What do Sweet Charity, Gypsy, Les Miserables and Man of La Mancha all have in common? They are all Broadway musicals that feature sex worker characters. And they are all covered in Phillipe Andre Coquet’s The Ho Must Go On.
To say Coquet has led a storied life is an understatement. He grew up in both New York City and Hollywood with actor parents who were trying to follow their dreams. Coquet took to the Broadway stage at ten, entering on a palanquin carried by a group of muscular men. He later grows up to become a therapist. After a young adulthood spent partying, he joins what ends up being a cult in search of a new, cleaner life. When he leaves the cult, he puts an ad out for massages, and thus, his career in sex work begins.
Coquet presents himself as very comfortable in his body and in front of a crowd. He flirts with the audience, creating a special bond. It is clear he is able to make people feel special. When he says he is good at his job, it is not hard to believe. These skills translate onstage. He starts the show with a burlesque number and sings many Broadway sex worker numbers throughout. The songs act as the glue holding the show together.
To this point, if it weren’t for the songs, this show would lack cohesion. The script does feel like a collection of autobiographical stories, not a theatrical narrative. At this stage, the transitions are rough at points, jumping from one point, timeline or theme to another without much to string it together. If he excavated the connective tissue, with or without the help of the songs, the flow and pacing of the performance would undoubtedly improve. The performance has the unneeded tangents and meanderings of everyday speech. The most prominent example of this comes at the end of the show when he sings his final song and then says it is in tribute to the person who wrote and popularized it. I would much rather either start this song with the short tribute or do away with it instead of ending the show with a clipped half-sentence that doesn’t relate to the material of the past hour.
In addition, Coquet has a script onstage with him, which he says, at the beginning, he will refer to from time to time, though the show is all stories from his life. He only ended up checking this script a few times and never directly read it. For this reason, I think he could have done without the script if he had a little more rehearsal time. Getting rid of it would elevate the production level and professional quality significantly.
While the show struggled in certain aspects, it has a heart of gold. The Ho Must Go On would surely sing with more time and attention.
“The Ho Must Go On”
Written and performed by Phillipe Andre Coquet
The Queerly Festival at FRIGID NY!
June 29th and July 1st
St Mark’s Underground (94 St Marks Pl, NYC)
Carmen! is a trans-multimedia artist specializing in playwriting, acting and crochet. Originally from Jacksonville Beach, Florida, they are currently based in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, returning to their Atlantic Oceanic roots. Their play Taking the Plunge has been performed at the Tank and the Chain off-Broadway and in the 2023 Fresh Fruit Festival slated this June. Carmen has also worked in front-of-house and technical positions for prominent theater organizations including New Dramatists, Portland Playhouse, Emursive and Future Proof. Carmen’s mission is to use play to create meaningful representation by and for underrepresented communities. For more information on Carmen! Follow them on socials @carmenacetosociety or check out www.carmenburbridge.info
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