ROB MADGE: MY SON’S A QUEER (BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO?) – Cast Album (Westway).
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Why on Earth haven’t I seen Rob Madge’s acclaimed show, My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) yet? I’m certain it is fantastic. I have friends who have heartily recommended it. Critics have given its recent runs in London (Turbine Theatre) and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe rave reviews. I have even seen Madge perform in other productions and found them to be a hugely charismatic and entertaining stage presence.
Perhaps Madge puts their finger on it in the opening song, ‘Anything Is Possible’: “I know what you’re thinking: yes, it sounds really self-indulgent. Correct.” Us musical theatre fans pay our money to enjoy epic stories about witches, big cats and – when nothing else is on – regular cats. Enduring an hour of an actor telling us why they’re so damn special doesn’t sound like quite such good value. Still, Madge is special, and this gem of a cast album has proven me an idiot for resisting for so long.
Like all great people, Madge grew up in the West Midlands. The family life Madge paints feels instantly familiar and the characters three-dimensional, even with the non-musicalised sections of the show missing from this abridged recording. It is a delight to have included two touching recordings of conversations the star had with their father about their childhood. He admits that he struggled with young Rob being a bit ‘theatrical’ at first, but through his eventual acceptance, it is clear he is ultimately a wonderful man with a big heart.
As befits a show about a person who built their life around the musical theatre classics, the songs (music: Pippa Cleary, lyrics: Pippa Cleary and Madge) do not break any new ground sonically or harmonically. However, they are – without exception – brilliantly conceived and catchy contemporary musical theatre songs in their own right, peppered with delightful nods to the history of the form. The odd half-rhyme may remind the listener that this isn’t the strict technical perfection of Golden Age Disney, but the lyrics are from the heart and function perfectly in the context of this rags (or “wool-wigs”) to riches (or Edinburgh Fringe success) story.
The biggest criticism of this cast album must be that at under half an hour of music, it is more of a cast EP. There are ten tracks, but two are recorded conversations, three are variations on ‘Anything Is Possible’, and one is a bonus track of a cut song. With such a rich story, it feels inevitable that the show will be developed as it rightfully moves to larger venues, so why set it in stone at this stage? However, with such excellent storytelling and a fantastic central performance, it does make for a perfect bite-sized piece of musical theatre when you have a 30-minute commute and want to feel a whole lot of feelings. This one is going to be in heavy rotation on my phone for a while.
Even removed from the context of the whole piece, the songs stand on their own and are hardly at risk of being skipped in a shuffle queue. ‘Pied Piper’ is a brilliantly well-crafted self-contained story, and ‘Yellow Dress’ is evocative of classic Disney ballads with energetic crescendos of emotion.
The standout track might just be ‘We Will Be Loved Anyway’, a stirring call-to-arms for those who may never have been called to their parents’ or society’s arms. This song sees Madge joined by a chorus of West End stars (including Oscar Conlon-Morrey and composer Pippa Cleary herself) who were perhaps themselves once unusually ‘theatrical’ children. It is an irresistibly powerful statement, set to an effective piece of musical theatre writing that evokes Pasek and Paul at their most rousing.
The recording itself is clean and, remarkably, manages to capture the energy of a live show, despite being a tracked in a studio. Simon Nathan’s orchestrations are fantastic – as big as anything on the West End when necessary, but impressively restrained during the quieter moments. How blessed we are to live in an age when such high-quality cast recordings are available for so many shows, even the smaller productions.
This cast recording is a little gem that I can see myself returning to again and again when I want a quick hit of this heart-warming story, or Madge’s sparkling personality itself. With a West End run of My Son’s A Queer, (But What Can You Do?) just announced, it has left me inspired and excited to go along and finally tick off the list this most foolish omission from my 2022 theatre visits.
Ian Bowkett
- Rob Madge: My Son’s A Queer (But What Can You Do?) – Cast Album is due for release on 21 October 2022. The show runs at London’s Garrick Theatre from 21 October until 6 November 2022.
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