CityLife

The Lady Boys Of Bangkok 2010: Fantasy And Feathers

Lady Boys Of Bangkok

Lady Boys Of Bangkok: Fantasy & Feathers
Sabai Pavilion, Sackville Street, Manchester
July 2, 2010

Back for their 10th annual Manchester visit, the Lady Boys once again claim to combine the pungent whiff of Bangkok nightlife with the showgirl glamour of Las Vegas – all inside a big black tent on a car park in a back street in the city centre.

Throw in a plastic container of Thai chicken curry and plenty of alcohol and this loud, clap-along drag show is again proving a popular attraction for people who want to party. Sober, its appeal is more difficult to fathom. 

The troupe of overly-glamorous boys-as-girls mime half-heartedly to pop songs while performing energetic but not very interesting or original dance routines. 

Above all, it’s the novelty of disbelief that the performers are actually male rather than female that carries the show because while what they do proves rabble-rousing, it isn’t actually very good.

It’s a cabaret, burlesque, variety show, slightly raunchy, slightly risqué and rather crude. The costumes are over the top concoctions of sequins and feathers, cut and slashed in ways that make the audience further disbelieve what they are watching.

Cheryl Cole’s Fight For This Love and Tina Turner’s Simply The Best, along with the boys’ rendition (yes there are some boys not dressed as women) of, guess what, YMCA, brought some of the biggest responses from the packed tent. 

There is an inevitable Michael Jackson lookalike, moonwalking through his routine, plus some zombie backing dancers for a Thriller sequence and the inevitable My Way, in which the ‘girl’ takes off the slap to become the man.

A Bangkok’s Got Talent section actually has some wit about it, as it lampoons Simon Cowell and Jedward and, cruelly, has Susan Boyle hustled off in a straight jacket.

The novelty act is a man who emerges from a bath of water to twirl above the crowd on ribbons for an aerial act that consequently manages to splash the spectators and bears no relationship to the rest of the show.

As a karaoke with extras part of a night out on the town, it’s worth considering if you intend getting really tanked up. 

Until July 31, 2010. Box office on site from 11am daily or 0871 705 0705 (10p a minute charge).