In the best possible sense, Lesli Margherita is like a fabulous drag queen. She is the kind of brassy dame they rarely make anymore. But she’s also often surprisingly sweet and goofy, alternating her sparkling “I am the queen” persona with moments of disarming self-deprecation. As for the show as a whole, it’s hard to describe: a self-empowerment seminar given by someone with a personality the size of Bette Midler or Freddie Mercury? It’s certainly – and charmingly – unique.

Margherita is very good-looking, with bosoms ample enough to be the source of more than one of her stories. Her stature as a brunette bombshell means – to use her own Disney princess metaphor – she’s always cast as the prostitute Esmeralda when she yearns to play Ariel. Though when she did get her shot at playing that little mermaid at a Disneyland theme park show, she realized why – they had a hard time finding shells big enough to cover those bosoms.

There’s a multimedia element to the act as well, so that when she speaks of her inspirations in the country music world (a the love of hair extensions she gleaned from them) we see them in all of their big-haired glory. When she talks about the obstacles that face a performer, she wheels out a droll power point presentation.

Her music director Brett Ryback is an old pal of Margherita’s and they have an easy chemistry that has its fullest expression in a loopy medley of Lite FM duets. No two ways about it, Lesli Margherita is immensely entertaining. Recommended.

For tickets, click here.

To learn about Jonathan Warman’s directing work, see jonathanwarman.com.