska Thunderf---: It's wild. She's just been our sort of our guardian angel, and when she came on, we couldn't believe it. We originally wanted her to come on just for the voiceover at the beginning, and she came back and she said, "Well, no, I want to do another voiceover, so you need to write something else. And also, I want to be a producing partner." So she's amazing and an icon, and it's a pleasure to be on the same thing as her.
[Her joining as a producer] definitely was very motivating. And that happened right around when we were getting ready to open and start having audiences in New York. So it was a huge sort of gust of wind motivating us to like, "Wow, we have some fairy dust sprinkled on us from Liza, so that's a blessing."
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PEOPLE: You've been working on Drag: The Musical for years. What have you learned throughout this experience?
Alaska Thunderf---: We started working on this eight years ago. So something that sticks out to me is about the creative process, and it's like you don't always know what something is or what something is capable of becoming in the moments that you're doing it.
This was something we were writing during the pandemic, and it was just the three of us and blank sheets of paper, and we were just figuring it out. And there were times when I was like, "I'm glad we're doing this, but I don't know that anything is ever going to actually become of this." I would want to say to anyone who's out there and a creative person or wanting to write something or create something, there's going to be times where you doubt it and where you don't know what it can become, but it has become something that is beyond my imagination, and it's been really inspiring to a lot of people, and I'm really, really proud of it.
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Matthew Murphy
PEOPLE: What did it mean to finally bring the show Off-Broadway?
Alaska Thunderf---: I mean, that was always the dream. We always wanted to bring it to New York. L.A. was amazing, but it's a different beast completely. It's like we were in sort of a bar venue, and there was food and people were eating, so it was a very different energy bringing it to a proper theater in New York City. I felt really intimidated by that. I felt the pressure of that, because I'm like, "Oh God, are New Yorkers going to be like, 'What the f--- is this L.A. show coming in here?' " You know what I mean? But everybody has been really supportive and loved it. So it's been an honor to be in Hell's Kitchen where all this amazing theater is happening.
And the great thing about our show is that we had Tuesdays off, so we were on on Mondays, so a lot of people who were in other shows on Broadway would come and see us on Mondays. And those were some of our best audiences. So I've felt nothing but love and support from everybody I've met from the theater community.
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Matthew Murphy
PEOPLE: We're seeing more and more drag performers landing roles on Broadway. Why do you think it's taken so long?
Alaska Thunderf---: Well, I think it's been a process of just understanding, and RuPaul's Drag Race has done a great job of educating a lot of people about what the f--- drag is. Because even in my own family, it was like this. When I was first starting drag I was like, "Hey, mom, I do drag." And there was just no concept of what is that. There was no frame of reference for what that even meant.
And so there was a lot of misunderstanding and assumption and uncertainty about what that even was, but RuPaul's Drag Race has educated a lot of people about this is an art form that is incredibly creative, it has a ton of humor, it has a ton of heart, it's also subversive and fierce. And so it's like there's really nothing not to love about it. I think the more people who know about drag, the better. So now more people know about it, so they're like, "Of course I want some drag in my show, because it's amazing."
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Matthew Murphy
PEOPLE: What are you taking away from this time performing in N.Y.C.?
Alaska Thunderf---: The support and love that people have brought to the show is sort of an abstract feeling when you're doing eight shows a week. But that final night, it was palpable and I could really feel it. So I think that the feeling of community —and that's us who were a part of the show backstage and onstage, but also the community of people who kept seeing the show time after time and supporting the show and believing in it; I think that sort of community is the thing that is going to last.
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Matthew Murphy
PEOPLE: What's next for you?
Alaska Thunderf---: Pride season is right around the corner, so I'm ready to travel the world and do what I do. And I'm looking forward to see what the next sort of evolution of Drag: The Musical is. So that's exciting to me, and whatever that may be, whether it's on stage or whether it's on film or whatever... So I'm looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to making music and acting and creating.
PEOPLE: Oh, wow — are you in talks for a Drag: The Musical film?
Alaska Thunderf---: I don't know. These are all conversations that people have, and I just say, "Let me know when to show up and what to wear." But yeah, I mean, it's all on the table!