Jews have always been involved in drag arts. (For reference: Yiddish drag king Pepi Litman, Sadie, Sadie the Rabbi Lady or any JCC during Purim.) But thanks to “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Jewish drag queens like Jinx Monsoon, Sasha Velour and Miz Cracker have been catapulted to stardom over the last 15 years. It seems like season 16 contestant Plane Jane is about to join their ranks.
Here are 18 things to know about Jewish drag queen Plane Jane.
1. Plane Jane was born Andrew Dunayevskiy on Feb. 4, 1998 to a Jewish family.
2. She’s an Aquarius!
3. Plane Jane is the daughter of Russian-Jewish immigrants and grew up in Boston.
4. In Russian, her surname “Dunayevskiy” derives from the word for the Danube River.
5. She was a competitive ballroom dancer as a child.
6. She attended Northeastern University.
7. She doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but is willing to capitalize on it!
8. Plane Jane has been doing drag since about 2018 and her first introduction to it was through Boston Drag Gauntlet.
9. She’s fluent in Russian and claims to be the first fluent Russian speaker on “Drag Race.” (Jewish drag queen Sasha Velour also speaks Russian though, so…)
10. In her first ever drag show, she lip synced to “Did It on’em” by Nicki Minaj.
11. Check out her entrance into the “Drag Race” Werk Room:
12. On “Drag Race,” she has opened up about her experience with homophobia as a child.
“My dad took my dolls away and said that ‘only nasty disgraceful faggots play with dolls,’” Plane Jane told contestant Xunami Muse in episode six. “One day I remember coming into my room and seeing that my dolls got replaced with fire trucks. It was made very clear to me at a young age, even though I wasn’t quite aware of what homosexuality was, that the effeminate wasn’t good.”
She added, “Listen, I don’t blame my dad. My dad’s a Russian Jewish immigrant. Russia is a very homophobic country. It’s hard to sort of just move past that signal. We grew up in a Russian immigrant circle, essentially. I wasn’t afforded the luxury of feeling that my parents would accept me no matter what, just because of the way that Russian culture is.”
13. Her first mainstage look on the show was deeply inspired by her Russian heritage.
14. Watch her scandalously slay this lip sync for the win!
15. In the same episode, she released her debut single “Burger Finger.”
16. She can be a little shady…
@rupaulsdragrace the library is OPEN 🤭 #DragRace #RPDR #shade #reading #dragqueen #drag #shady #lol
17. But she’s tired of being called a mean girl or a villain on the show.
This discourse about “mean girls” and attacking somebody is so tired. IT’S A COMPETITION. It ain’t personal, it’s drag.
— Aeroflot Zhannochka (@the_planejane) February 17, 2024
18. Being on “Drag Race” was an important goal for Plane Jane.
“‘Drag Race’ has been a long-term dream of mine and being on the show, being behind the cameras, was fantastic,” Plane Jane told the Boston Globe. “It was kind of like a fever dream — you’re intimidated, but at the same time, it’s like, holy [expletive], I’m here. I made it.”
She went on, “Getting on the show has really affirmed my hard work and who I am as a performer. It’s made me feel even more confident and even more sure of myself.”
