Michelle Visage has told theatregoers to prepare themselves for a party as a queer reimagining of Tim Burton’s 1990 cult classic Edward Scissorhands comes to the London stage.
Scissorhandz: A Musical Reinvented will take the original gothic tale and turn it into a “fun” and “camp” parody pop musical, featuring hits from the likes of Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and Alanis Morissette.
Due to open at London’s Southwark Playhouse Elephant on January 23, it will run until March 29. The show’s cast is yet to be announced.
Drag Race judge Visage, 56, will serve as a co-producer along with her “dear friend” former *NSYNC band member Lance Bass, plus, Kelley Parker, Brian Pendleton, and the show’s writer and director, Bradley Bredeweg, who was a co-creator of The Fosters.
Speaking to The Standard about her latest forray into the theatre world, Visage said: “It’s so, so exciting. It is such a wonderful piece of art. I can’t wait for people to see it.
“Listen, everybody loves Edward Scissorhands, that movie was a smash hit for a reason. I think it taps into emotions, I think it speaks to every misfit in the world and it holds a special place, but it’s rather sad. You spend the whole movie really sad and even at the ending, so the beautiful thing about the reimagining of Scissorhands the musical is its got a positive uplifting ending while still going though the emotions that you have.
“It is camp, it is fun, it is appropriate for all ages,” she added. “Scissorhands is just a joy and I think everyone’s going to love it.”
Explaining how she came to be involved in the project, she said: “The writer and director is a friend of mine and I really wanted to be in it and with timing I couldn’t be in it so he said would you like to produce? And I said ‘I would love to produce!’ And Lance Bass from Nsync is a dear friend so we’re co-producing it together and we’re both thrilled, excited and we believe in it.
“Everybody loved it in Los Angeles and I know the London theatregoer and I think they’re really, really going to love it.”
The former Strictly Come Dancing star last trod the boards in the capital herself back in February when she played Morticia Addams in a strictly limited run of three shows of The Addams Family at the London Palladium.
Starring alongside her were Broadway star Ramin Karimloo as Gomez and Birds of a Feather actress Lesley Joseph as Visage’s mother, known as “Granny”.
The US-born star described the musical, which is based on the 1960s TV show, as “grossly underrated” and expressed her hope that a longer run could follow in future should schedules align.
“There may be an announcement coming up” she teased.
Elsewhere, Visage is commited to making more series of RuPaul’s Drag Race which she has been part of since 2011 and called “the gift that keeps on giving”.
“It has a strong hold on my heart because getting to see these kids reach their potential right in front of your face is as queer artists that normally wouldn’t have been given a platform is a gift in itself,” she explained.
For the first time, Visage has taken centre stage as the host of the fourth series of the Australian version of the show, Drag Race Down Under. She joked it will be the closest you will see her getting to entering the jungle.
Visage is also keen to get some more acting credits under her belt.
She said: “2025 is the year that I really want to focus on scripted work and letting people see me in another light like they’ve gotten to do in Smoggy Queens which is all out now on the iplayer and of course you can watch it on BBC 3.”
The BBC Radio 2 star – who hosts a weekly radio show on Fridays – will also be helping to usher in 2025 by fronting a special live show on New Year’s Eve.
Tickets for Scissorhandz: A Musical Reinvented are available now. Michelle Visage’s Fabulous New Year Party, from 10pm-1am on New Year’s Eve, on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds.