Nigerian-born, London-based cabaret star Le Gateau Chocolat firmly believes that drag is both fact and fiction. It’s about as honest and dishonest as you can be in the one moment. It’s all about wearing a mask to reveal the person underneath.
Which is largely what he does in this hit show all about the music and pop culture gestures that have touched his life, ranging from his early years in Nigeria to his teen life in England and his recent travels as one of the tallest, hairiest and most fabulous opera-singing drag queens in the business. He touches on religion, sexuality, family and the nature of musical icons in a sometimes muddled but constantly engaging cabaret.
The first thing that stands out about Chocolat – beyond his transformative, imposing physical presence – is the quality of his voice. He’s got serious chops as an operatic baritone, and he wraps that voice around some rather unexpected pop material, kicking off with Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’. He’s accompanied throughout the show by two musicians who bring the sounds of the ‘70s and ’80s to life with synths, guitars and drum machines. There’s power ballad gold in Madonna’s ‘Live to Tell’ and an unexpectedly effective, stripped-back version of ‘You’re the One That I Want’ from Grease. He’s able to caress a melody with tender sensuality in one moment before breaking out a booming, commanding and richly textured lower register the next.
As with all drag, Icon’s best moments are often its least sincere: a performance of Meat Loaf’s ‘I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ leaves you wondering exactly what it is he won’t do, and there’s a brilliantly funny fantasy sequence about stopping a former flame’s wedding set to ‘It Should’ve Been Me’.
The show has gained plenty of kudos in the four years since it premiered, but this current iteration is structured in a way that doesn’t always allow Chocolat’s charisma to shine as brightly as it might. The first half in particular doesn’t draw its various threads together – stories about running a marathon blend awkwardly into a Madonna dance medley, which then gives way to a touching tribute for a friend set to ‘For Good’ from the musical Wicked.
But as with any bold and blaring cabaret, most sins are forgiven if you nail the last few songs. With the help of a fabulous electric blue bodice and enough mirror balls to light up Sydney, Chocolat pulls out some beautifully daggy Whitney Houston and Olivia Newton-John bangers. If that’s something you can resist, you’re probably not Chocolat’s target audience.