Lady Boys of Bangkok - Thai'd down at The Place

BritEvents' Amanda Arnold reviews the Lady Boys of Bangkok at Telford's The Place at Oakengates Theatre, and finds herself in awe of the perfect makeup, stunning figures and fabulous costumes on the world's most beautiful show-girls, who just happen to be men!

Reviewed by Amanda Arnold, BritEvents.com

After enjoying a glass of wine, I was seated in The Place, Oakengates Theatre, Telford waiting for the performance of The Lady Boys of Bangkok "Fur Coat & French Knickers Tour" to start.

Looking around me I was surprised by the eclectic mix of people in the theatre, from young women and families to the elderly. I had been looking forward to seeing this show, as I had read and been told that it was surprisingly glamorous and very funny.

The curtains opened and we were treated to the first of many glitzy costumes and a fabulous set, both of which could have easily have been straight out of a Las Vegas Show! The costumes were so highly cut and revealing, the make-up was so professionally applied and the fact that there was not one whisker in sight did make me wonder a few times whether these were actually men after all. Above all though, it's the novelty factor, the element of disbelief that is the reason why so many people, including me, flock to see this wonderfully weird cabaret act!

I will not deny it, but I was slightly uncomfortable with the fact that these beautiful "ladies" in front of me were in fact Lady Boys, famously called Thailand's third sex - how dare they not have cellulite and better legs than me! But that feeling soon left me as I was dazzled by the Las Vegas style show combined with the heady effects of Bangkok's nightlife. I was amazed at how beautiful these people are, and with so many costume changes, I lost count! In between the showgirl acts , came comedy sketches and solo acts, both of which were brilliant. I didn't know that I was going to laugh so much, and the need to fathom out what was going on left me shortly after the third song! I was just enjoying myself.

The humour got slightly risqu and one member of the audience who was sat behind me, leaned over to her elderly husband and said "I think I have bought you to the wrong show"! This was followed by the elderly man spitting his beer all over my back, presumably in disbelief at what he was seeing!

Quite a few members of the audience were encouraged on stage, including 56 year-old Harry from Kidderminster. He found himself stripped of his shirt and nearly lost his trousers. During the interval, I spoke to Harry and he was clearly having a great time with his wife. I asked him whether his part in the act was planned, as I had noticed he looked very comfortable on stage and obviously looked after himself! Harry who happened to be the UK's power lifting champion said "No it wasn't planned I like to show off. I would have normally paid for that, It was brilliant - I would have taken my trousers off!".

I was lucky enough to catch up with the Director of the Lady Boys Of Bangkok, Philip Gandey, I asked him about the audience reactions, the wonderful costumes and much more.

Are all the Lady Boys really men, as their costumes are very revealing and they were very glamorous?

Yes, all the Lady Boys are men, the costumes are very revealing, but they are designed and cut in such a way as to help the Lady Boys reveal their feminine side, and keep their masculine side under wraps.

Do all the performers come from Thailand?

Yes, all the performers are from Thailand, apart from the small guy, who is actually British and extremely popular with the audiences for his comedy performances. Every year we have a speciality act, this year we included the contortionist who is originally from Ethiopia.

What is the history behind this unique stage show?

The Lady Boys of Bangkok were first seen in a touring circus in Taiwan. We staged the first ever show 13 years ago at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Many people thought that it was a sex show or a gay show, therefore the show wasn't very popular and ticket sales were very poor and we lost a fortune. A year later we decided to return to Edinburgh and I took over the Directing and added the comedy element and after 3 years of hard work, the show finally broke even. Now 13 years on, out of the 3,000 shows at the Fringe Festival, The Lady Boys of Bangkok is the top-selling show with all three shows a day selling out!

We noticed that the audience was made up of a wide range of people, do you have a target audience?

70% of the audience are female between the ages of 16 - 76, although we have recently had a lady celebrate her 80th Birthday at one of our shows. We have noticed that there has been an increase in the amount of men coming along to the shows with their wives, the audiences now are very diverse, the more north you go in the UK the livelier and more varied the audiences are. The Scots are especially fond of the show especially the pink handmade kilts the Lady Boys wear at the end of the shows performing to hits like 'I Would Walk Five Hundred Miles'.

Yes, I noticed the costumes and the scenery were fabulous, where do you get your inspiration from?

I do spend a lot of time on the internet and television researching the culture, costumes and scenery. We also have a University student who graduated in fashion from Thailand, who now helps with the design of the costumes. We have just one wardrobe mistress we take on tour, who makes everything by hand, with not one sewing machine in sight, each costume is a designer-inspired hand-made outfit!

Where is your tour heading after the UK?

We started our tour in April of this year in Derby, we will then take the show to Dublin in December. All the girls and show members will then go back to Thailand for a 4 - 6 week break, then in February or March we start rehearsing for the new show which then returns to the UK in April 2012 and we start all over again.

What do you think is the attraction of the show? Do you think that most people go along to be slightly nosey and try to catch you out?

I must admit that it did go through my mind, but the show was so well-directed, the comedy element so good and the Lady Boys were so stunning I forgot about the novelty value.

Yes, some people want to come and have a look, it's all part of the novelty value, but after about 15 minutes people forget that they are men and start to enjoy the songs,the comedy and the cabaret feel of the evening. Audiences come back time and time again!

BritEvents.com have all the Lady Boys Venues listed on our site. I personally wish to thank Philip for taking time out of his busy schedule to do this interview with us, and we wish him and the whole of the Lady Boys crew the best of luck for their forthcoming shows! 

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