DeLaria the drag king.

Lea DeLaria hits Broadway with dual drag roles

Lea DeLaria doesn't miss a beat when asked what she likes best about starring in the Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, "I get to French-kiss [costar] Joan Jett for five bars," gushes DeLaria, who plays male twice, as the motorcycle-loving Eddie and scientist Dr. Scott, in the musical. "I've loved her since the Runaways."

DeLaria, who made her name as an unabashedly out comic working for years on the stand-up circuit, has had a lot more to crow about lately than smooching her teen idol. Since she won rave reviews for her role as the very heterosexual Hildy in the Broadway production of 0n The Town in 1998, job offers have been pouring in. She'll next appear in Further Tales of the City, which will air in 2001 on Showtime. Also in 2001, in addition to rocking on in Rocky, she'll release Like a Version, a compilation of jazz renditions of Broadway songs, and give voice to a character on the WB cartoon The Oblongs, With all these projects in the works, DeLaria has no plans to go back to the stand-up circuit. "I sang at the Hollywood Bowl last year," she says with an air of satisfaction. "I don't need to go back to the Improv."

DeLaria is no stranger to the "Time Warp." "When I first saw the movie, it had just come out as a regular film," she recalls. "I was a 13-year-old on a date with a boy--if you can believe that. By the time they got to `Sweet Transvestite,' the only other people who were there--this 80-year-old couple--walked out." About a year later, DeLaria went back to see Rocky Horror again as the movie started developing its famous cult following. When she and her friends picked out their favorite characters, DeLaria always wanted to be tough guy Eddie. "They said I couldn't be Eddie because I was a girl," she says with a laugh.

So when she got the call to audition for the role of Magenta in the Broadway production, she immediately agreed--but only on the condition that she could try out for Eddie as well. She floored producers with her gutsy performance and won the role instantly. "No one had a chance after I sang it," she says with characteristic bravado.

Still, this incarnation of Rocky is hardly the underground phenomenon it once was. "Families are coming with kids," says DeLaria. "When I was a kid, my mom was spread-eagle in front of the door trying to stop me from seeing it." Does she think the broader audience signifies some social evolution? "It's not changing the world; it's a night's entertainment," she says.

While bemoaning the fact that she's "getting laid less" during her shift to the stage, DeLaria says she can still turn to her girlfriend--whom she refuses to name--for affection. "I've been dating a woman for a while, but we're not monogamous. I don't believe in it," she says. Then, shifting seamlessly into stand-up mode, she adds, "I want to take this opportunity to tell Ellen [DeGeneres] the way to get over [Anne Heche] is to start banging 'em two at a time. Do not get into another relationship. Stop fucking straight girls. I speak from experience!"

Meers is managing editor of Paper magazine,