Lady Bunny Instagram – Last night, I saw the play Make Me Gorgeous starring Jackie Cox (aka Darius Rose.) Darius is a dynamite bundle of energy and memory in this one-person show about Kenny Marlowe, a lesser-known gay trailblazer who led a fascinating life as hooker, madame, drag queen, hairdresser to the stars, soldier, and in his last 10 years, a trans woman. Lemme just tell ya this: I hope Jackie Cox did well in her acting challenge on Drag Race, because this bitch can act! There are literally dozens of characters, all with dozens of different accents who have Darius holding entire conversations with himself. He excels at these, and demonstrates a terrific rapport with the audience and bang-on comic timing. He dons a variety of costumes male and female to evoke Mr. Kenneth’s many phases, delivering both a tricky song and a body-baring fan dance, which the lead character had learned from burlesque queen Sally Rand. I’m told that Jackie/Darius took over the role from its originator with only 8 rehearsals. I was very impressed! Laughter abounds in the show, yet in some way, the show has a little bit of an identity crisis like its lead character. Is it a comedy? Mainly, yes. But Darius is so appealing as a wisecracking narrator of his own tale, that some of the more serious moments don’t hit as hard as they could. And especially for a gay character of yesteryear, Kenneth is unstoppable despite being totally out of the closet, and gets out of most jams with ease. So it’s a little hard to imagine that this jovial character is ever truly in danger. But that’s my only gripe. Jackie/Darius appears in the role through Feb 27th. For theater-goers interested in quirky LGBT history, I recommend this show. For fans of @JackieCoxnyc , this tour de force is unmissable. At Playhouse 46 at St Luke’s in Hells Kitchen.