Tyler Anthony Smith’s offbeat comedy Queen for a Day is now enjoying its New York premiere at The Tank, directed by Stephanie Shaw.   Performed on an intimate space with minimal set design, the show features snappy dialogue, a seemingly infinite number of funny one-liners, and even a few musical moments– all performed with gusto by its three cast members.  But it’s also a piece which, intentionally or not, may even make you THINK afterward. (More about that later…)

Queen for a Day opens in the studio of legendary designer Roy Halston Frowick, known mononymously throughout fashion and pop culture history simply as Halston.  At this point in time, the charismatic yet notoriously stubborn Halston (played by Will Lidke) has seen more glory (hole)-ous days: When the play opens, he is in the process of cleaning out his studio, which he has been asked to vacate.   His most recent creative endeavor, a partnership with J.C. Penney, would prove to be a commercial success but ultimately a mixed legacy for the designer– which was evidenced by the laughter from the audience when one of the characters brought it up.   Halston’s solitude is disturbed when someone knocks on the door, and it’s… Queen Elizabeth I! (Tyler Anthony Smith).  Yes, kids, it’s THAT Queen, a woman so powerful that she had an entire era of English history named after her.  A fashion icon herself back in the day, Elizabeth’s “brand” is on full display, including her white face paint made from lead, and her flame-colored wig to hide her thinning hair (which, ironically, may have been exacerbated by that lead paint…)  This Elizabeth, oddly, doesn’t have a British accent– but in a show where a monarch who reigned over 400 years ago visits a clothes designer in 1984, there was plenty of room for, shall we say, “suspension of disbelief”.  Elizabeth is requesting that Halston create a gown for her– for a very, well… “special” occasion: her death.  The two slowly and awkwardly bond with each other, with the Queen discovering the joys of New York City street meat and Halston temporarily overcoming his guarded persona to share the story about a mysterious lover from the past. 

Elizabeth, however, is not Halston’s only visitor that evening: The designer’s equally legendary friend Liza (Dakota Hughes) appears with all the subtlety of a disco ball shattering onto the dance floor.  The friends and party-ners in crime bond through cocaine, which only seems to make Liza more… well, “Liza-like”.  She proudly declares, “I have a show tonight!”  Our LGBTQ icon then goes into a frenetic “sneak preview” of that upcoming Broadway show, the plot of which involves a love story between the Statue of Liberty and the French sculptor who designed her (His name was Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, if you gotta know).  Somehow, even Liza’s late mother enters the mix.  Hughes-as-Liza’s resultant performance is a one-woman show in itself.  Liza does leave the scene temporarily, but she comes back later in the show in full Statue of Liberty drag, almost as if to fulfill a promise from earlier.  It’s a sight that’s alone worth the entire price of a ticket. 

Watching “Halston”, “Liza”, and “The Queen” (whether it be Elizabeth I or II; I’ll even settle for Queen Camilla…) parade around on stage in all their collectively grandiose and neurotic glory would be reason enough to see this show; In other words, the campy queer sensibility of Queen for a Day alone would undoubtedly keep a reviewer like me fascinated for 75 minutes. But this proudly over-the-top comedy is much, much more than that.  Queen for a Day challenges the audience’s ideas of celebrity and fame.   What exactly happened on this evening at the studio?  Was this Halston’s fantasy?  Liza’s fantasy? A parallel combination of the two?  Or, perhaps, it was two superstars of the 1970’s indulging in a mutual grand-scale delusion brought on by drugs, the weight of their own celebrity, or both.  I’ve seen MANY Liza impersonators, plus the real Liza, many times through the years– and while I have always been thoroughly entertained, I never spent the next day analyzing the underlying meaning of the performance afterwards.  Until now…  Was Liza really planning an “act”, or was there only a dream?  Hmmm…

The cast of Queen for a Day is excellent.  As Halston, Lidke perfectly captures the fashion icon’s oft-discussed aura of discontent in the “evening” of his life– a discontent that may have stemmed from career woes, his personal life, or reasons that Halston himself may not have known.   Still, Lidke’s performance depicts a vulnerable side to an enigmatic personality who, by most accounts, rarely showed one.   As Liza, Hughes not only nails the diva’s inimitable speaking and singing voices, but also the star’s patented “Liza-isms”: the wide eyes, the nervous energy, and the body language that somehow begs for mass love and approval.  As Hughes dominates the stage whenever Liza appears, the actor shows a mobility that borders on athletic, even throwing a high kick into the mix.   As the Virgin (ahem…) Queen, Tyler Anthony Smith’s character may have blue blood, but this queen is not always a “lady”: She’s not afraid to drop the “C” word (and I don’t mean “ceruse”…).  The audience is certainly lucky for that.  Sweet as she can be to Halston, “Liz” is also not afraid to occasionally use her royal genes for leverage– and again, that’s a great thing for the audience as well.  The play inserts a generous number of cultural references into the script, including poking some gentle and not-so-gentle fun at Drew Barrymore and Sarah Jessica Parker.  Don’t say you weren’t warned!

Queen for a Day continues through September 14 at The Tank, 312 W. 36th Street, NYC. Running time is 75 minutes. Tickets are $23-43. Visit tickets.thetanknyc.org for tickets and more information. 

(Photos by Rick Aguilar Studios)