Touring the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Set with Nymphia Wind
Today, join AD for a gagworthy tour of the ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ set with Season 16 winner Nymphia Wind. From the creative space of the Werk Room to the showstopping main stage, take a behind-the-scenes look at where the ‘Drag Race’ magic happens.
Transcript
00:00Hello, AD. It's me, Nymphia Nguyen,
00:02your current reigning champion of Season 16 of RuPaul's Drag Race.
00:06I'm going to be your godmother for today,
00:08and we're going to take you on a tour on the set of RuPaul's Drag Race.
00:12And here, in this maxi challenge,
00:15you're going to have some behind-the-scenes scoop
00:17on where magic happens and where icons are born.
00:20Insert glitter on the hands.
00:22I am standing in the alleyway,
00:31and here is where the queens line up before they walk into the workroom.
00:36And I remember standing here before my first time walking in,
00:39and all I could think to myself was, you know,
00:41just enjoy the moment.
00:43As I walked through the banana peel first and walked out,
00:47did my little iconic shuffle, slipped on the banana peel,
00:51and fell while all the other queens thought I actually fell.
00:55And here I was, created a iconic entrance, if I say so myself.
01:01Bananas!
01:03This workroom has created so many drag icons,
01:06and it has created so many memorable and iconic moments for queer people.
01:10Everyone gets their own little closet area to hang up all their life's work, their clothes.
01:15So these golden doors beside me,
01:17this is the Rue door, where Rue walks in and says,
01:21good morning, it's time for a new challenge.
01:24And also to note, ladies and gentlemen,
01:27this was the first time when you walk into the workroom that you would meet Rue.
01:31It's such a gag moment.
01:39Because you always see Mama Rue on TV for so long,
01:42and to actually see the doors open in real life,
01:45and her walking down those stairs in her beautiful suit,
01:49is such a moment to remember.
01:51Also in these workrooms, on the walls, you could see Mama Rue everywhere,
01:54because she is here to remind us how we must strive to be like Mama Rue.
02:05I miss this so much.
02:06Welcome, Squirrel Friends.
02:08For the first time in Drag Race Herstory,
02:11our incredible cast and crew will be giving you a gag-worthy behind-the-scenes tour.
02:18But please, be careful not to slip on the charisma,
02:23uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
02:25Because baby, it's everywhere.
02:27Amen.
02:30And Mama Rue didn't tell everybody,
02:32but she secretly told me,
02:34Nymphia Wind.
02:35No, she would say, Banana Queen.
02:38No, actually, correction, Banana Girl.
02:41Today's Maxi Challenge for you is to give a tour with AD,
02:45and don't f*** it up.
02:51This workroom is very synthetic, very over-the-top, almost surreal.
02:57You know, there are not a lot of spaces in the real world that are this big,
03:00with this many stage lights.
03:01I think it's really charming that they let them come in one by one,
03:05because it is a little bit overwhelming just to be in this space
03:08that they have fantasized about being for such a long time.
03:11I remember walking in and seeing the whole space of the workroom.
03:16I said to myself,
03:17this workroom is actually massive.
03:19Because, you know, on camera, you only see a side.
03:23There are spaces for you to walk around, prance, and just be yourself.
03:27And here, we are at the mirror, where you paint your face.
03:31This is where the girls kiki.
03:33This is where relationships are built.
03:35And these are the moments where vulnerability can really happen.
03:38I never got that much time with my dad after we made up,
03:42and he saw what drag could be.
03:48Can we all give you a hug?
03:54A huge portion of the show is actually shot in a camera hide
03:58that is behind two-way mirrors.
03:59So when the queens are doing their makeup,
04:01we're actually looking at them directly in the face,
04:04because our mirrors can see them, but they can't see us.
04:07It's always historic that the eliminated queen of that episode
04:10writes on the mirror.
04:11And I, fortunately enough, didn't have to do it
04:14because I was never eliminated.
04:15But now I get to have the full experience of Drag Race,
04:18because now A.D. has me writing on the mirror
04:21because they tried to sashay me away.
04:25But, you know, here goes my message.
04:28A.D.
04:31This is actually harder than I thought.
04:34So I ran out of lipsticks, but what it says on the mirror is,
04:37A.D., you are bananas.
04:40Love you.
04:47The inspirations for the show come from all sorts of places.
04:51Like, we might need to design a tacky mansion,
04:54or we might need to design a park.
04:58But a lot of times, we're always trying to figure out
05:00how to make it draggier.
05:02And that's probably a word that we use daily.
05:04It could be a basketball, and somebody is like,
05:07can you make it draggy?
05:08And so I think the whole team has become accustomed
05:12to preparing themselves to make all of the props draggier.
05:16And that's probably something that doesn't exist on any other show.
05:19In Bruno's Golden Hopper are 11 balls with your names on them.
05:25Let's go.
05:26We're an art department.
05:27We do a lot of custom fabrication,
05:29and we augment a lot of store-bought things.
05:31So we have an entire massive assortment of glitter and sparkly things.
05:36And there is no limit to what we can add glitter and sequins to.
05:41And most of the props that come through the space
05:43end up getting glitter at some point.
05:45We use a lot of hot colors.
05:47We use a lot of bright colors.
05:48We use a ton of sequins.
05:50And I don't think that's ever going to change.
05:52I think it's important that when the audience is flipping through the channels,
05:57that it's instantly recognizable.
05:58This show is actually really zany and pretty random.
06:02We have a massive assortment of strange props.
06:05We have all sorts of unconventional things
06:09that you would not think that you would need on a drag show.
06:12But with drag, anything goes.
06:14I don't know why we have so many traffic cones.
06:16And of course, dress forms, musical instruments, furniture, and more.
06:20Production design on Drag Race is really unique.
06:22I think in a lot of ways, our show resembles a sketch comedy show.
06:27And a lot of times, if something could be funnier,
06:30or it could be more witty, there are a lot of changes on the fly.
06:34We would have maybe about a week for any sort of big build.
06:38But once in a while, if Mama Rue really wants to see something happen,
06:42we're going to have to take a hard turn,
06:43and we're just going to have to make it happen.
06:44The general prep time for a bigger episode is anywhere from a day to a week.
06:58Welcome, everyone.
07:00We are here at the Untucked Lounge, where everything comes untucked.
07:06Where all the drama happens, where everyone lets loose,
07:09take their shoes off, let their tights out.
07:12And we're here just chilling, lounging, kiki-ing, drinking,
07:17and most importantly, remembering the lip-sync song.
07:23You know those moments in Untucked Lounge
07:25when you just see the people lounging, and kiki-ing, drinking, and having a chat.
07:29And then behind, you can see two queens or three on their little headphones.
07:38It's just, you know, practicing.
07:39Because, you know, no one wants to go home.
07:41I have to spill the beans.
07:42After season 16, this new set has grown in size.
07:47The Untucked Lounge has become way bigger, way more spacious.
07:52Our Untucked Lounge is pretty much entirely full of Easter eggs.
07:57We decorate it solely with scenery and props from previous episodes.
08:03We have this shiny mop, because who doesn't like gay sh**?
08:06And the shade button is still here, but very unpressable.
08:12In the spirit of Untucked, we're gonna f**k sh** up.
08:15Let's go.
08:22Before you walk onto the main stage, you're gonna look into the mirror and say to yourself,
08:28you got this, b**ch, because you are what that b**ch.
08:31The energy behind the main stage is always, to me, very serious.
08:35And a moment to reflect and calm your nerves and to take deep breaths.
08:39And you know what?
08:40Just have fun, because you have nothing left to lose.
08:43And then you would walk out, and you would be like,
08:45I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so excited.
08:50And then you would walk out, hit the main stage,
08:57and the rest is history!
09:06This particular year, we moved to a new stage.
09:08There was literally no flooring, no walls.
09:12And so we took a template from previous years,
09:15just to figure out what the optimal camera angles are, and those didn't change.
09:19When I was thinking about what this set should look like,
09:22I was really inspired by the beautiful building on Hollywood Boulevard that's in Art Deco style.
09:29And I just thought that it would be really incredible to nod to that style,
09:32especially because we're in Los Angeles.
09:34A lot of Art Deco buildings have a bit of a crown on the facade,
09:39and I thought since, you know, this is very much a show about pageantry and beauty,
09:44as much as it is about, you know, humor and talent,
09:47I kind of wanted to create a set that had a little bit of a crown
09:51and was a modern take on an Art Deco building.
09:55We decided to incorporate a floor that lights up in a T-shape.
10:00That way, when you have your queen on the right and you have your queen on the left,
10:04they're able to go head to head.
10:06But when we're trying to de-emphasize the T-shape,
10:08we can turn the lights off and then the stage can be a little bit more of a blank palette.
10:13This is where icons are born.
10:15This is where it all goes down.
10:17Sweat, tears, dreams shattering, dreams being built.
10:21Everything happens on the main stage.
10:23And, you know, let's be honest, drag is already over the top enough as it is.
10:27And so I think the goal is always to make sure that the queen really shines.
10:32We want to make sure our scenery is taking a back seat
10:34because there's just so much to appreciate in drag
10:37and everybody's really just paying attention to the queens.
10:39So I think the goal is for the scenery not to be distracting.
10:47What you also don't see on the film set is outside of this judging panel,
10:52there are also people on the production team viewing you.
10:56So in a sense, there is actually an audience.
10:59One of the things we have to accommodate is we have to be able to make sure
11:03that a camera person can get everywhere they need to go at any time,
11:08which is very hard to predict.
11:10You know, these queens might do something hysterical
11:12and they might death drop onto the floor.
11:14And so we just need to make sure that, you know, the floor is completely clear,
11:18that the stage has a lot of vantage points.
11:20In this set, there's probably around seven to ten cameras that are filming us.
11:25You got Rue's camera, and then there are like around three to four cameras
11:30straight facing us all, capturing our faces as we get critiqued
11:34or complimented or get sashayed away.
11:36Then we have another camera on a crane that flies around
11:39capturing all the magical moments of us queens standing on stage.
11:44But before we go on to the main stage,
11:47we also have to walk from the workroom to the main stage.
11:50And that, sisters, is around a block and a half walk in this geish.
11:57But Drag Race is very kind and they have prepared golf carts.
12:01But sometimes I just like to walk because I just want to
12:04accidentally stumble upon something that I'm not meant to see.
12:07One thing on set, whenever there's a queen walking,
12:09the production team, the PAs, will scream,
12:13Queens walking!
12:15Queens walking!
12:21I am sitting on the bane of my existence.
12:24This is the judging panel and I am in shock mode right now
12:28because I am seeing this whole set in a different lens.
12:32The lens of a judge.
12:34I feel very powerful.
12:36I am sorry, my dear, but you are up for elimination.
12:43Oh, I need to do the roo laugh.
12:48Wow, that was a lip sync.
12:52Give it up for the lighting crew and all the production team.
12:56All right, AD, I have heard enough, but it is my decision to make.
13:01And unfortunately, it is time for you to sashay away.
13:08Goodbye.
13:10You will be missed.
13:14And remember, if you can't love yourself,
13:16how in the hell are you going to love yourself if you can't love yourself?
13:19And if you can't love yourself,
13:20how in the hell are you going to love yourself if you can't love yourself?
13:23If you can't love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else?
13:26Can I get an amen up in here?