Princess Diana cemented herself as a queer ally when she opened the UK’s first dedicated HIV/AIDS unit and shook hands with patients, challenging the fear and stigma surrounding the disease. This, along with her badass attitude and killer wardrobe, helped cement her as a gay icon. It was only a matter of time before somebody had the wild idea to make a drag musical about her!
The Diana Mixtape is a jukebox musical gig – using camp bops from the 2000s-2020s – starring Drag Race icons Courtney Act, Divina De Campo, Rosé, Kitty Scott-Claus and Priyanka as the titular diva (yes, all of them!), alongside Hear’Say’s Noel Sullivan as Charles, stage star Lucinda Lawrence as Camilla, and musical legend Keala Settle as Queen Elizabeth II. Noel gets Charles’ mannerisms down to a T, Lucinda is hilarious as the villainous Camilla, and Keala is mother.
All five Queens opened the show with Ava Max’s ‘King & Queens’ (fitting), before transporting us back in time and told a linear story of Diana’s life, from meeting Charles to his affair with Camilla right up to her relationship with Dodi and a brief mention of her untimely death. Geri Allen’s dramaturgy ticks of all the most important parts in this whistle-stop tour of Diana’s life, relying on the audience’s preexisting knowledge. It’s witty and sardonic, and it will have you smiling throughout. I appreciate that, unlike similar shows (including Death Drop, which the same team produced), it does not rely on crude humour and cheap ggs.
The show squeezes a whopping 24 songs (2 of them in a medley) into this show. But it’s basically just one song after another. It feels very much like a drag revue or a themed cabaret. It’s cheap as chips, camp as tits, and proud of it.
Christopher D. Clegg, who created the show, also serves as director, and he makes good use of space. Before the show began, he referenced the huge Lowry stage. It can’t have been easy having to direct a completely new theatre production in Salford days after closing the immersive club experience in London, and whilst the show probably worked better as the latter, he has done a good job reconfiguring it.
Sadly, however, the lack of time spent on the new production is evident. The show started late (even later than we were told when we arrived), there were sound problems throughout (the music was too loud, mics came on too late, etc.), it was sometimes difficult to see some performers because of the lighting, and a short while into the show, the images on the screen shrunk, leaving blank blackness at the top and its right. Whilst the show is endearingly cheap, these technical problems were distracting.
Sadly, they seem not to have been ironed out, for tonight’s performance has also started late. Hopefully it will be third time lucky for the final performance tomorrow night – though reviewers at the London press night also referenced the poor sound quality so this seems to be a wider issue with the show.
Tax Hoesli’s choreography is great fun, and the dancers (Ashton Bradley, Henry Chatfield, Jordan Jewell, Theo Simpson, and Leo Udvarlaky) are dazzling. The Queens are all, obviously, striking to watch, with Rosé stealing the show with her killer vocals; her slowed-down rendition of JADE’s ‘Angel of My Dreams’ is absolutely breathtaking. The performance seems to be inspired by JADE’s BRIT Awards with performance, with Rosé donning a white wedding dress. Video footage of the real Diana on her wedding day is projected on to the dress.
Matthew Harvey’s music supervision and arrangements are delightful. Surprisingly, the songs were not shoehorned in; they were meticulously selected. The glorious finale began with Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club’ (which seems to address Diana’s marriage into Royalty, her divorce and independence, and her death), before the Windsors joined the Queens for Little Mic’s ‘Shout Out to My Ex’.
However, the decision to change the lyrics of Carrie Underwood’s ‘Before He Cheats’ (from “singing some white trash version of Shania Karaoke” to “line dancing to Shania karaoke”) was odd.
Harvey must be applauded for his rearrangements of iconic songs (especially the aforementioned ‘Angel of My Dreams’, which completely transformed the song); it’s just such a shame that the sound problems prevented us from properly being able to appreciate them.
River Smith’s costumes are every bit as glam as one would expect for a drag show. I love that all of the Queens got to wear a version of the iconic divorce dress – and every single one was different. The wonderfully wacky wigs were designed by fellow Queen River Medway. Videos designs come from Adam Nightingale and Christopher D. Clegg.
Whilst the production was plagued with technical problems, we still had a gay old time. The show is a bodacious, hilarious, outrageous love letter to the People’s Princess. It’s an affectionate parody which does not shy away from lovingly satirising Diana, her mannerisms, her manipulation, and her many men.
The Diana Mixtape runs at Lowry (Lyric Theatre) until August 21.
Photo: Harry Elletson
JADAR 