Just got home from seeing Coco Peru's show, Miss Coco Peru is Undaunted in the basement of the West Bank Restaurant on 42nd (a.k.a. the Laurie Beechman Theatre). Generally speaking, when you step into a cabaret room and the performer on stage is a guy in a dress, there are natural expectations. You expect to be amused. You expect for there to be some singing (or possibly lip syncing). You probably also expect for a few off-color remarks.
What you wouldn't necessarily expect, however, is a fully-realized and thoroughly well-crafted evening of theatre.
That is, in fact, what Coco Peru delivers in what can only be called a wonderful little show that, while on the surface is masquerading as a collection of amusing anecdotes and songs, is actually at its core a real honest-to-goodness play, complete with thematic threads which are brilliantly stitched together by Coco's alter-ego, Mr. Clinton Leupp, a very talented and disciplined writer.
I've seen a lot of wonderful cabaret shows. I've seen a lot of wonderful drag shows. Generally speaking, they often feature a great talent on stage performing a somewhat-haphazardly strung together collection of vignettes which, however entertaining, don't really stay with you long after you leave the theatre. The most notable exception to this rule in recent memory was Elaine Stritch's brilliant one-woman tour de force, At Liberty, which was crafted under the thoughtful guidance of George C. Wolfe.
Miss Coco Peru is Undaunted, like Ms. Stritch's show, is not only wonderfully entertaining, but also serious at its core and, as such, will stay with me for a long time to come. If you're free and in NYC this coming weekend (Nov. 13-15), get your ass down to the West Bank Cafe and treat yourself to a rare theatrical gift. More info here.
