Sometimes you have to take the long way home.

World famous drag queen Bianca Del Rio, aka experienced Broadway costumer Roy Haylock, has returned to New York City after a 15-year whirlwind. 

One of RuPaul's Drag Race's most popular winners, Del Rio has established an unshakeable brand as one of the wittiest queens around, known for her deft comedic timing and highly capable emcee abilities. With countless screen roles and several high profile stage productions in the UK and Los Angeles under her belt, she has returned to the city to star as Madame Pernelle in Lucas Hnath's new adaptation of Molière Tartuffe, running November 28, 2025–January 24, 2026 at New York Theatre Workshop. Opening night is set for December 16.

READ: Tartuffe Is a Weapon In This Dark Age of Misinformation and Fake News

"I lived in New York for many years," Del Rio shares, nestled in her apartment on her final day off before the beginning of Tartuffe's technical rehearsals. "This is my first time back in the city in about 10 years, for any real length of time. When I'm touring on the road, I've come in and done a show or two, but it is so nice to actually be back for a significant spell."

A native of New Orleans, Del Rio moved north after the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina. Once in New York, she split her time between the city's robust late 2000s nightclub scene and the costume shops and cutting rooms of Broadway, where she worked as a costumer for a wide variety of shows, ballets, and operas. For a time, she even held a staff position with the legendary Barbara Matera, Ltd. As she told Playbill back in 2014, shortly after winning Drag Race, "I knew someone who knew someone who knew someone who worked at Barbara Matera. They had done La Cage, they had done everything. And suddenly, I was in a room full of genius people, and that's who I was working with right up until Drag Race."

Flash forward a decade, and Del Rio is somewhat agog to finally be making her onstage Off-Broadway debut. "I said yes before I even know what was going on," Del Rio laughs, her voice a warm bark. "It's been a big excitement. The process has been so much fun." 

Del Rio is playing Madame Pernelle, the outspokenly stubborn mother of Orgon in Molière's famous farce. Equal parts grating and guffaw-inducing, she is Elmire's mother-in-law from hell, and the most devoted follower of the con-man Tartuffe. "I would like to tell you that it's so far from who I am, that it's rather difficult—but it's really easy," Del Rio chuckles. "The advantage, I think, is that she is a heightened character with a very strong opinion, which I can relate to in my drag career. It's not that far from who I am on stage as Bianca, so I'm not shocked by it, nor am I afraid of it. Now, it is a lot of dialogue, but once I have the words down, it's not that much of a stretch."

Unlike Del Rio's critically lauded UK and Los Angeles run in Everybody's Talking About Jamie, where she was credited as "Roy Haylock (AKA Bianca Del Rio)," the Del Rio persona is front row center for Tartuffe. "Lucas is the prime reason why I'm involved. When he was adapting the material, he felt that the character of Madame Pernelle reminded him a lot of Bianca. He is a huge fan of Drag Race, he and his wife had watched many episodes, and he told me that throughout the process of adapting the show, he just kept hearing me as the opinionated queen. For Everybody's Talking About Jamie, because I was playing a character who was a man in drag in the show, we went with Roy as Bianca. But for this, I'm playing a fully fledged character who just so happens to be in drag, so we went with Bianca as Madame Pernelle."

It's a choice that is historically fitting. In spite of what more regressive theatregoers may assume, gender-blind casting was a common sight in early modern European theatre (and no, not just in Shakespeare's day, when it was frowned upon for women to perform on stage). In the original 1644 Versailles production of Tartuffe, the role of Madame Pernelle was originated by the actor Louis Béjart, who was Molière's brother-in-law. The role has been regularly cast outside of the gender binary ever since. 

"Anybody who assumes that it hasn't been done before in show business in wrong," Del Rio states, matter-of-factly. "It's all been done."

After receiving the call from Hnath, Del Rio was left with the task of familiarizing herself with the bones of the show without being able to read Hnath's specific script: Hnath has developed a brand-new translation for this production, which has remained in flux through rehearsals. "I said yes to my agent immediately, and then I searched YouTube to figure out what I had agreed to. I found this high school version, and within the first two minutes, there was a young girl in old lady character makeup running around screaming and hollering. And I thought, 'Well, that's got to be the role for me.' And I've been doing my homework ever since. The whole cast has."

The production is packed to the brim with stars, including Tony winner Matthew Broderick as Tartuffe, Emmy winner David Cross (Arrested Development) as Orgon, Obie winner Emily Davis (Is This A Room) as Mariane, Tony nominee Amber Gray (Hadestown) as Elmire, Obie winner Ryan J. Haddad (Dark Disabled Stories) as Damis, Tony winner Francis Jue (Yellow Face) as Cleante, Tony winner Lisa Kron (Fun Home) as Dorine, and Emmy nominee Ikechukwu Ufomadu (Ziwe) as Valére. 

"We've all been finding ways to play tennis on stage," Del Rio shares, referring to the pace of the language. "Lucas has been making cuts and changes daily, really keeping us on our toes as the piece is custom fit. It's daunting at times, but when it works, we're flying."

While Del Rio has been rehearsing in heels, she has otherwise been out of drag during work sessions, which has been a source of humor. "Sometimes they forget. Someone in the cast mentioned to me, 'Oh, you're pretty good on those heels.' And I went, 'Well, with 30 years of experience, I should be!' They've been rehearsing with a 50-year-old gay man, and I think that they're going to be quite shocked when I show up in full makeup for tech. I go through quite the transformation."

While the painted face of Del Rio is world famous, she has tweaked her usual makeup plot for the role of Madame Pernelle. "It was a dialogue between me and Enver [Chakartash, the show's costume designer]. I don't want to hide Bianca—but a change of an eyebrow, a change of a lipstick, a more of a powdered face, it adds up. I must say, I'm looking forward to how my drag fans will respond to it." 

Del Rio has developed a particular fun dynamic with Cross, who plays her son, and Broderick, who plays the object of her devotion. "I did not know David before this, as a person in real life, although I was aware of his work. Playing with him has been a treat. He's just a hoot. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe that this is his first full play altogether, and he's playing a huge part in this. He doesn't do things small, that Mr. Cross. And Matthew Broderick, what can I say? He is one of the most amusing, charming, funny men ... I've had three weeks with him, and we are cackling every day in rehearsal. I thoroughly enjoy him, and I can't wait till we actually do the show. The laughter is gonna get much worse, and we do have a little time backstage with one another, so that could lead to trouble."

She then adds, playfully, "But I've been warned. I was warned by Harvey Fierstein about him already in advance, so I'm ready. It's a mutual respect society."

As Del Rio faces down the beginning of performances November 28, she can't help but consider why Tartuffe has re-entered the zeitgeist after more than 350 years. "Nothing has changed. Something like this happens every so many years, apparently. Madame Pernelle is so devout to this ridiculousness that's happening. And let's just say, I have relatives that are kind of [like] Madame Pernelle, that don't want to hear it, that believe what they believe. And you know, it's locked in. There's no way around it. And even if you're not related to them, you definitely know people like that today."

While that aspect can be exhausting, Del Rio's overall emotion surrounding the production is gratitude. "This wasn't something that was on my bingo card but, you know, the theatre gods came together and worked it out. Lucas' adaptation is brilliant. And hey, I think it's worth the time to come see it, and kind of escape the world that we're in right now. They survived it then, and we will survive it now."