By Bill Hirschman, FloridaTheaterOnStage.com, for SouthFloridaReporter.com, Jan. 11, 2016 – A palpable joy suffused La Cage aux Folles in 1983 as a group of drag queens proudly proclaimed their proclivity for the first time in a mainstream Broadway musical.
That same joy emanates three decades later from the musical Diva Diaries as it focuses on a trio of entertainers who started their careers about the same time as La Cage. But the erosion of time has accumulated angst, baggage and anxiety in these 50-plus performers.
So Diva Diaries, set on the eve of their last performance in their home venue Pandora’s Box, is a melding of exuberant cabaret numbers, witty bitchiness, sex-tinged humor, but also rueful introspective musings of past losses, sad origins, fear for an uncertain future and an end-of-an-era melancholy. As they reminisce, images of their younger selves materialize to perform scenes from their youth.
It’s an intriguing idea by conceiver/librettist Andrew Kato and co-book writers Jem Jender and composer-lyricist John Mercurio who aim to celebrate the glorious release of a drag show and the heart of backstage drama. Kato, producing artistic director at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and Mercurio have co-written five other shows including the acclaimed Academy.
