House of McQueen

By: Darryl Reilly

In the end, it’s just clothes…But they’re amazing, aren’t they? They help with the pain…Right? And I have so many more ideas…That’s the thing, I can’t stop. I gotta keep going, I gotta keep trying to make something beautiful out of this mess we’re all livin’ through, y’know? Isn’t beauty the only thing that helps?

Wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, with his close-cropped hair, and scruffy face, the mesmerizing Luke Newton visually evokes the presence of maverick gay British fashion designer Alexander McQueen (1969-2010) in the biographical fantasia House of McQueen. Vocally, Mr. Newton authentically invokes McQueen’s mellow and emotional cadences during his soulful characterization which is the show’s core. McQueen’s mentor and muse, the aristocratic British fashion figure Isabella Blow (1958-2007) is grandly portrayed by Catherine LeFrere. The sleek and vivacious Ms. LeFrere is a whirlwind of comedy and pathos as that mentally unstable grandee. Newton and LeFrere’s effervescent chemistry during their interactions as those tragic visionaries are House of McQueen’s high points.

Based on a book by Rick Lazes and Seth Koch, playwright Darrah Cloud’s stage treatment contains flavorful and poetic dialogue but is structurally deficient. It runs over two hours including an intermission, and dullness is plentiful. The show is comprised of a series of trite vignettes depicting McQueen’s life through workmanlike diligence, occasional narrative flourishes, and peopled by mostly stock characters. It begins with McQueen contemplating suicide and ends with those who knew him offering maudlin tributes. In between we experience McQueen’s kitchen sink-type origin with a doting mother, a gruff taxi driver father, and a supportive sister. The English class system is skewered when the uncouth young McQueen tries to get a job at a stuffy Saville Row tailor shop. McQueen perseveres his way into a job with designer Romeo Gigli in Milan and later becomes Givenchy’s creative director where he struggles with the never ending need to create new and commanding garments. There are also tame gay nightclubbing jaunts as McQueen searches for love and goes down a spiral of alcohol and drugs. A tiresome periodic framing device is having McQueen interviewed on British television by his mother. The overall effect of this rote retelling is comparable to some of the stodgy 1930’s Warner Brothers biopics.

Spirited Broadway veteran Emily Skinner is majestic as McQueen’s beloved mother. Charismatic Denis Lambert is touching as the loutish father who eventually affirms his son’s gifts and is deliciously steely as Tom Ford. The alluring Jonina Thorsteinsdottir is winning as McQueen’s tender sister and incisive in other roles. At the performance under review child actor Matthew Eby (who alternates with Cody Braverman) was charming as the young McQueen. The dynamic ensemble is completed by Tim Creavin, Fady Demian, Joe Jospeh, Margaret Odette, and Spencer R. Petro, who all give substantive performances in their various subsidiary roles.

Director Sam Helfrich’s energetic physical staging does as much as possible to make this patchy material stageworthy. Benjamin Freedman’s efficent choreography ranges from simplistic to herky jerky. Jason Ardizzone-West’s minimalistic, gray-accented scenic design clearly serves as numerous locations, allows for swift scene transitions, and enables the illustrative runway fashion show sequences. Robert Wierzel’s active lighting design achieves a fantastical dimension which is accentuated by G Clausen’s pulsing sound design. Video and projection designer Brad Peterson’s dreamy imagery well suits the presentation. Composer Andres Martin’s electronic original melodies are sly teases of classic pop tunes. Kaye Voyce’s lavish costume design is a wonderous recreation of McQueen’s noteworthy designs, these are aided by hair, wig, and makeup designer Tommy Kurzman’s vivid contributions. Near the theater’s bar is a room with an exhibit of original McQueen items.

A theatrical dramatization of the life of Alexander McQueen has potential but House of McQueen is an imperfect attempt. Arguably it would have benefitted from a taut performance piece-style incarnation focusing on McQueen, his mother, and Blow, this epic recounting is decidedly clunky.

House of McQueen (through October 19, 2025)
Mansion at Hudson Yards, 508 West 37th Street, in Manhattan
For tickets, visit www.thehouseofmcqueen.com
Running time: two hours and 15 minutes including one intermission