KING LOUS X!V//QUEEN OF DANCE at Denver Fringe

KING LOUIS X!V// QUEEN OF DANCE tells the story of an open rehearsal for King Louis’ new solo-ballet-epic: “The Sun King Rises.” Things go off the rails when the King’s composer (and maybe more) is nowhere to be found. Refusing to dance to no music, Louis stalls, sputters, and spirals. Luckily, Marie Antoinette (played by Torey DeMarco-Douglas, Denver’s Drag Monster of the Year) brings her vivacious drag sensibility to Versailles to try and inspire her great-great-great-(great?)-grandfather.

Fresh off her win at Tracks’ Ultimate Drag Competition, Torey DeMarco-Douglas says “Playing Marie Antoinette relates to drag in the sense that she’s so grandiose, she’s so big, she’s larger than life!”

The show is directed by local drag icon Tank, head of performance collective I Don’t Want to See That! “I’m thrilled to be collaborating with the queen who opened my eyes to drag. To me, this show is about collaboration under authoritarianism,” says show director Tank.

Deranged and delightful, KING LOUIS X!V// QUEEN OF DANCE explores the King’s historical obsession with dance, opulence, and bankruptcy via characters who can really relate to the struggle: working drag queens. Somewhere between drag, melodrama, and clown, the show combines the irreverent hilarity (and factual liberties) of Oh, Mary! with the unhinged chaos of that night out at the club you’d rather not talk about in mixed company.