Revolution Stage Company is bringing back its raucous Pride cabaret for a second round, with Much Too Gay Cabaret 2 set to take the stage on Tuesday, November 3, and Wednesday, November 4, at 7 p.m. The musical comedy production, written by performer and lyricist LT Cousineau, returns after last year's installment sold out, and organizers are framing this year's two performances as a special show for Palm Springs Pride celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.
Tickets for Much Too Gay Cabaret 2 are available through the Revolution Stage Company website, which lists the two performance dates and times. According to NBC Palm Springs, Cousineau told contributor Todd Makowski that the show aims to create a welcoming space for LGBTQ+ audience members and allies. The theater company's own listing describes the production as following “the sold-out sensation” of the earlier run, with original songs and Forbidden-Broadway-style parodies built around that same spirit of celebration.
What's New in the Sequel
This year's edition features a cast of eight performers, per the station's report, and includes several fresh sequences along with material inspired by a major LGBTQ+ event from the past year. The show also incorporates commentary on the upcoming election, the outlet notes. Among the additions is Kim Schroeder-Long, a new cast member whom Cousineau praised for her singing and acting, according to the same account.
Music for the evening comes from pianist Chip Prince, joined by what the Revolution Stage Company listing calls an ensemble of returning favorites and new talents. The company's event page describes the show as featuring “LT's original songs and hilarious Forbidden-Broadway-style parodies,” continuing a format that drew acclaim the first time around.
How Last Year's Cabaret Landed
The original Much Too Gay Cabaret, staged at 611 S. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, was reviewed by Stage and Cinema, which called it “a dazzling, high-energy celebration of LGBTQ+ pride, self-acceptance, and joy.” The review noted the show tackled “everything from AIDS to sex, pride, and identity with humor, poignancy, and plenty of sparkle,” with Cousineau described as a captivating star of the production. Chip Prince's piano work was credited with setting “the rhythm for the evening's emotional highs and lows,” and performers Michelle Estrada, Brent Aronowitz, John Corr, Jenne Carey, Tod Macofsky, and Brent Ries each had what the review called show-stealing moments.
Cousineau's Busy Slate Beyond the Cabaret
Cousineau's creative output extends well past this one show. Past projects include Flies, a take on Lord of the Flies, and the original production 40 Is the New 15, according to NBC Palm Springs. Cousineau also appears in Data Wolf Papa Hot, a show about gay parenting at the Bent Theater, and is set to perform with vocal group Modern Men, which has a concert planned for the third week of December.
Looking ahead, Cousineau will return to Revolution Stage Company in December for the fourth annual Songs for My Holiday Closet, the station reports. For now, though, the focus is on next week's two-night run, as Palm Springs Pride audiences get a second helping of the cabaret that organizers say sold out the first time around.
