INTERVIEW: Paige Turner brings yuletide cheer to The Green Room 42
Photo: Courtesy of the artist / Provided by Fortune Creative with permission.
Paige Turner, the self-described Showbiz Spitfire, has been steadily gaining a dedicated following in New York City as a drag performer inspired by Carol Burnett, Pee-wee Herman and, of course, Barbie. Her new show is Jingle All the Way, a holiday-inspired revue that has its final performance Thursday, Dec. 19 at The Green Room 42 in New York City.
“It’s a written, scripted show — very holiday special,” Turner said in a recent phone interview. “If people know me and my sense of comedy, then it’s really fun, and if you don’t know me, it’s still very fun. There will be some in-jokes, but everyone will want to get on the Christmas sleigh ride, pun intended. So it’s very wackadoo, kind of like a Barbie / Pee-wee Herman Christmas show.”
Turner’s engagement at The Green Room 42 sold out last year, so this year she added a few extra dates. The 2019 shows have had full houses, and the comedy and singing have been well-received by audiences.
“Everyone’s like you need a full off-Broadway show, like the whole month,” she said. “I mean, that would be great. Just great buzz and very full and almost sold out for the last one here. I’m just really grateful.”
Turner is joined on stage by Remy Germinario and James Mills, who portrays Carol Channing during the evening of laughs. “Carol Channing actually passed away this year, so we have this really cool story where he plays her,” she said. “It’s very touching but also very absurd and ridiculous, as it should be.”
Turner, brought to life by actor Daniel Frank Kelley, has gained quite the reputation amongst drag queens performing in cabaret venues in New York City, in theaters around the country and on cruise ships. She is the host and one of the creators and producers of So You Think You Can Drag?, a live reality show, according to press notes. She is also featured on Fusion Network’s Shade: Queens of NYC and once appeared on Bravo TV’s Watch What Happens Live! Her touring shows include Confessions of an Un-Natural Blonde and Drag Me to the Top! She can also be found headlining Atlantis cruises.
“As of this Wednesday, it will be my 10-year anniversary of starting drag and doing Paige Turner full time, so I actually started with a Christmas show in a bar years ago,” she said. “The Christmas show is a big deal and a big part of my brand. I love the really wacky Christmas specials that are kind of like, what are they even doing? And so that I’m very inspired by, and I love old variety shows. I respond to the ’60s. I respond to personalities, so I was into Pee-wee Herman — he was a big inspiration for me. And Dame Edna, [too], people that are very much in character.”
Before bringing Turner to the stage, Kelley was almost constant performer, and the love of musical theater goes back to when the actor was 8 years old.
“I was always the boy next door, and so Paige is the girl next door,” Turner said. “I always knew what I wanted to look like. Definitely the look and perfecting that [eventually] came, but I have to say it’s always kind of been me from the start. It’s just elaborated as I got bigger. As I made money and had a following, I was able to be like, OK, put more into the show, so definitely what you’re seeing now, this is a huge production. There’s props and mini set pieces and stuff like that. It’s definitely evolved over the years. I’m always like, how can I make it different but still keep things the same because the audience is like, oh, you didn’t sing that one song. … So I try to make it different but include the favorites. Kind of like when you see every year Charlie Brown on TV, you know what to expect, and you want to see the same thing again. So I make sure to do that so it’s fun for the people that come back every year and different, too.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Jingle All the Way, starring Paige Turner, plays Thursday, Dec. 19 at The Green Room 42. Click here for more information and tickets.
