Calypso Cabaret
Thai transgender cabaret / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Calypso Cabaret (Thai: คาลิปโซ่ คาบาเร่ต์[1]) is a Thai transgender cabaret. It is performed at the open-air mall Asiatique in Bangkok. Calypso Cabaret was founded in 1988 in a renovated movie theater on Sukhumvit Road. It relocated to the Ambassador Hotel theater in 1992 and later to Asia Hotel on Phaya Thai Road. It moved in 2012 to its current location, Asiatique on Charoen Krung Road. The show's director is German television actor Hans Hoenicke. According to The Nation, the company has achieved "international fame stardom" through consistently being called a "must do experience" in travel blogs, periodicals, and travel guides.[2]
Calypso Cabaret | |
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![]() Calypso Cabaret logo | |
Genre | Cabaret |
Show type | Resident |
Date of premiere | 1988 (1988) |
Location | 2194 Charoen Krung Road, Wat Phraya Krai, Bang Kho Laem, Bangkok, Thailand |
Creative team | |
Director | Hans Hoenicke |
Official website |
Publications have called the show's entertainers "kathoey", "ladyboy", "transgender", "transsexual", and "transvestite" performers.[lower-alpha 1] With 16 acts during the show, the transgender performers lip sync and dance to songs. Calypso Cabaret features songs from a variety of genres including classical music, oldies, avant-garde music, rhythm and blues, and Thai ballads. There are Carmen Miranda and Marilyn Monroe impersonators. There is classical music from China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand.
Calypso Cabaret is billed as a family-friendly show with skilled performers who provide funny entertainment. The show's audience was largely Bangkok residents in the upper middle class and middle class with farang holidaymakers making up a substantial portion. By 2000, foreign visitors had eclipsed Thai people, who no longer visited as much. The show received largely positive reviews. Commentators praised the ravishing costumes, the spirited dancing, and the excellent acting.