My first show of the gauntlet, the scrum, the gladiatorial fight to the death that is the Edinburgh Fringe, kicks off with a world Premier, Midnight at the Palace. An energetic and at times engaging musical, a reimagining of the true story of The Cockettes, a posse of counter-culture glitter-bearded drag queens who took San Francisco by storm in the sixties. Rallying against discrimination at home and unwanted wars overseas, writers Brandon James Gwinnett and Rae Binstock set words to the flower power revolution powered by drugs and free love that drove The Cockettes all the way to the big apple where it all came to a messy end in the early seventies.
The talented 8-strong cast from across the pond provide plenty to see and hear, with excellent live keyboard accompaniment, and some knock-out voices, no-more-so than Baylie Carson as narrator, Pam, upon whose memoirs this show is based. Her Alanis Morissettesque voice rather steals the show at times, like a hot knife through butter. From her first solo Take Me Home you know this is a special talent, and maybe a special show.
The arrival on stage of Andrew Horton as Hibiscus also draws some gasps, although he needs more glitter on that beard!
No one can doubt the effort and enthusiasm here what rather carries you along, and if the story and the costumes and the set are all little rough around the edges they are all served up with plenty of gazpacho. I’ve seen a lot worse first Fringe shows, so in answer to their own lyric ..is this shit good enough?…. Maybe, maybe it is!
21:30 Daily (except 12th) until 25th August, https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/midnight-at-the-palace
Reviewer: Greg Holstead
Reviewed: 31st July 2025
North West End UK Rating:
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