Ginger Minj can still remember the first time she saw Hocus Pocus – and the second, and the third, and so on. The 1993 release of the Bette Midler-starring witchy family comedy was a major life event for the future RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise star.
“I was 9 when the movie came out, and I remember that it came out in the summer but we didn’t see it then, because we would always wait until a movie went to the dollar theater next to our house,” said Minj. “And luckily, (Hocus Pocus) went to the dollar theater right around Halloween time, so I would ride my bike over there almost every single day and just spend all of my allowance money watching it.”
For the uninitiated, the live action Disney film stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as a trio of 17th Century witches who are resurrected in then-modern day Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. In 2022, Minj along with fellow Drag Race alumni Kornbread and Kahmora Hall had small roles in the Disney+ sequel, Hocus Pocus 2, as contestants in a Sanderson Sister look-a-like contest.
“I love the fact that it’s Halloween for those of us that love the holiday but hate the horror,” said Minj. “It’s just the right amount of scary for me. But then you mix in Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as basically the Three Stooges in drag and then give them musical numbers on top of it? You can’t beat it, it’s so much fun. It’s so nostalgic and it’s something that is wholly of itself, like you can’t compare it to anything else.”
Minj has turned her love of the film into Hokus Pokus Live!, a traveling drag musical comedy spectacular. Written, directed, co-produced by and co-starring Minj, the winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 10, the 33-city tour plays the Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank, New Jersey on October 15.
In addition to Minj, the tour also features drag stars Jujubee, Sapphira Cristál and Landon Cider.
“We have taken a lot of care to really craft an evening that has something for everybody,” said Minj. “There are 18 musical numbers – a lot of songs that people know, a lot of pop culture references. There are all of the Hocus Pocus moments and references that people want in that Rocky Horror sense of ‘Let me say this with you, I’m waiting for this line,’ but we also throw in enough Drag Race references that those fans who may not even know the Hocus Pocus aspect of it (will be happy); they come in to see a couple of their favorite drag artists from TV, and we wanted to give them those moments as well where they can relive those in the space with us. So there’s really something for everybody. And even if you’ve never seen Drag Race or Hocus Pocus I guarantee you there;s going to be some songs and some references that make you go, ‘Oh, OK, this makes it worth it for me.’”
“Hokus Pokus Live” featuring Ginger Minj plays the Count Basie Center for the Arts, 99 Monmouth St. in Red Bank, New Jersey on Wednesday, Oct. 15. For tickets and more information, click here.
