While 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park still packs plenty of fun (and plenty of Jeff Goldblum) into its two-hour runtime, it’s not exactly what one might call a camp classic. It’s possible to squeeze some sass out of familiar lines like “clever girl” and “hold onto your butts,” but the franchise’s sequels have only gotten more self-serious and openly ridiculous, tanking any queer frisson. If you’re looking for Pink Flamingos with velociraptors, this ain’t it.
And yet, leave it to the genius minds—and advantageous timing—behind Jurassiq Parq (Thu/10-August 2 at Oasis, SF) to activate the queer DNA embedded in Michael Creighton’s initial premise of hissing, reanimated dinosaurs munching on doomed scientists. Writer Michael Phillis of raucous gay-hunk burlesque revue Baloney and 2024 drag musical “Sqream” (“also with a Q! Everything with a Q!”) has come up with a Jurassic spin that includes “outrageous drag, fierce dance, over-the-top puppets, dino divas, hypnotic kazoos, soaring pop vocals, and a musical soundtrack of singalong ’90s and ’00s hits.”
Yes, there’s a giant magenta T. Rex.
“The first Scream movie came out in 1996, when I was in high school, and that franchise still exists with a lot of the same people involved. It’s the same with Jurassic Park—now we’re seven movies in,” the fabulously animated Phillis told me over Zoom from rehearsals. “With both of these long-running franchises, it’s like these are the myths of our childhood. They haven’t left us, and yet they are still so rooted in the past. So it was just a natural fit that we transformed them into jukebox musicals of nostalgic hits, pulling out snippets of favorite songs to match the moments, or play humorously against the moments, that we remember. Well, kind of remember—it may have been a long time since people have watched the originals!”
The parody—which features some incredible local drag talent like Snaxx, Vanilla Meringue, Barbie Bloodless, and Kitty Litter—plays off the original script, teasing out some of the juicier aspects. “All of the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park are female, so there’s no unauthorized breeding,” Phillis said. “So of course when we introduce the raptors, they’re a fabulous girl group, which gives us so many options form the ’90s to play with. We had to throw a little Destiny’s Child their way. A little ‘Lady Marmalade’ with Xtina and Lil Kim. The raptors sort of end up being our Greek chorus, commenting on the action. While also they’re the villains that want to eat everybody up.”
Other moments are more, er, conceptual. “Our version is immersive. You’re actually there, in the park, and it’s all around you. The raptors break out and they’re free in the audience, they’re dancing through, it’s that thrill you felt as a kid. So you know, of course we have to do the scene with the huge pile of dino-crap that Laura Dern just plunges her arms into. What’s the song for that? Well, you’ve got a triceratops right there. There’s somebody playing the triceratops. Clearly it’s time for Sir Mix-A-Lot’s ‘Baby Got Back,’ with Laura Dern in the shit and a triceratops twerking behind her. That just fell into place.”
Besides the hilarious playfulness, Phillis took some liberties with the story to make some deeper points. “I don’t want to give too much away, but we’ve flipped the ‘stoic white male savior’ trope of the original on its head. This is a female-led production, in a female-led paradise, in which I believe we only have three male-identified cast members. There’s some major gender-swapping going on, and we have a blast with it while celebrating that women are both the heroes and the villains of our story.”
Beyond that, it’s all a queer hoot. “Look, anything I write is just going to be queer,” Phillis laughs. “How are you not going to throw a wig on these raptors? Put them up in some heels and some fierce claw manicures. Give those dinos some clack fans!”
JURASSIQ PARQ: A MUSIQAL PARODY runs Thu/10-August 2 at Oasis, SF. Tickets and more info here.
