Review: DIZNEY IN DRAG: ONCE UPON A PARODY, Underbelly Cavendish Square

“What a weird and wonderful world we live in”

Written and directed by the Hairy Godmothers Collective, Dizney in Drag: Once Upon A Parody is “a gender-bending pantomime romp through beloved fairytales told with drag performers giving (and receiving) positive lessons on respect, healthy masculinity, periods, and sex positivity.” After an opening parody of “Be Our Guest,” we are introduced to our main character, The Hero (Jae West), who is on a quest to find their one true love, even though they know nothing about love in the first place. 

Suddenly, the Hair Godmother (Owen Merriman) appears, asking “Did I just hear the sweet beginnings of an underdog story?” Her goal is to help The Hero find their one true love using a glass slipper, which they claim is under an audience member’s seat but it hilariously ends up not appearing, leading to a backup slipper being used. We are introduced to a range of different options for The Hero’s “one true love” including Areola (Alex Nissen), a kinky mermaid with a large collection of sex toys, Miss White, a parody of Snow White who sings about the joys of being a drag queen (backed up by dwarves Grumpy, Dopey and Sleazy), and Jazz, a princess who used to live in a palace with a tiger and has now resorted to online dating in “A Whole New World” on “Cinder.”

One of the highlights of the show is its quippy one-liners, with my personal favourite being one from Strap-On (Emma MacMillan), a parody of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast, who says, “Fling me off a cliff into a stampede of wildebeests and call me Daddy.” The Hairy Godmother also pokes fun at modern Disney movies, declaring, “Old school bangers only in this house” after singing a line from Frozen’s “Let It Go.” When swiping through dating apps like “Red Hot Princess” and “Cinder,” there is a reference to “Twinkerbell” who is pansexual, which leads to groans from the audience. The costumes, designed by Alex Nissen, do a great job of parodying the classic Disney costumes of characters like Ariel and Snow White while still allowing each character to have their own unique sense of style. The make-up detail is also fantastic, especially the “chest hairs” on Strap-On.

There is a bit of audience participation throughout the show, with Miss White giving a lap dance to one of the audience members and others being brought up on stage to play the missing dwarves. In another section, a couple is seated at a table to reenact the iconic spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp, wearing animal ear headbands and imagining they’re eating the same noodle, ending in a kiss (this leads to an awkward bit parodying The Lion King where the Hairy Godmother tells the couple, “You should wear a glove tonight”). 

Unfortunately, there are a few moments in which the show fails to mix hilarity and serious messages in its different drag performances. The show as a whole is very pantomime-esque, with The Hero frequently asking the audience what to do and the Hairy Godmother making quips throughout, including some truly terrible Disney puns. Peter Pan, or, in this show, “Pan the Man” (Ashley) has a song, a parody of Mulan’s “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” that teaches boys how to be gentlemen, going against the classic “bro” stereotypes and enforcing the importance of consent. This is quickly followed by a Tinker Bell parody, “The Little Green Bush Fairy” (Mita Hill), singing “Colours of the Wind” from Pocahontas with lyrics focusing on the beauty of menstruation and involving props like bloody pads and tampons. 

The contrast is best illustrated by the fact that important life lessons about “true intimacy” and love come immediately after a song in which all of the characters are wearing strap-ons and “pegging” one another in a chorus line. There is a strong focus on the importance of consent in all romantic and sexual activities, which one would hope does not need to be emphasised in a crowd full of adults at a drag show. 

There are several times in which the performers are a few seconds off the musical recordings (done along with lighting by Ben Kay), leading to moments that don’t exactly land and cause awkward silence. I also struggled to see the performers throughout the show as all of the seats are on the same level and the stage is not raised sufficiently. 

Dizney in Drag: Once Upon A Parody is a fun drag show, but struggles to find itself between its naughtier bits and its more serious moments focused on self-love and acceptance. The show’s message is sweet but sometimes feels forced and overdone combined with ridiculous pantomime bits thrown in between for laughs. 

Dizney in Drag: Once Upon A Parody runs until 14 July at the Underbelly Festival at Cavendish Square

Photo Credit: Deric Martin

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