Interview: Lady Bunny of BUNNY BUTCHERS BROADWAY! at Renberg Theatre

Long before drag queens were winning Emmys, selling out theaters, and becoming household names, Lady Bunny was busy creating her own lane. The founder of Wigstock, a fixture of New York City's legendary club scene, and a longtime friend of RuPaul Charles, Bunny has spent more than four decades building a career on towering wigs, filthy jokes, and saying exactly what she's thinking.

Now she's bringing that signature mix of comedy and chaos to Bunny Butchers Broadway!, a show that gleefully slices and dices beloved musicals, transforming Broadway standards into outrageous parodies that are definitely not for the easily offended.

As Bunny puts it, "People love show tunes so much - that's the perfect opportunity to parody them and turn them into filthy comedy."

The show features material inspired by Broadway favorites including Chicago, Dreamgirls, Evita, Frozen, Wicked, and more. But Bunny says there's a simple rule when choosing songs to skewer.

"They have to be hits to parody them," she explains. "I only use the hit songs from various Broadway shows, and they're also tunes which drag queens have kept alive for decades by lip-synching to them. Parodies work best when everyone knows the originals."

One example is her take on The Wiz's "No Bad News," which she has transformed into a commentary on current debates surrounding transgender bathroom access. "Trans rights are literally in the toilet right now!" she quips.

Bunny May be butchering Broadway, but she isn't the first performer to discover the comic possibilities hidden within musical theater. When asked about the long-running hit Forbidden Broadway, she admits she never actually saw the show, though she's certainly familiar with its reputation. "I've seen very entertaining clips from it," she says. "And I know Michael West, a brilliant impersonator who played a hilariously manic Liza in Forbidden Broadway for years."

While Bunny doesn't do direct Broadway character impersonations, she does borrow a few visual inspirations. "I wear a costume similar to one Glenn Close wore in Sunset Boulevard when parodying 'As If We've Never Said Goodbye' and 'Just One Look.' The latter is about how I've never changed my deranged look over 40 years of drag!"

Leave it to Lady Bunny to turn self-awareness into a punchline. And speaking of punchlines, Bunny already knows which moment in the show tends to leave audiences simultaneously laughing and clutching their pearls. "There is a very twisted parody of Beauty & The Beast which I've turned into Pussy & The Yeast," she says. "It was tough for me to perform it without laughing for the longest time, because the humor is rough."

By placing it in the opening medley, Bunny says audiences get their shock out of the way early. "Everyone can get their gasps out of the way in the first medley - then we really get going!"

Another favorite? "'Don't Cry For Me I'm On Tina.'" Only Lady Bunny could make Eva Perón and methamphetamine share a stage.

If she could insert herself into a Broadway musical, however, Bunny already has a role in mind. Her target: Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. "John Travolta was dreadful in the movie," she says bluntly. "Divine and Harvey Fierstein made Edna gritty, with gravelly voices. For some bizarre reason, Travolta played Edna with a girlish voice and acted shy - the opposite of other Ednas."

Then again, Bunny acknowledges there was a practical reason for the casting. "It was a poor choice in my view, but Travolta is an A-lister who sold tickets."

After more than forty years in drag, you might think Bunny would be running out of things to say. Not a chance. When asked what still excites her about performing, she initially delivers the answer you'd expect. "Money! Kidding!" Well, mostly kidding. "My goal with comedy is to laugh in public about things I laugh about with friends in private. If you aren't supposed to laugh at it, that makes it ten times funnier to me."

She also makes no apologies for the show's content. "I always put in the ticket links that this show is dirty and not for prudes. I'm not trying to spring my offensive humor on anyone. I want them to know exactly what they're getting and attract audiences who like that sort of thing." And, according to Bunny, there are plenty of them. "Just look at The Book of Mormon. Bunny Butchers Broadway! is dirtier, though."

Beyond Broadway, Bunny remains one of drag's most outspoken veterans. Having lived through the AIDS crisis, Wigstock's rise, and drag's transformation from underground art form to mainstream entertainment, she has strong opinions about how activism and drag culture have evolved. Reflecting on today's LGBTQ movement, Bunny contrasts modern social media campaigns with the direct-action activism she witnessed during the AIDS era. "ACT UP held die-ins outside St. Patrick's Cathedral in the '80s," she says. "Now 'activism' seems to be using a lot of buzz words and virtue-signaling with no teeth." That willingness to say exactly what's on her mind has become a defining part of her career.

Asked whether being outspoken has become easier or harder in the age of social media, Bunny laughs at the premise. "We have to speak the truth, because we're assaulted by so many lies in the media."

That independent streak has never really changed. What has changed, however, is drag itself. Looking back at the days when Wigstock was transforming New York's East Village into a drag playground, Bunny says the biggest surprise would be how polished queens have become. "Due to Drag Race, queens now look much more polished and often have large showgirl costumes and perfect wigs and makeup."

Impressive? Yes. But Bunny is still more interested in what happens after the entrance. "If a queen comes out in an incredible outfit, I'll clap and cheer. But honey, you've got five more minutes onstage." That's the Lady Bunny philosophy in a nutshell. The look may get people through the door. The performance is what matters.

Asked which historical figure she'd invite to perform at Wigstock, Bunny doesn't even have to think about it. "Carol Channing singing anything she wanted to! I love her. So glad I got to see her final production of Hello, Dolly! on Broadway and to work with her once."

And if she could travel back in time and speak to the young Lady Bunny arriving in New York with a suitcase, a wig, and big dreams? The answer comes instantly. "Don't drink so damn much!"

Perhaps the funniest advice she's ever received was considerably less profound. Early in her drag career, Bunny asked an employee at Lee's Mardi Gras, a legendary New York drag supply store, why her expensive pantyhose kept developing runs. "She asked where they were running, and I told her the runs started at my toes."

The employee's diagnosis was immediate. "'Then cut your toenails!'"

Bunny pauses. "The bitch was right!"

It's the kind of punchline that perfectly captures Lady Bunny herself - part Broadway lover, part drag legend, part troublemaker, and completely unapologetic.

And that's exactly why audiences keep coming back.

Lady Bunny: Bunny Butcher's Broadway performs at The Renberg Theater at The LA LGBT Center at 1125 N McCadden Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90028 on Fri, July 10th At 7:30PM.  Tickets can be purchased at https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/090064C4FC707359

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