'My Son's A Queer (But What Can You Do?)' Heads to Broadway in 2024
Rob Madge's Olivier-nominated play "My Son's A Queer (But What Can You Do?)" is due to arrive on Broadway next spring for a four-month run following its success in London's West End and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Deadline reports.
"The play will make its home at the Lyceum Theatre," Broadway news details, "with previews set to begin on Feb. 27 and an opening night scheduled for Mar. 12.
"The production will play a limited run through June 16."
Earlier this year Madge, whose pronouns are they/them, made industry presentations of the show in New York.
"This hilarious, poignant, and infectiously joyous one-person play follows the journey of a family as they explore their son's love for all things Disney, theater and their identity as a Queer human," reads the show's official synopsis. "As much a hilarious ode to musical theatre and VHS tapes as it is the power of a family's acceptance, the production beautifully weaves together themes of love and self-discovery with a pop-culture love-in for fairy tale fanboy/girls (and everyone in between)."
A writer and actor, Madge began working in the professional theater at the age of nine. They were known to force their family to help them put on original shows in the living room. Their legit credits include "Mary Poppins" (Prince Edward Theatre), "Macbeth" (Gielgud Theatre), "Oliver!" (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), and "Les Misérables" (25th Anniversary International Tour and Concert).
The autobiographical solo show tells the story of raising a queer child with all of its joys and chaos, beginning with Madge at age 12 as they attempt to create a full-scale Disney parade in their house for their grandmother.
The production is directed by Luke Sheppard ("& Juliet," "In the Heights") with music by Pippa Cleary ("The Great British Bake Off Musical.") Also on the creative team are scenic and costume designer Ryan Dawson Laight, lighting designer Jai Morjaria, sound designer Tingying Dong, video designer George Reeve, and orchestrator Simon Nathan.
The Evening Standard's Nick Curtis writes: "It's a joyful love letter to self-expression and to Coventry-born Madge's parents, who strove for six years to conceive a child through IVF, and then enabled their precocious, stage-struck only son to evolve into the charismatic, non-binary performer of today."
Chris Selman of Gay Times: "We had a wonderful evening with 'My Son's A Queer (But What Can You Do?)' — it must be the most heart-warming and uplifting show on London's West End right now. We've seen a lot of queer theatre over the years, yet it's still quite rare to see such a positive narrative play out, especially in a setting like this. It's an authentic, feel-good fairy-tale come true: Rob's story really is one to celebrate. It's only on for a couple of weeks — grab a ticket while you can!"
And Tom Wicker in a five-star review in Time Out: "This one-person show revolves around the amateur childhood stage productions of its charismatic and funny writer and performer Rob Madge. He talks to us from a set that functions as a heightened version of the Coventry front room we watch in grainy VHS footage on a screen above the stage. Through video snippets from the late 1990s and early 2000s, we see a very young Madge — a child star of West End mega-musicals 'Les Misérables' and 'Mary Poppins' — enlist their dad in homemade stagings of Disney films like 'The Little Mermaid'."
Wicker continues: "These clips — which Madge first released on the social media platforms, where the non-binary actor and writer is a hugely popular presence — are, first off, extremely funny. They'll resonate with anyone who's dreamed of being a star in their living room. The little Madge is hilariously perfectionist, demanding that their dad endlessly repeat scenes, criticizing line deliveries and dropping a settee throw with the proud flourish of a stage curtain raising before every 'act'."
Wicker's review goes on to add: "Among the lip-syncing, costume changes and childhood memorabilia that Madge unpacks on stage at the same time as the story of their life, the beating heart of the show — the sustaining power of a supportive family — is never muffled... This isn't a story about privilege or inevitable success; it's about love. Those songs of hope and imagination that typify a Disney film are found, here, in an ordinary front room, transformed. You'll leave the theatre with a grin."