A NOTE FROM THE Playwright…
It is very difficult to talk about House of McQueen without giving away the experience of it. But I can talk about what it was like to write the dialogue between Lee McQueen and Isabella Blow, or Lee and his mother Joyce, for instance—it was like taking dictation. They began to talk and my job clearly was to listen and get it down fast before they stopped. It was a heady experience following them around in my mind and making sure I got it right.
The play’s very human main character struggles to endure the extreme manifestations of his own intensely creative and sometimes inhumane mind. In a world bent on exploiting him, he creates “the most beautiful things out of absolute shit.” He is just trying to design a way to survive.
- Darrah Cloud
A NOTE FROM THE PRODUCER…
House of McQueen is a new Off-Broadway play about the life and work of iconic fashion designer Alexander McQueen as told from his own revolutionary, daring and elegant perspective. It is the story of a boy born in the east end of London, who literally wears his heart on his sleeve, never meant to rise beyond his working-class family. From making doll clothes for his mother’s friends to working in a tailor shop, he rises to the top of the fashion industry as chief designer for Givenchy and head of his own legendary fashion line, as his fashion shows become theatrical and artistic spectacles, attracting countless celebrities.
Seeking to find beauty in the most devastating aspects of life, McQueen envisions and creates clothes to empower women in response to what is happening politically all around him. Fighting against the commercial interests of legendary houses like Givenchy and Gucci to remain provocative, he challenges norms and pushes boundaries as an artist. In the end, the fight consumes him. It’s a flamboyant, irreverent and poignant theatrical experience which unravels the enigma of the person that was Alexander McQueen.
- Rick Lazes