Nicole Scherzinger’s drag queen past & ‘The Big Gay Jamboree’ diva taking over NYC
Sunset Blvd. is “Don’t believe your own press”, Nicole Scherzinger—who’s currently starring in a Broadway revisal of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical—should probably take hers seriously.
She won the prestigious Laurence Olivier award for her performance in London last year and now is set to take Broadway on a wave of hyper-expectations.Scherzinger, of course, plays faded diva Norma Desmond—originally Gloria Swanson in the 1950 movie and Glenn Close in the musical’s first Broadway incarnation in 1994.
Subscribe to our newsletter for a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.Norma is a flamboyant, former silent screen star whose longtime career remission has led her to become bitter, unrealistic and ultimately demented.
But director Jamie Lloyd has reimagined the whole thing, adding contemporary touches and other bold strokes. The New York Times called Scherzinger’s performance “career-defining,” as well as “both captivating and chilling.”Honolulu born and Louisville, Kentucky raised, Scherzinger was the lead singer of the smoldering dance/R&B group the Pussycat Dolls (2003-‘10), a sort of tougher Spice Girls, and scored a string of hits like “Don’t Cha,” “Buttons” and “When I Grow Up,” among others.She went on to a solo career, including being a judge on shows like The X Factor and The Masked Singer.
