Fairy tales always come with a happy ending for the Princess. But what about our Princes? More specifically, our gay princes? In Happily Ever Poofter, Rich Watkins takes his audiences on a magic carpet ride through the world of a gay Disney Prince looking for love and acceptance while also enjoying some good old-fashioned sexcapades, through songs, of course.
With assistance from his fairy godfather, Prince Henry is whisked away from his kingdom far far away into the real world where he begins his quest to find his own Prince Charming, but until then, he's eager to embrace the smorgasbord that is gay culture and sex. From the get-go, Watkins is at maximum energy levels. He may have created this show four years ago, but the enthusiasm and excitement he brings feels like it's the first time he’s performing it. The story is quite loose but the pantomime-like element of audience involvement and the cheeky humour work in its favour and we can sit back and delight in the ride.
Who doesn't love the glitz, glamour and grandness of a musical showtune? Presented as part of this year's Midsumma Festival, A Night at the Musicals starring Le Gateau Chocolat and Jonny Woo showcases the vocal talents these two world famous artists have, as they take us through a select number of songs from some of the finest musicals that have existed - but with an added shake of camp and a shimmy of sass.
We are advised at the very beginning that this is a performance where musical theatre goes to die. The two have a highly energised presence and through tenuous links of somewhat aimless banter, introduce us to each song. Dressed in some shiny and often dazzling outfits, they take advantage of their differences in physical appearance and singing styles, and each is given the opportunity to shine (and outshine the other) through their chosen repertoire.
She was a "mediawhore" for Adelaide Fringe, and now for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Isabella Valette will be a Princess, with a twist of course. Directed by Fiona Scott-Norman, Princesstuous explores a common theme running throughout the villains of fairy-tales. Snow White had one, The Little Mermaid had one and Cinderella had one too; an older, angry woman trying to hold her down.
"A friend and I were talking about the Disney films we’d grown up on and identified a theme of older women as arch-villains, who were always jealous of the young, beautiful princesses," explains Valette. "That got us thinking about competition among women, the female fear of ageing, Nietzsche's philosophy on slave culture and the kind of qualities that are highlighted around princess culture as being a positive. A lot of the villains were powerful, talented women who were victims of their beauty/youth-obsessed worlds. I have also been inspired by the essay ‘Royal Bodies’, looking at the ‘princess effect’ in real life, and our relationship to royal women.”
While there is still a long way until the representation of women and their relationships with other women begin to be honestly explored, Valette feels progress is being made. "I think a lot of modern Disney and Pixar films, like most other Hollywood blockbuster films, are becoming far more aware of trying to create stronger female characters. Frozen is the obvious example, so is Mad Max and Star Wars," she says. "It would still be nice to have anti-heroes, flawed women, not overtly masculine or feminine protagonists. I think sometimes we are so en-cultured to seeing female characters as being either good or evil, and not so much grey territory. I also liked that in Mad Max, Charlize Theron’s character challenged the preconception of having to be beautiful and sexy. She had her own thing going on and she wasn’t dressed to the tits in tight spandex or a princess dress."
