A satirical, campy musical revue: Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly celebrates Uptown Players’ return from lockdown, by staging the very first show they produced. When Pigs Fly tells the story of a young, exuberant Howard Crabtree, ready to graduate high school. Not interested in traditional choices including plumber, garden supplier, watch repairman and chicken farmer, Howard resolves to pursue a career in dance (and stage entertainment). Such is the premise of the show that follows. The program is periodically brought to a screeching halt when a technical difficulty forces Howard to think smart and think fast. He certainly doesn’t lack for people skills or ingenuity.
Familiar tropes of queer culture, including disparaging colloquialisms and painful memories supply raw material for one musical number after another. Subsequently “Light in the Loafers” features two gentleman doing the soft shoe in twinkling footwear, while “Not all man” reveals a dancing centaur. Like Almost, Maine, When Pigs Fly uses lots of double entendres, in the fine tradition of vaudeville, Busby Berkeley, and Florence Ziegfield. Instead of letting homophobia kick out the mickey, they make daiquiris from black bananas. When Pigs Fly certainly testifies to the adage that: “Nothing Succeeds like Excess”. It’s all about spectacle, it’s all about the fantastic. Everything seems to be off the charts, but they deliver with such ebullience and aplomb, it’s irresistible. As any good queerboy knows, when the abuse commences, you’ve just got to shake it off. Just like Howard Crabtree, when adversity trips him up.
You couldn’t ask for better performances than we get from the cast. Duke Anderson, Micah Green, Jacob Hemsath, Lee Walter and Michael Russell come through with inspired drag numbers and scrumptiously cunning delivery. There comes a point when particular shows cross from the plausible to realms of the blissfully ridiculous. When Pigs Fly tips their hand from the moment we see Russell in Guidance Counselor drag, with enormous, pendulous breasts and a killer beehive. So, five minutes in.
It’s a tribute to B. J. Cleveland’s phenomenal direction (and, of course, the cast and crew) that he balances tricky, demanding elements, without a hitch. A mistake in timing, tone, blocking and it could all blow up in your face. When Pig’s Fly is impeccable. Filled with surprises and chutzpah, it’s a delight from start to finish.
Uptown Players presents: Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly, playing from July 9th-25th, 2021. Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Boulevard, Dallas, Texas 75219. 214-219-2718. uptownplayers.org