Sentimental Men: “Defying Gravity Will Get Me Through This” (with Ginger Minj)

Podcast: Sentimental Men by Broadway Podcast Network
Hosts: Quincy Brown & Kevin Bianchi
Guest: Ginger Minj
Date: September 1, 2025
Episode: 75

Episode Overview

This lively episode celebrates the intersection of drag, Broadway, and fandom as RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10 winner, performer, and theater kid Ginger Minj joins hosts Quincy and Kevin. The main theme explores how Wicked has impacted Ginger’s life and career, her experience as a drag queen with deep musical theater roots, the evolving landscape of drag on Broadway, and her recent iconic Defying Gravity moment in front of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Wicked: A Theater Kid’s Origin Story

• Ginger’s Oz Roots
  • Grew up obsessed with The Wizard of Oz books and film.
  • Read Gregory Maguire’s Wicked novel immediately upon release, before understanding its complexity.
• First Exposure to Wicked (the musical)
  • "I was obsessed from day one. I saw the performance right after the Tony Awards." – Ginger Minj [33:37]
  • Saw Kristin Chenoweth post-Tony loss: “You could tell…there was this air of ‘I just lost the Tony Award to Peter.’” [34:03]

Drag, Comedy, and Performing Identity

• The Influence of Kristin Chenoweth
  • “Glinda…just became so imbued with who I am as a performer and a drag queen. I strive to be that level of petty on stage.” – Ginger [34:32]
• Drag as a Pathway to Community
  • Ginger got into drag by passing as her cousin’s fiancée to get into bars and find a queer community: “I hadn’t really developed who I was as a character… But it was seeing people like Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda that made me go, oh, I can take the things I love…and just become this character.” [35:04]

The Dramaturgy of Wicked: Stage to Screen

• On the Show vs. the Movie
  • “The storytelling’s not there [on stage]. It’s so fast… You don’t have time to really just…sit in those moments with the characters and let them resonate with you. The films have given us a lot of breathing room.” [38:34]
  • Wishes for the stage version’s pacing: “Me, I would have sat 10 hours.” [39:14]
• On Division in Early Reception
  • Wicked initially polarized fans of the Oz books, the MGM movie, and Maguire’s novel, but Ginger believes the musical successfully merges the worlds.

The Evolving World of Drag and Broadway

• Movie Casting Reactions

  • “Cynthia Erivo, I’ve been obsessed with…Nobody can tell a story through song the way she can…Ariana, brilliant comedian and obsessive Oz fan, I knew she cared enough about it that she wasn’t going to screw it up.” [41:27]

• Who Should Play Madame Morrible?

  • Dream casting: “In my spirit, I just really, really, really wanted Bette Midler to do it… If not her, I really wanted Cheryl Lee Ralph…” [41:43]
  • Aspires to play Madam Morrible herself: “I want to play Madam Morrible. Like, that is my broad dream.” [42:24]

• On Drag Queens as Morrible

  • Hosts discuss Gloria Groove’s groundbreaking casting as the first drag queen Madame Morrible in Brazil.
  • “All those women have been in drag… It makes so much sense.” – Kevin [42:41]
  • “Let me play Rue McClanahan as Madame Morrible in Wicked.” – Ginger [43:16]
  • Ginger predicts, “It’s going to take one queen to do it once, and then that’s going to become the norm…It’s just always a drag queen as Madame Morrible.” – Quincy [43:53]

Drag Race, Broadway, and Legit Recognition

• Jinkx Monsoon’s ‘Bespoke’ Path
  • “She’s really like…not just opening doors, she’s kicking them off the hinges so that others of us…are starting to be taken a little more seriously.” – Ginger [46:27]
• Delayed Industry Acknowledgment
  • “It took me 25 years of doing drag, four seasons, over 10 years of RuPaul’s Drag Race…to get people to understand that this is who I have always been as an entertainer.” [47:58]
• Ultimate Broadway Aspiration
  • “I wanted to do Broadway. That was the ultimate goal. I never really saw much of a path for it...” [48:14]
  • Inspired by Harvey Fierstein’s Hairspray: “It made me so excited… I can also win the Tony Award for doing it.” [49:15]

Iconic Lip Sync: Defying Gravity in Front of the Movie Stars

• Filming the Lip Sync (with Diabetti)
  • “Cynthia Rivo stood up and did the whole battle cry as loud as could be. Sent chills through my spine, which is why I was crying before the song even started.” [51:49]
  • “I knew once I saw what the lip sync song was, there’s gonna be nothing that stops me from placing in the top… I need to do this song in front of those two people…this is the turning point for me.” [52:09]
  • “There’s those moments in life where something takes over and you blackout until it’s done…The other was singing I Am What I Am on the Trailblazers for Harvey [Fierstein].” [53:11]
• Honesty Over Trickery
  • On not doing stunts: “It’s one of those songs where you just need to be honest and vulnerable for two minutes. That’s it. And the ones who got it really got it.” [55:25]
  • “I just remember coming to and seeing Ariana just sobbing in the corner.” [54:09]

Ginger’s Studio Version of “Defying Gravity”

• Why Record It?

  • “The more I listened to Defying Gravity, the more it just sunk into my bones, like, oh, this is my anthem. This is my theme song. This is what’s going to get me through this season.” [57:08]

• A Song for the Outcasts

  • “Thank you for putting out a male key of Defying Gravity. As a little boy growing up, I always wanted to sing along to like a male version.” – Quincy [58:13]

Wicked Fandom, Merch, and the Movie Sequel Mania

• Movie 2 Anticipation

  • “I know that the movie is going to destroy me… I’m so invested in the merchandising…We have Gain laundry pod things that are wicked scented. The craziest shit.” [65:11]

• Hopes for Expanded Storytelling

  • “Act II has the most room to expand and build upon. So I’m excited to see what they do in the movie.” – Quincy [67:31]

• Dorothy’s Role in Movie 2

  • “I do [think she’ll have spoken lines]. They would not have kept her identity such a secret…It makes the most sense with setting up Dorothy.” [68:26]
  • On embracing remakes: “The original that you love will always be there… I think we should have as much Oz as often as possible.” [69:44]

• Wicked Converts

  • Ginger shares a heartwarming story of her Oz-resistant sister becoming obsessed with the franchise after seeing Wicked Movie 1. [72:23–74:43]

Career and Current Projects

• On the path ahead: “I’m in P-town right now…Six shows a week… I gotta get my stamina up for Broadway schedule. Broadway’s around the corner…We do have a couple offers on the table.” [75:05]
• Touring with “Hocus Pocus Live” and filming a new (unannounced) movie.
• Recommend’s Ginger’s book Southern Fried Sass: “Definitely a love story to my grandmother and all things Oz.” [77:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Glinda’s Post-Tony-Petty:

  • “[Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda]… That was rhetorical. And it struck me…and that’s when Glinda as a person just became so imbued with who I am as a performer and a drag queen.” – Ginger [34:05]

• On Drag Race’s Impact on Broadway

  • “It took me…four seasons…to get people to understand that this is who I have always been as an entertainer, and this is what my aspirations have always…built up to.” – Ginger [47:58]

• On the Defying Gravity Lip Sync

  • “There’s gonna be nothing that stops me from placing in the top on this challenge…to do this song in front of those two people…this is the turning point for me with drag and Drag Race. Like, marry all of the things that I love into one.” – Ginger [52:09]

• On Broadway Dream Roles

  • “I want to play Madam Morrible. Like, that is my broad dream.” – Ginger [42:24]
  • “Let me play Rue McClanahan as Madame Morrible in Wicked.” – Ginger [43:16]

• On Dorothy & the Future of Wicked

  • “I think we should have as much Oz as often as possible. Keep it alive for the next generation. And that’s what I’m so grateful for.” – Ginger [71:49]

• On Losing Weight, Winning Drag Race, and Merch Mania

  • “This $200,000 could not have hit at an inopportune time…The drag race prize money is your Wicked fund for part two.” – Ginger [67:02–67:06]

Key Timestamps

• Wicked First Impressions & Glinda Petty – [32:26–34:32]
• Drag Race to Broadway Aspirations – [45:22–47:58]
• Defying Gravity Lip Sync Behind-the-Scenes – [51:21–54:09]
• On Recording “Defying Gravity” – [57:08–58:13]
• Movie 2 Merchandise & Fan Mania – [64:36–67:06]
• Dorothy in the Wicked Universe – [67:55–69:44]
• Ginger’s Sister Converts to Wicked Fandom – [72:23–74:43]
• Plans for Broadway, Hocus Pocus Live, Book – [75:05–77:40]

Flow & Takeaways

This episode is a passionate, funny, and deeply affectionate ode to Wicked, queer Broadway fandom, and the resilience and creativity of drag and theater performers. Ginger Minj’s love for all things Oz shines through, as do her insights into the evolution of drag acceptance on Broadway, the impact of representation, and the joy of seeing once-niche fandoms become pop culture events.

Whether you love Wicked for its musical theater bombast, queer-coded storytelling, or its ever-expanding universe, this conversation will make you laugh, reflect, and possibly reach for your own scented Gain pods. Ginger’s dream to one day play Madame Morrible feels closer than ever—and you heard it here first.

For more:

• Listen to Ginger’s cover of “Defying Gravity”
• Read Southern Fried Sass
• Petition for Ginger as Broadway’s first drag Madame Morrible!

“We all live in the bubble.” – Ginger Minj [32:16]