Two Wilmington Drama League alums team to ‘push the norms of drag’
By Ken Mammarella
Jolene Cuisine, the self-described “drag bear of Delaware,” is getting her first solo show. A Very Hairy Christmas debuts Dec. 6 in Wilmington. Tickets are $15 plus fees for general admission at The Queen, which labels the show 18+. To purchase tickets, visit thequeenwilmington.com.
Zack Langrehr came up with Jolene in 2021, after he was among the thousands laid off at Disney World in the pandemic. “She’s Zack, amped up, gay, flamboyant and as big as possible,” he says, adding that the creation “was like finding the right radio station after listening to a lot of static.”
The character is known for her auburn hair, thanks to many wigs, which he calls “a rotating cast of characters”; her 6-foot stature, plus a few more inches in heels; and her “suspiciously large body.”
“Jolene” is an homage from a Dolly Parton fan to her 1973 hit. “No matter how beautiful a woman might be, you’re always threatened … by other women,” Parton once told NPR about the song.
“Cuisine” plays off the Lean Cuisine brand. “I’ve been embracing my plus size my whole life,” Langrehr says, adding that the surname points out “the ridiculousness of diet culture.”
The show is an evening with Jolene as she prepares for a Christmas party and reminisces about parties past. She “juggles Christmas cravings, being homo for the holidays and an illicit affair with a certain St. Nick.” It runs 80 to 90 minutes and features 15 Christmas songs, some classics, some from musical theater (such as “Never Fall in Love with an Elf,” from Elf), some singalongs and some original parodies, such as “Hardy Daddy Christmas,” adapted from Parton’s work for The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
The show and its venues are all about connections. It’s directed by Jenna Glazier, his date for the 2014 Concord High prom. It’s mostly written by Haley MacMillan, a writer based in Los Angeles who was a sorority sister of Glazier at Emerson College, with input from Langrehr and Glazier.
They began working on the project digitally this summer but, with conflicting schedules, weren’t scheduled to start rehearsals until Thanksgiving weekend. “It will come together organically,” predicts Glazier, a directing major in college.
Performances continue Dec. 11 at SoulJoel’s at SunnyBrook in Pottstown, Pa., where Langrehr has studied comedy; Dec. 18 at Paradise in Asbury Park, N.J, a recommendation from fellow drag queens; and Dec. 21 at The Huntington Theatre in Boston, where Glazier is a digital marketing coordinator.
A Very Hairy Christmas is a different sort of premiere in Boston, where it’s the first program in Huntington Hosts, in which the theater invites creators to, well, create.
“Sometimes the arts can seem serious and overwhelming,” says Glazier, “but Jolene is fun and joyful.”
Langrehr, 28, started acting when he was 10, and he met Glazier, who’s 27, performing in Pillow Plays at the Wilmington Drama League. Jolene portrayed Glinda the Good Witch in the theater’s 2022 production of The Wizard of Oz.
Jolene also hosts a regular show at the Crimson Moon in Wilmington and performs regularly in Rehoboth Beach, often at the Blue Moon and Diego’s. Details at JoleneCuisine.com.
Langrehr, who has a day job in medical scheduling, has given up the bedroom in his Bellefonte apartment for Jolene’s two racks of clothes, her many accessories and her props.
Although many drag queens work to completely feign femininity, Langrehr embraces his beard and body hair. “I’m pushing the norms of drag,” he says.
Above: Zack Langrehr is taking Jolene Cuisine on the road starting with a show this month in Wilmington. Photo by Jonathan Hernandez.
A Delaware native, Ken Mammarella was 18 when he was first paid as a freelance writer, and since then he’s written extensively about the interesting people, places and issues of Delaware and nearby areas. He also teaches at Wilmington University. For fun, he enjoys watching theater and creating it, playing board games and solving crosswords in ink.