Audacy New York’s Foxx & Annie at CBS-FM had a chance to catch up with New Kids On The Block’s Joey McIntyre to talk all about his holiday season single, "A Brand New Christmas,” from his brand new Christmas movie Jingle Bell Love, as well as his experience starring in Off-Broadway’s Drag: The Musical, and his upcoming performance at Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
LISTEN NOW: Foxx & Annie talk with Joey McIntyre
Catching up for the first time since Joey and his NKOTB bandmates performed at Audacy’s We Can Survive concert back in September, McIntyre, said that experience “was unbelievable,” noting how going out into the crowd to serenade fans is, “the oldest trick in the book that no one seems to figure out.” He also acknowledged, “We’ve been doing that since we were like teenagers… because we just have a desire to win over the crowd.” Joey adds, “I mean that show is amazing, so many great artists. It's fun to share the stage with other artists and just feel the different energy, and it was a blast. It’s Audacy, it's a great cause…it’s a great spirit.”
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Moving on to talk about his Christmas contributions, Joey shared, “I have a Christmas movie coming out… called Jingle Bell Love…on the Roku… And I wrote a Christmas song for the movie… called “A Brand New Christmas.”
“I asked Shoshana Bean, who's an amazing singer… two-time Tony nominee,” to duet with him on the love song, Joey continued, noting how Bean’s currently starring in Hell's Kitchen on Broadway, “and it's great.”
Speaking of Broadway, Joey is currently spending his workdays at the theater, leading in Drag: The Musical, an Off-Broadway musical currently at New Worlds Stage.
The musical’s storyline centers around two rival drag clubs, each facing its own set of troubles. Joey plays the character of Tom, an accountant and estranged brother to one of the drag queens. Because of his job, Tom is tasked with helping the clubs and queens with their financial troubles.
Still going on for a few weeks into December, Joey shared how his experience of starring in the show has been. “Well, I'm a theater kid," he says. "I grew up in the theater and I've been lucky enough to do Broadway and Off-Broadway, and to originate a role in a new show in New York is a big deal,” he said of his role in Drag.
“It's a full-on legit musical scorebook, the whole thing,” McIntyre continued. “Some people think they're getting a drag brunch and they're like, oh this is a real show, it’s real legit. The reviews have been great and you know people are showing up, so it's fantastic.”
He went on to rave about how, “the Queens are like world-famous, a lot of them have been on 'Drag Race' and they have a huge following, but they're great singers, great actors. We're really telling a story, it’s fun, but it has a lot of heart too,” after sharing that he's scheduled to be in the show until December 9, “but hopefully it's gonna go on for a long time.”
Continuing to chat about his booked and busy holiday season, Joey is set to perform at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. So, be sure to look out for the '80s icon on the Brach's candy float.
Clueing us in to his performance plan, McIntyre revealed, the float will “stop in front of Macy's and I'll sing ‘A Brand New Christmas’ from the movie," adding, “you can't get more holiday in New York and I mean there's only one Macy's Day parade.”
"So we had this debate on the show," he explains, "where for me it's like once Santa waves at the end of the parade, it's time to put the tree up, the lights up, where other people saying no, no, no, they got theirs up way before Thanksgiving."
The three also discussed when they think is the appropriate and proper time to bring out the Christmas decorations, whether its before or after Thanksgiving. Plus, Joey weighed in on his preference between white and colored lights, real or fake Christmas trees, and Lasagna vs. Turkey for Thanksgiving.
McIntyre also talked about New Kids on the Block’s residency at Park MGM in Las Vegas, which will be kicking off in June of 2025, as well as his full-length LP Freedom, a semi-biographical album that explores his upbringing and path to pop stardom, set to arrive in early 2025.
To catch it all, listen to Joey’s entire interview with CBS-FM's Foxx & Annie above.