When Rob was 12, they attempted a full-blown Disney parade in their house for their Grandma. As Rob donned wigs and played Mary Poppins, Ariel, Mickey Mouse and Belle, their Dad doubled as Stage Manager, Sound Technician and Goofy. This is the joyous, chaotic, autobiographical story of actor, writer and social-media sensation Rob Madge as they set out to recreate that parade – and this time, nobody, no, nobody is gonna rain on it. Nominee, Olivier Award 2023. Winner, What’s On Stage’s Best Off-West End Production Award 2022.

If you don’t know Rob Madge already you may recognise their homemade videos that circulated the internet of them creating disney parades in his living room with the help of their family. Ringing some bells now? Well, Madge cleverly acted on the popularity of these videos and created a performance like no other – full of laughter, tears, thought and love, Madge has created a truly enchanting experience on the stage involving their life-story and homemade videos.

Photo taken from London Theatre

A Musical Memory Lane

If I’m being completely honest, the first thing I took away from this performance was a whole load of jealousy. Why didn’t my mum and dad film every single moment of my life and why wasn’t I putting on Disney parades in my living room? Damn my lack of creative instinct as a child. However, after that moment of reflection I was just struck with complete astoundment. 

I knew the show was going to be good because of the sheer amount of reviews I had seen beforehand – it was the one show I knew I needed to see when I was going to Fringe. Sometimes I worry when I say so many amazing reviews that I’m going to get my hopes up too much but quite frankly I don’t think I got my hopes up enough! As a fellow musical-theatre kid, growing up in that world isn’t as easy as it looks and people don’t always understand that way of working. Getting time off school to go and perform? Other children don’t always love that and parents can be the exact same. I found little parts of my brain unlocking as the performance went on remembering nostalgic pieces of my childhood. The musical theatre references throughout also really made me giggle – even more so that my boyfriend had no idea what any of them meant.

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Madge, themself, is something of a wonder. The diversity of emotion and comedy really appeals to any audience. Part of me wondered if the vocals would match his personality because his energy was just so infectious – and of course it did. One-person shows can often be difficult to capture an audience’s attention but Madge has the qualities of not only an incredible actor but of a kind-hearted individual keen to go out there and share their story in the hope of inspiring others and connecting people. I’m not much of a crier but this really made me tear up and my friends around me were seen to be wiping away the tears as Madge confessed his true emotions even if it was all through a Disney parade. It was clear from this performance that this isn’t the end of Madge’s career and it is just the beginning of his stardom and their route to inspiring children and helping parents understand their children. 

The show is running in Manchester until August 25th, if you can catch it I would highly recommend it. If not, I’m sure there will be more opportunities. https://homemcr.org/production/my-sons-a-queer-but-what-can-you-do/