Interview: NINA WEST of A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS at MURRAY & PETER PRESENTS

Nina West, or Andrew Robert Levitt, is an Ohio-based drag queen and was named 20008's Entertainer of the Year. He's been on RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE as a competitor during Season 11 and, more recently, in the race for the ALL STARS Season 9 title. The ALL-STARS series was the first time Rupaul did a show solely to raise money for charity, and Nina was oddly perfect for that cause. Nina has her own foundation, and she is probably the only drag queen in the country who does. She has raised millions of dollars for her causes, and that's millions. Nina or Andrew has also appeared in the Broadway tour of HAIRSPRAY as Edna. Nina West is coming to Houston this holiday season as the hostess of Murray and Peter's A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS on December 17th at the Bayou Music Center. BROADWAY WORLD writer, Brett Cullum, got a chance to sit down and kiki with Nina. So, even though it is not even Halloween, get into the Christmas Spirit with Nina! 

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Nina West: Happy holidays!

Brett Cullum: I'm so honored to be in front of you. Yes, and happy holidays like way early. I mean, Halloween decor JUST came out here in Houston. But first up. How are you after RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE ALL STARS SEASON 9? What is life like after this?

Nina West: You know it's been it's been great. It's been a joy to be back on people's televisions for those 12 weeks over the summer and to celebrate one of my favorite organizations, the Trevor Project. And it's been lovely to show the world who I am now. After. You know, the five years that it's been since season eleven, and really six years because we filmed it six years ago and aired it five years ago. But you know, it's nearly six years ago that we filmed that version of DRAG RACE. And so it's been lovely to reintroduce myself to a new batch of fans and to remind the people who followed me who I am, what I'm all about, and what I'm up to right now.

Brett Cullum: I do notice you've got the perfectly timed releases for after ALL STARS! You've got a Trevor project shirt that came out. 

Nina West: Yeah. So, I paired with a Columbus-based company called Homage. We made a brand new T-shirt that says, “Go big! Be kind! Go west!” and 20% of all the proceeds go to the Trevor Project. So that's on sale now, and we're excited to make another sizable donation to that wonderful life-saving organization.

 Brett Cullum: I already have mine. So there we go! It is insanely soft and looks great! I went to Homage's website and searched "Nina West." It was easy to order! 

Nina West: YAY! 

Brett Cullum: You've got an EP that dropped recently. And, of course, it includes the anthem that you unleashed during the finale.

Nina West: “Drag is for Everyone,” which I did on the finale, which Mark Kanemura choreographed. Who's a fantastic friend of mine, and co-written by my friend Mark Byers, Aka Marcoholic, who's written for everybody from Rupaul to, you know, incredible artists like me.

Brett Cullum: You also did a video, and it was a spoof of a Gilbert and Sullivan song, “Modern Major General,” but listing every single competitor, at least in the original US franchise of RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE. How many 160-something? 

Nina West: I don't know how many names. I think it's… hold on! I had to do the math. It might be 206, or it's 190. I forget what it is, or 209, I think. Maybe, but the task is to get the rhyme and the reference in for every single person from every season in the meter of “Modern Major General.” So, I was attracted to the idea of doing a patter song. I was like, well, what's the best? What's the biggest and best pattern song of all time? “Modern Major General” from PIRATES OF PENZANCE. 

Brett Cullum: Well, let's walk it back a little bit. I have always been curious about what made you become the drag artist Nina West. What were your roots? 

Nina West: I think I was a kid who really wanted to do theater, and I didn't have the theatrical opportunities in front of me to do that. I went to college for theater. I have a degree in theater. I didn't move to New York City like I wanted to because of 9/11. I had to create my own opportunity. And that's kind of my life story. I was kind of carving out and creating my own space, and drag was always the method with which I did that. So Nina became kind of this vessel for me to do theatrical drag or drag that was inspired by some musical that I'd seen on the Tony awards

The first people that ever booked me for shows were charities! I was surrounded by organizations that were like, “Hey, we're raising money for this cause. Would you come to our show for free?” And it was like, “Well, wait! No one else is asking me to do a show.” But the Columbus Stompers, who were an LGBTQ country line dancing group, wanted me to come perform at a fundraiser for them, or the Columbus Task Force wanted me to go perform to help raise money for them. That's how I connected the drag to charity. 

I created a character that I was trying to distance myself from, but it became intrinsically personal and very much Andrew, which was not my intent. But then, you know, as you go on many years later, fast forward to RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE, and it's like, “Well, wait a minute. The line is so blurred between the performer and the character that you know it was almost perfect for at least my storytelling as Nina and Andrew!”  

Nina's informed by, I think, Charity Broadway, Disney. You know, political activism, activation. LGBTQIA+ equality! Those kinds of things. 

Brett Cullum: So, how many times did you actually audition for Drag Race before you got on season 11?

Nina West: 9 times. My 9th audition was my lucky audition. Lucky number 9, which is kind of weird, you know. I love numerology, so lucky. Number 9, and I was on ALL-STARS SEASON 9.

Brett Cullum: What do you think sealed the deal for you with that final audition?

Nina West: I think I had stopped with the false airs of it all. I was giving them what I thought they wanted and the 9th audition tape. I just gave them myself, and I think I cut through. 

Brett Cullum: Well, then, Nina West. After revealing (or is it RU-vealing?) yourself on DRAG RACE, you got to put on a character again with HAIRSPRAY. How did Hairspray happen right after that?

Nina West: I was offered HAIRSPRAY in July of 2019. It came to me because I had done Harvey Firestein as one of my characters for the SNATCH GAME. Jay Mitchell, who is the Tony Award-winning director and choreographer, saw my Harvey and said, “Whoa! This person is the person who could do Edna!” He called me out of the blue and said, “Hey. We think you should be, Edna; what do you think about that?” And I was like, “Who is this? What is what is happening here?”

I went to New York, where I did a work session with Jack O'Brien,  the legendary theatrical director. When I walked out of the session, my agent called in literally 2 minutes and said, “You booked it!”

I started crying. I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe this dream was happening. And so that's how it happened. 

Brett Cullum: That's interesting. Cause, you know, who I recently interviewed was Greg Kalafatas, who took over for you as Edna on the tour. So it was weird; things are intersecting.

Nina West: He asked you, “Who are you rooting for in ALLSTARS?” You said, “Oh, I like Nina, but I'm rooting for somebody else.” I read that interview.

Brett Cullum: (quickly changing subject and fidgeting) Well… er… THIS is why we are here today! You, Nina West. You're hosting Murray and Peter's A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS. It will be here on December 17th at the Bayou Music Center. Are you a big Christmas Queen? Are you going to give Shannel a run for her money? 

Nina West: Honey, honey honey, I am the biggest Christmas Queen, I mean. Shannel might have a Christmas business that might make her the Christmas Queen, but I love the holidays! 

What I adore about the holiday season is the kind of overness of it all, how it is so decadent, over the top, and fabulous. It's not the Coco Chanel rule of taking one thing off before you leave the house. It is the opposite. It's like, put five more things on before you leave the house right? It's gaudy. It is so fabulous, and it's a season that reminds us to be our best selves, give of ourselves, and maybe approach the world with a little bit more kindness and joy. And so, in that sense, I am the Christmas Queen because those are things that I intrinsically believe at my core! 

It's my favorite time of the year because it's about joy, hope,  perpetual happiness, and kindness. And yeah, I love it.

Brett Cullum: I'm gonna get back to the tour in just a second. But you hit on kindness, and you're known as the Kindness Queen. How did that start with you? Because I think that many drag artists shoot for something slightly different than that space.  

Nina West: It's not anything I intended to have, like being a moniker for who I was, what I do, or the kind of drag I do, or how people see me right! My exit line was [from Season 9], “Go big. Be kind! Go West.” People saw that and were like, yeah. And I am. That's something I really lean into. True, because it is who I am, through and through, authentic, authentically. 

I'm not pretending to be anything I'm not. I embraced it because I wanted to give it an embodiment. I personally think it's okay to be nice to people. I personally think it's okay to engage with compassion. And I think it's okay to demand that we not be so jaded. Some people see it as a weakness, and some people see it as some kind of cop-out.

I'm a pretty badass entertainer. I have accomplished a lot in my 25 years of doing drag! That allows me the ability to say I just choose not to engage with anything but kindness, love, and compassion. Those are the weapons that I choose to use in my arsenal. 

I think a lot of people respond to that. 

Brett Cullum: You are so amazing for that! Well, who is with you on this tour? 

Nina West: It's Murray and Peter's 10th anniversary for A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS, and it is stacked! It's Sasha Colby, Jimbo, Brooke Lynn Hytes, Plasma, Saphira Cristal, Plane Jane, and Shea Coulee! It is a really rocking lineup! We’ve toured before, and so it's like a family reunion. Roxxy Andrews, Angeria Paris Van Michaels. I mean, it's a great group of people, and we're gonna bring the joy and celebration to the cities near you.

Brett Cullum: And it's booked in one of the biggest venues that I've seen for a drag tour. You're in the Byou Music Center! Popular bands like Megan Thee Stallion play it! It's not just a little teeny club or something! 

It's amazing that you have that pull and that this tour is so big that it could be housed in a center like that! 

You certainly bring a sense of joy to your art form that is just so infectious, and I will say that before the All-Star season, I said, “If there was anybody that I would pick for a friend, it would definitely be Nina West because you always seem to be just the most authentic.”

Luckily, Houston will get to see you on December 17th at the Bayou Music Center, doing the 10th Murray and Peter’s A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS. 

Nina West: Yeah, it's the 10th anniversary, and this is my 3rd one hosting. So yeah, I'm excited to host this big blowout celebrating ten years of Christmas joy. It's fantastic.

Brett Cullum: Everyone should know! This is one of the biggest Christmas tours.

Nina West: It's just us and the Mannheim Steamroller! Look out.

Brett Cullum: Don’t forget the Trans-Siberian Orchestra!

A DRAG QUEEN CHRISTMAS comes to Houston on Tuesday, December 17th, and will be at the Bayou Music Center. Tickets are available through LiveNation and TicketMaster. You can opt for a regular ticket or go ALL in with a VIP package. 

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