After “single-handedly reviving Chicago on Broadway,” frequent SF drag performer Jinkx Monsoon has announced a 44-city U.S. tour, with two Bay Area dates in August, one at the Warfield.

Two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is technically not a San Francisco drag queen. But the Seattle-based queen has been a frequent fixture at the Castro, the Oasis, and other stages about SF for at least ten years; as Little Edie in Grey Gardens, alongside Peaches Christ in Drag Becomes Her at the Castro, and at the Stud’s virtual drag funeral in June 2020. Jinkx’s most recent SF performance was a date this past September at the Oasis, and they have not performed here since, but with good reason; two months later, it was announced the Jinkx Monsoon would take the role of “Mama” Morton in a Broadway revival of Chicago.  

And that inspired but risky casting choice produced an unexpected smash hit, both critically and financially. The LGBTQ+ paper Metro Weekly declared “Jinkx Monsoon is single-handedly reviving Chicago on Broadway.” And industry publication Playbill reported last week that since Monsoon’s casting, the Chicago production “filled 100.51% of seats at the Ambassador, making it the week's top performer in terms of capacity percentage” of all current Broadway shows.

That wildly successful Chicago run  has made Monsoon a rising tide that is lifting all drag and non-binary ships. That performance run ends in late March. But Monsoon is going to strike again while the iron is still hot, as Entertainment Weekly reports that Jinkx Monsoon is embarking on a 44-city North American tour called Everything at Stake, with an August 10 San Francisco date at the Warfield, and an August 9 date at San Jose’s California Theatre.

Pre-sales begin Wednesday, February 22, at 9 a.m. PT.

Monsoon describes the show to Entertainment Weekly as “stand-up comedy meets rock concert meets drag." What tracks will Jinkx perform? The Chicago number “When You're Good to Mama” is a fair bet, as is Jinkx’s cover of ELO’s “Strange Magic,” seen below.

"I'm going to find the parallels between the witch hunts that existed in the olden days, when women were persecuted for taking on the patriarchy, and the parallels happening right now with the queer, trans, and LGBTQIA+ community — the witch hunt we're experiencing as we take on the patriarchy," Monsoon tells Entertainment Weekly. The show is apparently inspired by the flaming dress routine from Drag Race seen below.

This tour is certainly a provocation toward the current right-wing culture war against drag queens. The tour will sashay and shantay right through Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, and — yes, Ron DeSantis — Florida. There do not appear to be age restrictions on attending. This is Jinkx Monsoon at full power with newfound popularity, effectively setting a marker that drag and trans performers will not back down from any stage in America, despite the political climate.

As we mentioned, presale tickets go on sale Wednesday at 9 a.m. PT, which gets you a presale code. According to Entertainment Weekly, “Public on-sale begins Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. local time on the star's website.”

Related: Jinkx Monsoon To Reprise Her Little Edie Impression At 'Grey Gardens' Screening [SFist]

Image: thejinkx via Instagram