Hold on to your sugarplums and get ready for a holiday drag spectacular that’s as magical as a flying reindeer and as unexpected as a virgin birth!
For the past two years, world-renowned drag artists and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum, BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon have owned the holiday season with their critically-acclaimed sold-out holiday tours (To Jesus, Thanks for Everything and All I Want for Christmas Is Attention). With stage shows out of the question in 2020, these two legendary queens bring their high camp holiday magic into homes with The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special, a 60-minute musical special that is made for the screen, available via video on demand worldwide today. The digital soundtrack will be released on December 11. Filmed safely under CDC guidelines in September on a Seattle soundstage, this marks the first film project directed, co-written and executive produced by BenDeLaCreme under her production company, BenDeLaCreme Presents.
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special is the story of two queens who set out to create a classic Christmas TV variety show but just can’t agree on how. With the help of a chorus of dancers and DeLa’s deceased grandmother—whose spirit lives on in a glass of eggnog—DeLa tries her hardest to uphold the cheery Christmas traditions of her childhood. At the same time, Jinkx is much more interested in bawdy jokes and boozy libations.
As they sing and dance their way through numbers about everything from St. Nick to the Christ child, the tension between them mounts, culminating in an all-out battle for control of the show. After some insight into the ghosts of their very different Christmas pasts, and with the help of a mysterious naked man with a surprising holiday secret, the two realize that tradition can be whatever we make of it, and family is whomever we choose. This campy, side-splitting romp is equal parts sacrilegious and sweet, with a sharp tongue and a heart of gold. The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special is sure to be a new holiday tradition for all the lost toys who know that the best traditions are the ones we create ourselves.
The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special from BenDeLaCreme Presents on Vimeo.
For the 2020 season (before the pandemic), Jinkx & DeLa’s third holiday tour was set to be bigger and better than ever! However, rather than miss out on a year of staking their claim as the Queens of Christmas, DeLa decided to produce and direct a holiday film in the style of her favorite classic TV specials.
“If there’s anybody who knows how to adapt with the times and create art while facing adversity, it’s drag queens,” says BenDeLaCreme. “I have been producing and directing theater for myself and other queer artists for years, and getting to make my first foray into producing and directing film for ‘The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special’ has been an experience I will never forget.”
BenDeLaCreme is excited to be the first Drag Race alumnus to produce, direct, and co-write a narrative feature film amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On COVID restrictions, BenDeLaCreme adds, “Our cast and crew, along with our amazing COVID supervisor, made sure we all kept each other safe by wearing masks, maintaining distance, and getting tested regularly while we quarantined together for three weeks. I moved to LA at the start of the pandemic with my partner Gus—who’s also a key producer on the project—so getting to come back to Seattle and reunite with my queer creative family was so needed. I couldn’t have accomplished this without having the love and passion for drag as our foundation.”
Click Here to watch The Jinkx & DeLa Holiday Special.
