MUSICALS!: Victor/Victoria (1982)

CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCATCHER

CONTENT WARNING: Discussion of homophobia, gay panic, drag, queer representation, spying.

This week we’re taking on “Gay Paree” with a movie that’s absolutely delightful, if just a tad dated. We’ve always been fans of Julie Andrews, but we’ve never seen her like this - tough, clever, sly and in drag. Couple that with a story that’s not afraid to be loudly and proudly queer, and it’s a wonder this did as well as it did. But when you look at the cast, and you look at the director, it starts to fall into place. This is really more of a romantic farce than a musical, but its songs are strong enough and the performances are delightful enough that they absolutely 1000% had to make this into a Broadway musical - and they did, with Julie Andrews. While it’s not perfect by any stretch, to get this kind of questioning and care for gay and questioning characters in a mainstream farce is pretty amazing from 1982. Put on your best suit as we go enjoy “Le Jazz Hot” as we discuss this week’s movie, Victor/Victoria, on Macintosh & Maud Haven’t Seen What?!

You can email us with feedback at [email protected], or you can connect with us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Also please subscribe, rate and review the show on your favorite podcatcher, and tell your friends.

Intro and outro music taken from the Second Movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Hong Kong (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 HK) license. To hear the full performance or get more information, visit the song page at the Internet Archive.

Excerpt taken from “Main Title: Crazy World” from Blake Edwards’ Victor/Victoria is written and composed by Henry Mancini and performed by Henry Mancini and his Orchestra. © 1982 Ladbroke Entertainment, Inc.; Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Excerpts taken from the film Victor/Victoria are © 1982 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpt taken from “Rock of Ages” written by Robert John Lange, Joe Elliott, and Steve Clark, and performed by Def Leppard. © 1983 Phonogram, Ltd.