Stage Mother

Sometimes it takes a tragic event to lead a person to happiness. That’s what happens to Maybelline (Jacki Weaver), a conservative Texas church choir director who has been estranged from her son Rickey since he came out a decade earlier. When Rickey dies unexpectedly, Maybelline finds herself the unlikely inheritor of his San Francisco drag club, and the new boss to an eclectic — and anarchic — group of performers. Even Rickey’s best friend Sienna (Lucy Liu, at her very best) thinks his mother should just go home. Despite pressure from her husband, Maybelline decides to stay in the Bay Area and turn her musical talents toward saving her son’s club from bankruptcy, and possibly alleviate the crushing guilt she feels for rejecting him years earlier. Funny and touching, director Thom Fitzgerald’s lyrical comedy-drama boasts a fiery supporting cast, including Mya Taylor (Tangerine, PSIFF 2015) and drag superstar Jackie Beat.

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