My Son's A Queer To Tour UK
- therevueuk
- May 10, 2024
- 2 min read
Rob Madge's solo show My Son's A Queer (But What Can You Do?) has announced that it will tour the UK this summer.
The show is autobiographical in its concept, detailing Madge's childhood and their exploration of self and gender identity - sprinkled with a dash of their Musical Theatre and Disney obsession, and the hilarious and moving way that they put their family 'through the ringer'.
Madge, who had previously appeared as a child in the West End productions of Oliver and as Gavroche in the 25th Anniversary of Les Miserables, became a household name during the 2020 lockdown when they began posting home videos of their family on Twitter (now X). The videos, which included clips of performances they'd written, directed, and put on in their living room, would star a young Madge usually joined by a willing, albeit bossed about, relative. These videos appear throughout the show.
My Son's A Queer is written by Madge with music by Pippa Cleary (The Great British Bake Off Musical) and directed by Luke Sheppard (& Juliet). It was first performed at the Turbine Theatre in 2021, before playing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and then a limited run in London's West End at both the Ambassador's Theatre and Garrick Theatre. The show is also set to run on Broadway at a later date, having previously been postponed.
Madge said: "This show has gone on such a journey since 2021, the last few months having been the wildest... I thought there was a chance that the show might not happen again and I'm so unbelievably ecstatic that we've managed to pull this off.
"I am so honoured to have had the chance to perform MSAQ in the West End and I will forever be grateful for those opportunities but I am truly buzzing to take it home. For a show that is so personal, it feels right - my Midland family are the heartbeat of the show and to be able to do it down the road from them honestly makes me quite teary.
"More importantly, to be able to bring a proud tale of queerness to the rest of the country, places that might not have access to West End productions but need this representation just as much if not more so, I feel deeply, deeply proud. If little Rob who would go to the Birmingham Hippodrome panto every Christmas had the chance to see a show like this... they'd probably rather they had tickets to see Linda Lusardi play The Wicked Queen in Snow White but it still would have been nice."
The show will play Curve Leicester, Birmingham Hippodrome, Coventry's Belgrade Theatre, Liverpool's Everyman and Playhouse, Derby Theatre (22 to 24 July), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (McEwan Hall), and HOME Manchester.
