Company della Luna’s Le Bijou de Paris is an exciting, highly stylized, artfully constructed new musical fantasia written and directed by Edoardo Tesio.  It is also the name of the play’s setting: a high-end, loudly colored boutique in an unknown city.  This titular boutique is run by an enigmatic owner named Marie (Sayali Bramhe), who acts as a boss, protector, and mother figure to a family of nine diverse “living mannequins”.  The audience learns that in the world outside the boutique, there is a mysterious war going on.  For their own safety from prejudiced humans, the mannequins have to stay sequestered inside the boutique and keep their “mannequin identity” a secret.  However, that doesn’t stop this high-spirited nonet from having F-U-N when they’re not modeling fashions for customers (As one of the characters declares, “We just need to stand here and look decent for stupid humans.”).  Come Saturday night, the boutique becomes the hottest party site in town– complete with drinking, gossip, and… dancing! The indigo-haired Paris (Olivia Amicangioli) takes on double duty as DJ and singer, leading her fellow mannequins in the kickoff musical number, Do You Feel It: a hybrid of pop, electronica, and house.  It makes the audience want to jump on stage and join in this exclusive “after hours” party.   

In between the musical numbers, we get to know this colorful cast of characters more intimately.  Like any family, they bicker with each other, but their bond is indisputable– even as the shade sometimes gets “extra shady”. The aptly named Donatella (Anna Barrett) envisions herself as a one-woman fashion revolutionist and the Creative Dictator Director of the other mannequins.  She’s got an over-the-top personality and ambition to match.  Donatella’s ambition can be off-putting, especially to the other mannequins and to the more cautious Marie, but it’s impossible not to at least admire her moxie. (“I want this place to sparkle like a Beyonce 2015 Met Gala dress!”)  Put another way, it’s hard to like her, but just as hard to DISLIKE her.  Equally strong in personality is the smart, sassy, no-nonsense Coco (Marjorie Murillo), who wants so badly to bust out of the confines of the boutique that it practically explodes from the stage of New Yor City’s Chain Theatre. Still, she fears for safety if she dares to leave.  Coco’s fears are challenged by another charismatic living mannequin, Roger (played by the equally charismatic actor Ary Satish), who “works” at the antique shop across the street.   In the meantime, sexual tension is also possibly building between the two gay male mannequins, the aspiring writer Valentino (Samuel Leon) and the sexually restless Gianni (Edoardo Tesio), who regular sneaks out from the boutique to hook up with human men.  Despite his more reserved policy, it becomes pretty obvious that when it comes to Gianni, Valentino wants to change the “EST” in “BEST FRIENDS” to “OY”. The pair’s bad bro-mance also leads into the second musical number, set to the infectious tune Jealous (Or, more appropriately, J-E-A-L-O-U-S.) Will Donatella realize her lofty ambitions? Will the promise of romance lure Coco out of her shell? Will Valentino and Gianni become more than friends?  The soap opera-esque interactions aren’t limited to the mannequins.  Marie, the doting boutique owner, corresponds with her ex-lover Alice via handwritten letters (Remember those?)– but something seems, well, “not quite write right” with these two pen pals.  Underneath the brightly colored costumes and high-energy musical numbers, writer/director Tesio has created a pervasive sense of psychodrama… and there’s good reason for that.  Towards the conclusion of Le Bijou de Paris, many secrets are revealed.  When revelations are made known, they are made known in a BIG way– but not in between more musical numbers and a crowd-pleasing fashion show set to the “sexy lounge”-style tune Plastic, where it seems that coral is the new black.

Le Bijou de Paris is bolstered by energetic performances by the entire youthful, hardworking cast.  All the performers have their moments, although Tesio as Gianni, Murillo as Coco, Ary Satish as Roger, Anna Barrett as Donatella, and Samuel Leon as Valentino are standouts.  In a less showy but pivotal role, Sayali Bramhe is just fine in the pivotal role of Marie. Rounding out the cast are Daelin De’Mari Elzie as Roberto, Bridget Spencer as Miuccia, Delaney Andersen as Stella, Enid Marie Acevedo Colon as Betsy, and Tomoka Takahashi. The nine “living mannequins” may presumably be made of Plastic, but they are as fully developed as their “real”  human counterparts.  The play’s underlying themes about prejudice, “otherness”, and being a minority in a hostile world (including having to stay “in the closet” to avoid persecution) speak directly to the LGBTQ experience.  But in two scenes, Le Bijou de Paris goes further.  Many playwrights have addressed society’s transgenerational anti-LGBTQ sentimentality, but few have taken the time to explore division WITHIN some LGBTQ subcultures. Via monologues from Gianni and Paris, the play takes an unflinchingly honest look at the idealization of “traditional” masculinity in the gay male community and misogyny in the lesbian community respectively.

The play’s five original songs are written and produced by Olivia Amicangioli, and the costumes are by Tomoka Takahashi. The dance numbers, including a wildly audience-pleasing segment set to the sexed-up pop track So Hot, are expertly choreographed by Bridget Spencer.   

Le Bijou de Paris is a highly entertaining mix of drama, comedy, music, dance, social commentary, and just a dash of fantasy.  Let’s hope that this buzzing boutique soon gets a grand re-opening!

Visit www.CompanydellaLunaTheater.com and www.Edoardo-Tesio.com for more info.