He stands a commanding six-foot-six tall (and that’s before donning 6-inch heels). He’s often sporting a ball gown. His makeup rivals the colourful face of a TikTok star. He’s Le Gateau Chocolat, an acclaimed opera, cabaret, drag and theatre performer, and everyone wants a piece.
The British-Nigerian performer is hard to quantify, because his prolific output spans the genres of opera, cabaret, musical theatre, pop, disco and children’s theatre. Ask the man himself, and he’ll laugh. “What do I do? I’m a provocateur, auteur, opera, theatre, art-making being…”At the heart of everything he does is a desire to give his audience “pure joy”.
Le Gateau Chocolat was studying to be a lawyer when the siren call of theatre and opera proved too strong. Performing since 2006, he has graced club and concert hall stages around the world, including cabaret shows in the Sydney Opera House, Wagner on stage at the Bayreuth Festival, Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre and Brecht at the National Theatre. He’s even created his own celebrated children’s theatre show – Duckie.
Joy in darkness
At the heart of everything he does, is a desire to give his audience “pure joy”. But he’s not afraid to tackle the darker side of life either, having been outspoken about issues from racism to mental health. In other words, as he explained in an interview with the UK’s The Big Issue last year, “behind the makeup and the lashes and the poster … there’s a human being there.”
Le Gateau Chocolat performs with the ACO in Cocteau’s Circle, an entertaining journey into les années folles (the crazy years of 1920s Paris). Directed by Richard Tognetti and Circa’s Yaron Lifschitz, it will be an immersive look at the innovative composers who hung out with Jean Cocteau at the transgressive cabaret bar Le Boeuf sur le toit.
As Le Gateau Chocolat’s profile has grown, his shows have become bigger and bigger. This is his first time performing with the full ensemble of the ACO, but as an accomplished operatic bass, he’s right at home.
“To have a platform in this way is a privilege, he says, and a gift he can give to the audience.”
Representation in cultural spaces is vital, he says, because “as a British Nigerian gay man I didn’t see myself in theatres or spaces like this.” To have a platform in this way is a privilege, he says, and a gift he can give to the audience. “When diversity serves its purpose, which is representation, entertainment becomes more than entertainment, it becomes possibility.” And whatever the project, he’s happy to constantly break the mould.
Click here to discover and book Cocteau's Circle, touring to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Canberra from 8-22 November.
Written by Jennifer Williams
