Le Gateau Chocolat: Musicals Mayhem, Soho Theatre Review
Le Gateau Chocolat’s Musicals Mayhem, Photo by Harry Ellitson
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
If you follow Le Gateau Chocolat on social media (highly recommended, he is intelligent, interesting, often thought-provoking and always entertaining) you will know that he loves nature and often shares images of his houseplants and birds with beautiful and colourful plumage. This is particularly apt from Gateau, a six-foot-six opera singing drag diva, whose costumes reflect his own hugely colourful and larger than life personality. The performance area at Soho Theatre is set with some of these costumes hanging around the stage, instantly drawing us into his sequinned world of theatrical glamour. It’s a bit of a shame then that it takes around ten minutes into the show for Gateau to show us his face. There’s a lengthy overture and opening number, performed in shadows, that lets his magnificent bass voice speak (sing) for itself, but it is a joy when he steps into the spotlight.
What follows is an hour of songs from a range of musicals given the Gateau treatment. He offers a unique take on each song, playing with rhythms to make each one his own. The show does not immediately offer the “Mayhem” promised in its title. Instead, a lot of the songs are more thoughtful and show us the light and shade in Gateau’s voice as he interprets the lyrics to songs, Abba’s “The Winner Takes It All” is a particular stand-out. More up tempo songs like “Cabaret” and “Big Spender” showcase the power in his voice, although I wasn’t 100% convinced by the decision to slur some of the lyrics as the intended comedic effect didn’t reach the back of the auditorium.
The show really comes alive when Gateau lets his personality shine through, with alternative takes on The Little Mermaid and The Sound of Music. His Ariel was a huge hit and very funny, and hearing the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein song delivered in a deep bass voice rather than Julie Andrews’ prim soprano tones was an original and fresh interpretation.
Le Gateau Chocolat has a warm and engaging personality. He interacts with his audience with charm and wit, not falling back on the roasting and reading style of some of his drag contemporaries. I would have liked a little more interaction between the songs but we did get the full force of Gateau’s personality when it came to the audience sing-along to Grease. Telling us not to riff or harmonise (sorry Gateau, I did both) and making it very clear when it came to the final song that he alone would be playing Sandy and the rest of us were Danny, his instructions were delivered with a smile and a glint in his eye and every voice in the room was raised to the max in a joyful sing along.
Putting on increasingly flamboyant costumes as the show progressed, Gateau finished with a spectacular take on the Christmas classic, “Walking in the Air”, again bringing his rich bass to the traditional boy soprano song. The staging was fabulous with lighting and a large, billowing white parachute giving the impression of our silver sequinned diva taking to the skies in a fitting end to an hour of camp festivities. With enough chaos to justify its claim of Mayhem, this is a hugely enjoyable hour from a talented entertainer whose presence and performance feels like a warm hug.
Le Gateau Chocolat: Musicals Mayhem runs at Soho Theatre until Saturday 25th January 2025.
★ ★ ★ ★
