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The Guardian
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Midnight at the Palace review – glittering tribute to San Francisco's flamboyant Cockettes
This riotous ensemble captures the countercultural spirit of the 1970s and the heart of the San Francisco drag outfit the Cockettes from the off. Playing the psychedelic theatre troupe made up of hippies and drag queens, these eight performers are magnetic, conjuring up a cabaret wildness between them. They sing, dance and sashay out from beyond a red curtain in outre outfits. Allen and Adcock's costumes are stone cold fabulous: a storm of fishnets, feathers, kooky dresses, long socks and bodices. There are Sgt Pepper jackets twinned with ballerina tutus and a dazzle of sequins. The choreography by Paul McGill is cheeky, quirky, cute. It is all so imaginative, and winning. The one – significant – setback is that there is just not enough to Rae Binstock's skimpy book. The Cockettes get together, make it big in San Francisco and are booked for New York, but their opening night is a flop, so they go back home. You get a sense of what this LSD-taking troupe stands for and that they become their own chosen family. But there is no filling in of the details so you do not learn much about their avant-gardism, and that they endeavoured to put their lifestyle on stage. There is a central tension between Hibiscus (Andrew Horton, whose song, A Crab on Uranus, is a highlight) and Sylvester (Gregory Haney, just as good with his song, There's a Lady on the Stage). The former refuses to go to New York but this fallout is not carried through. Hibiscus merely makes a return by the end of the play when all is well again. The bigger political anxieties of the time waver in the background via 'read all about it' news-stand summaries, from the Vietnam war to the assassination of Martin Luther King, race riots and National Guard violence against protesting students. It's broad-brush and, at times, the sense of anarchy on stage trips over into confusion. Under the direction of McGill, it is not always immediately clear what is going on. This is not helped by a sound system that seems to over-amplify voices so that lyrics are occasionally hard to discern. The singing is still sparky, with Baylie Carson, who plays Sweet Pam, especially characterful. We hang on for Brandon James Gwinn's songs as well as the dance and glitter of the performances. And despite the dearth of story, there is such zest and infectious joy to the show that it enlivens you, mayhem and all. At Big Yin at Gilded Balloon Patter House, Edinburgh, until 24 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews
Scotsman
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Musical theatre stars will bring glitter and hilarity to the stage in new musical Midnight at the Palace
The cast has been announced for the world premiere of rebellious new musical Midnight at the Palace. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Inspired by The Cockettes, the iconic and flamboyant drag ensemble from San Francisco in the 1970s, a star-studded musical theatre cast will bring a night of radical joy and glitter-encrusted anarchy to the stage. Packed full of on-your-feet numbers and raucous hilarity, Midnight at the Palace dismantles the lines between art and showbiz, politics and performance. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The cast comprises of Andrew Horton (Jupiter's Legacy, Netflix; The Way Old Friends Do, Birmingham Rep; Brilliant Minds, NBC) as radical flowers-in-guns founder Hibiscus, Baylie Carson (Mean Girls: The Musical, The Savoy; Six The Musical, Vaudeville Theatre) as founding member Sweet Pam, Gregory Haney (Hamilton, Victoria Palace Theatre; Wicked, The Gershwin Theatre; Bring It On, St. James Theatre) as disco diva Sylvester, and Al Cammish (West Side Story, Birmingham Hippodrome; Lizard Boy, Gilded Balloon; Doctors, BBC) as troupe director Scrumbly. Midnight at the Palace Also joining the glitter-fuelled hit will be Al Knott (Starlight Express, Troubadour Wembley Park) as Harlow, Jordan Walker (Peter Pan, Grand Opera House Belfast; Under the Black Rock, Arcola Theatre; Diva: Live From Hell, Turbine Theatre) as Link, Aaron Douglas (The Lion Inside, International Tour; Stick Man Live, Leicester Square Theatre; The Spider, Bush Theatre) as Irving, and Becky Sanneh (House of Cleopatra, Assembly Edinburgh;UPSTART! Shakespeare's Rebel Daughter Judith, Gilded Balloon; Right Royal Rumpus, UK Tour) as Dusty Dawn. Cast member Gregory Haney comments: "I couldn't be more thrilled to be part of this glitter bomb of a show. We're diving headfirst into the wild, fearless world of THE original counterculture trailblazers The Cockettes! "For me this isn't just a musical. It's a rhinestone-studded celebration of radical joy, rebellion, and chosen family. What makes this show hit different is its heart. The cast and creative team pour real soul into the chaos. Rae Binstock's script captures the raw, unfiltered spirit of a group that redefined gender, art, and identity. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "Paul McGill directs like a live wire!! His vision oozes with unpredictability and purpose, letting the story breathe and the characters burn bright. AND original score by Brandon James Gwinn which has some dangerously catchy songs impossible to forget. "The Cockettes didn't ask for permission. They didn't follow rules. They built a world where anyone bold enough to be seen could belong. Now we're taking that riotous, glitter-soaked spirit to the Gilded Balloon, and it won't be the same after!! Dress code: Glitter and grins. You bring the sparkle, I'll bring the sass!" The Cockettes' iconic style will be brought to life by set and costume designers Allen and Adcock (Vogue España; As You Like It, Shakespeare's Globe; Sound of the Underground, The Royal Court Theatre), alongside Lighting Designer Adam King (Flowers for Mrs Harris, Riverside Studios; Unfortunate, UK Tour; Gone Too Far, Stratford East). Music and lyrics are by Brandon James Gwinn (Two Birds & One Stone, Trixie Mattel; It Takeis Two, George Takei; Small Town Story - NAMT Grant, finalist, Village Theatre, American Theatre Group), with book by Rae Binstock (Fosse/Verdon, 2019; The Good Fight, 2017). The Edinburgh production will be helmed by acclaimed director and choreographer Paul McGill (Fame, 2009; Man on Wire, 2008; Smash, NBC). Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Paying homage to the multi-decade journey of this legendary psychedelic group, Brandon James Gwinn's original score brings to life the electricity and excitement of The Cockettes in the 1970s for a modern-day audience. Midnight at the Palace offers a lens into this genre-pushing world in an eccentric and dazzling celebration of the queens who came before.
