*Episode premise spoilers, which spoil certain developments from the first three episodes.*
I’m really enjoying this Hulu miniseries, about the twists, feuds, and scandals that bloomed out of the creation of Chippendales in the 1970s and ‘80s. While I didn’t go into the show knowing much about Chippendales beyond the famous SNL sketch, it’s interesting to see what a complex, dramatic story was at play here.
Since Andrew Rannells is only making his first guest appearance halfway through the series, I’ll quickly catch us up on the main players before getting into the synopsis for this episode. In 1979, small-time club owner Steve Bannerjee gets the idea to open a strip club for women. Over the course of the first few episodes, the origins of the infamous Chippendales take shape as the meticulous businessman assembles his team. Other than the dancers, of course, this includes Nick, a brilliant choreographer whose routines keep the ladies coming back for more but whose creative fancies have been increasingly clashing with Steve’s bottom line. We have Irene, a savvy accountant who has a way with money; by this point, she’s also Steve’s wife. Rounding out the team is Denise, an ingenious costume designer who becomes another point of contention between Nick and Steve when Nick strongarms Steve into hiring her.
So that’s where we are when we hit episode 4. Business is better than ever, with Chippendales’ newly printed calendars flying off the shelves. But Steve can’t fully celebrate his success. The club’s most popular dancer Otis is unsettled to realize that he, the only Black dancer at Chippendales, was left out of the calendar. And after Steve’s conflicts with Nick boiled over in the previous episode, the choreographer has escaped to the opposite coast, where he’s trying to pitch his own male strip club to New York backers.
The show reminds me a little of Black Monday, and not just because both feature Andrew Rannells and are about an unlikely crew of masterminds shaking up the scene as they’re fueled by coke and ‘80s greed. Both are about people who are supremely good at what they do but have to create their own opportunities after getting shut out of traditional paths—Steve is an Indian immigrant who used all his savings from years of working as a gas station manager to open Chippendales, and his partners in crime are a queer man and two women—and both feature lead characters who are fueled just as much by resentment as their inner drive, which can help and hurt them in equal turn.
In Steve’s case, Chippendales is his brainchild, but he never could have created it alone. While his vision and business acumen got the club off the ground, he needed Nick’s routines to take things to the next level, Irene to maximize his profits, and Denise to create the gamechanger of breakaway pants. However, because he’s someone who’s been denigrated and ignored for all the years he’s been in America, he’s always on the lookout for someone wanting to push him down or take what’s rightfully his, whether that’s profit or credit. This can make him lash out, batten down the hatches to protect what’s his, but he alienates his collaborators in the process.
It's also really interesting to see what’s going on with Otis here. We’ve seen how he’s objectified in the dance routines. Yes, for a stripper, that comes with the job to an extent, but it goes further with Otis than the other guys. We see how the women fetishize him, how they grope at him while he’s trying to do his job. He looks up to Steve as a man of color who built his own business from the ground up, so to have Steve traffic in antiblackness—it’s the customers’ fault, you see, they’re just too racist to buy a sexy calendar with a Black man in it—is a hard blow for him.
The cast is terrific. Kumail Nanjiani plays Steve as part dweeb, part genius, part godfather. Murray Bartlett, who I really liked in Looking and who’s caught my eye in everything I’ve seen him in since, brings the passionate but egotistical Nick to life so far. Annaleigh Ashford is great as sweety, nerdy Irene, Juliette Lewis is fun as the wild Denise, and Quentin Plair does a really nice job with Otis. The miniseries also features the always-great Robin de Jesús, the original Sonny in In the Heights, and he more recently played Michael in tick, tick…BOOM!
Rannells shows up in the New York City part of the storyline. As Nick takes a breather from attempting to pitch his new club, he stops for a drink at a piano bar and is swept away by one Bradford Barton (and yes, that is the Rich White Boyest of names.) Bradford captures Nick’s attention by singing “Someone is Waiting” from Company, which is awesome, and their official meetcute involves arguing over their favorite Sondheim song, which is even better. Nick and Bradford quickly fall for each other, and the sexytimes commence.
Bradford makes an entertaining impression in his first episode. While Welcome to Chippendales is more of an overall drama than most shows Rannells has been in, he navigates the tone well, nailing the drama-with-a-lot-of-humor vibe. In addition to singing Sondheim in his very first scene, which will always be a plus, we’re treated to some delightful line readings. As Nick tells Bradford about his ex-wife, a famous actress, Bradford drawls, “Well, if you’re gonna be closeted, you might as well go big.”
Rannells’ nonverbal performances is on point too. There’s a great moment when, in their hotel room, Nick is on the phone with Denise and vigorously denies being high. As he insists, “None! Not a bump!”, Bradfords makes an absolutely spectacular face and holds up three fingers. It’s been a while since I had any new live-action Rannells project to watch, and I’m really pleased with what we’re getting in Welcome to Chippendales so far.
Recommend?
In General – I would, provided you don’t mind lots of scenes of strippers dancing. It’s a neat story that’s being told well by an excellent cast, all wins in my book.
Andrew Rannells – Sure. Rannells is a lot of fun here. He has less nonstop comedy than some of his sitcom performances, but he entertains in all of his scenes and I’m looking forward to seeing where things go with Bradford and Nick.
Warnings
Sexual content, language, drinking/smoking/drug use, thematic elements, and scenes of violence.
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