Pictured: RuPaul's right-hand woman Michelle Visage joins Everybody's Talking About Jamie.
The show’s producer, Nina Burns, said Visage blew them all away at auditions with her “fantastic singing voice” and “charismatic stage presence.”
It has just been announced today, in what seems like a dream casting for RuPaul fans, that Michelle Visage, long-standing judge on the popular reality competition series, RuPaul's Drag Race, will be joining the cast of Everybody's Talking About Jamie. The multi-talented singer and television personality will be playing the role of Miss Hedge from 18 October 2018 to 26 January 2019.
Everybody's Talking About Jamie follows the life of Jamie New (played by award-winning actor John McCrea), a schoolboy in his eleventh year who dreams of someday becoming a drag queen and attending his school prom in drag. Michelle Visage’s character, career teacher Miss Hedge, is the antagonist of the story and tells Jamie to “get real,” even going so far as to criticise him for wearing makeup and eventually banning him from attending the prom.
On being cast as Miss Hedge in Everybody's Talking About Jamie, Michelle Visage said, “The reason I chose this show, in particular, is because of the very important message it tells. It is a great show with great music and talent but more importantly, it’s about love, truth and the tenacity of the human spirit! I can’t wait to help audiences fall in love with the show the way I did when I saw Everybody's Talking About Jamie for the first time and understand why everyone REALLY IS talking about Jamie!”
Michelle Visage began her career in the entertainment industry as a singer and dancer. In 1990, she joined an R&B dance vocal trio called Seduction, but her breakout in music was when she became the lead vocalist for another dance act called The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M., whose single “It’s Gonna Be a Lovely Day,” a cover of Bill Withers’ “Lovely Day,” was included on the soundtrack for the 1992 film, The Bodyguard starring Whitney Houston. The song shot to #1 on the Billboard dance charts that year and brought Visage into the mainstream.
In 1996, Visage joined RuPaul as a co-host on the VH1 talk show and comedy sketch show, The RuPaul Show. She became a household name when she replaced Merle Ginsberg as judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race in 2011 and has played an active role in the series and its spinoffs ever since, including RuPaul's Drag Race: Untucked and RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars. Visage is also known for being a finalist in Celebrity Big Brother 2015, coming in fifth place, and most recently appeared as judge on Ireland’s Got Talent.
Her casting in Everybody's Talking About Jamie seems more than fitting given her incredible singing talent and the popular motto on RuPaul’s Drag Race, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else!”, which seems to carry one of the many key messages in Jamie.
After receiving overwhelmingly rave reviews and having won three WhatsOnStage Awards this year, including Best New Musical, it was recently announced a few months ago that Everybody's Talking About Jamie would be adapted into a major motion picture.
Everybody's Talking About Jamie is now playing at the Apollo Theatre and booking until 6 April 2019. Come see why Jamie is the talk of the town and book your tickets to Everybody's Talking About Jamie, now starring Michelle Visage this autumn and winter!
Purchase your Everybody’s Talking About Jamie tickets.
Please note: Due to filming commitments for Ireland’s Got Talent, Michelle Visage will NOT be performing between 20 and 29 November 2018.