“Big Gay Cabaret featuring Jai Rodriguez” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

***** Now playing at the Venus Cabaret Theatre, at Chicago’s Mercury Theater, is the inaugural performance of the “Big Gay Cabaret”, hosted by Ginger Minj. This is a brand new series of one-man shows that feature four gay entertainers during four successive months, each of whom will enthrall us with their talent and their stories.

This weekend’s headliner is Jai Rodriguez, star of stage, screen, and television. From coming of age to coming out to coming into his own—to simply coming—Jai provides a superior blend of singing, comedy, and autobiography. We learn about his life in general and his career in showbusiness: how he started out as a young actor and singer who played Angel in the Broadway musical “Rent” to become one of the stars of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”, for which he is best known and which ran from 2003 to 2007 on Bravo.* More recently, he can be seen on TV shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy.” As we follow Rodriguez’s career going forward—and note the many roles which he has played as a singer and as an actor—we understand how the life of an entertainer has its heartaches and heartbreaks, especially when one isn’t picked for a part. Then again, we also see how Rodriguez got his many breaks along the way.

Rodriguez’s voice is that of a crooner, mellow and versatile, and his repertoire is generally of stage music and old-fashioned popular songs. His rendition of “Mr. Jones” could not have been any better. But my favorite was the duo (which I understand was a last moment addition) when he sang a song from “Rent” together with Ginger Minj. Their voices blended beautifully. A lot of the comedy was introduced when Rodriguez changed the lyrics of several popular songs to add novelty to the performance and make each of them fit the theme of his life.

His “singing start” on Friday night was a bit rocky, and Rodriguez admitted that something got messed up: The wrong song had been accidentally cued first! But after the warm-up, things went smoothly. His vocals are absolutely great! The only issue I had with the show was that the mix overemphasized his “digital orchestra” as compared to his voice. (FYI: It makes you understand why performers often wear earphones, so that they can hear the mix, rather than just guess at the sound levels. But I digress.) I should note that I wore earplugs, because the cabaret setting at the Mercury is so relatively small, and his microphone was loud, and everything was amped so well.

Rodriguez loved the audience so much that he sang an encore.

Please try to make this 100-minute show while he is still in town this weekend!

Next performances of “Big Gay Cabaret” take place on these weekends, so please mark your calendar:

Tina Burner – April 12th-14th.
Miz Cracker – May 10th-12th.
Danny Franzese – June 7th-9th.

Jai Rodriguez is currently at the Venus Cabaret, Mercury Theatre, 3741 N. Southport, Chicago, through Sunday, March 17, 2024.

Tickets: $45
$55 – VIP seating.

Performance schedule:

March 15th and 16th at 8:00 p.m.
March 17th at 5:00 p.m.

For more information and to buy tickets, please go to: https://www.mercurytheaterchicago.com/venus-cabaret-theater-calendar/2024/6/7/the-big-gay-cabaret

or www.mercurytheatrechicago.com

*Note that at the beginning of its third season, the TV series name was abbreviated to “Queer Eye” in order to include the makeover of individuals regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at ” Big Gay Cabaret”