Playwright: John Mercurio (music and lyrics); Jem Jender, Andrew Kato, John Mercurio (book)
At: Lakeshore Theater, 3175 N. Broadway
Phone: (773) 472-3492; $42.50-$45.50
Runs through: Jan. 2, 2005
The press materials for this 'sassy new musical with big hair' call Diva Diaries 'a cross between The Birdcage and A Chorus Line.' This is somewhat true, albeit an unbalanced view. Other than a show about drag queens, it has very little in common with The Birdcage. And, even though a Chorus Line doesn't have any drag queens, this show has a whole lot in common with the soul-baring musical hit of the 1980s.
The set up here is near perfect for epiphanies and exploring one's past mistakes and triumphs. Three drag queens, Damsel ('Damsel In Dis Dress'), Cleareen, and Randee are in their dressing room, preparing for their last night at Pandora's Box, their showbiz home for the last 30 years. The girls reminisce (how they first met, what their dreams were, how their dreams failed them, how life has dished out disappointment and heartache, and what kept them going and allowed them to hope), and provide a kaleidoscopic portrait of not only their personal changes (young and older ladies are performed by two trios of actors), but a record of the times, reflected in the costumes and music of the '70s, '80s, and '90s. The girls sing (and each one, in true drag queen fashion, has her big moment, high on emotion, harmony, and the celebration of just how far vocal cords can be stretched). The girls dance. The girls fight.
It's all great fun. The words that come to mind first to describe Diva Diaries are crowd-pleasing. Although each girl has had her disappointments that make for some darker moments, the play is overall upbeat, energizing, and, well, a blast. You'll laugh. You'll cry. And that's just what the creators behind this want; you have just been skillfully and slickly manipulated. But manipulation is not always a bad thing, not when you have the peerless talents of local drag queen royalty Alexandra Billings (not really a drag queen in the truest sense, but certainly in spirit) and Honey West acting, singing, and dancing their little hearts out as two of the older members of the trio. Berwick Hayes, as the presumably straight 'thespian,' who ends up turning a temporary gig into a lifetime as Randee, also digs right down to the bottom of his soul to create a character who's bigger than life, but credible and sympathetic all the same. Paul Tomack, Ty Perry, and Jay L. Johnson also provide plenty of show-stopping magic as the younger versions of our girls.
Everything—set (Robert Andrew Kovach), lighting (Gregory Bloxham), sound (Nathaniel Hare), and especially costumes (Fritz Masten provides no disappointments when challenged with providing the central feature of any good drag artist's life)—here conspires to create one big word, worth saying three times—hit, hit, hit.
And in the end what really makes this show a crowd=pleasing, oughta-sell-out every night production is not so much its costumes, or sound, or set, or even the on-target acting, singing, and dancing, no, what really sets this show apart is its heart. As we take a journey down memory lane with these flawed and believable human beings we see, more than anything else, that they truly know the meaning of the word family.