Review: Diva Royale

Review: Diva Royale | Miners Alley Performing Arts Center | Golden, CO | Curtain Up! | Eric Fitzgerald | October 7, 2025

In its regional premiere, Diva Royale kicks off at Miners Alley Performing Arts Center with plenty of slapstick, sequins, and full-throttle lip-syncing. Under the gleefully raucous direction of Associate Artistic Director Warren Sherrill, actor/playwright Jeff Daniels’ farcical comedy follows three Midwestern moms on a wild ride of personal reinvention and over-the-top theatrics. What starts as a search for their guiding light evolves into a vibrant tale about identity and illusion, where shimmering angels and big laughs take center stage. In an age when self-expression is under siege, Diva Royale doesn’t retreat—it lip-syncs with total abandon.

We meet three stay-at-home moms from Middletown, Michigan, bonded not just by friendship but by a shared genetic devotion to Celine Dion, specifically, the soaring anthem that launched a thousand karaoke sobs and made the motion picture Titanic a permanent fixture in their emotional archives. Each mom professes to having seen the film multiple times (over 100, in some cases), but clearly, it is their love of Dion that has captured their imagination and fuels their passion for life.

Helen Millerbee (Emily Paton Davies), Mary Catherine Carlton (Lisa DeCaro), and Lynette Taylor-Tyler (Amy Arpan) have less than twenty-four hours to throw together an energy-fueled escape to the Big Apple, all in pursuit of their shared deity: Celine Dion, where she’s performing for one night only. Whether she’s belting in English or crooning in French, these Middletown moms track Dion’s every move with the fervor of pop-culture pilgrims, staging impromptu living-room lip-syncs like sacred rituals.

Unfortunately, New York City doesn’t quite work out the way the trio envisioned it. Mayhem ensues, and the three ultimately end up with a police record and a laundry list of cherished memories. Throw into the mix Heinrich (Matthew Combs), a female impersonator, along with a bevy of unsavory New York characters, and the story flies by in a scant eighty minutes, with nonstop laughs and tears of joy.

Our three moms— Davies, DeCaro, and Arpan—don’t just admire Celine Dion; they revere her with the kind of fervent precision usually reserved for saints or synchronized swimmers. Davies’ Helen is all heart and high-stakes urgency, channeling her near-death epiphany into a mission of musical salvation; DeCaro’s Mary Catherine radiates warmth and maternal mischief, her fandom laced with a twinkle of mischief and a suitcase full of surprises; and Arpan’s Lynette is a physical comedy marvel, lip-syncing like her soul depends on it and wielding emotional chaos with the grace of a woman who’s danced through every storm.

Along comes the so-called Generic Man (Matthew Combs), who assumes multiple roles, filling all the gaps in our heroines’ stories. Playing everything from a lying cab driver to a street hustler and finally as Heinrich, the classiest Celine Dion female impersonator on record, Combs turns in unforgettable performances that add sheer lunacy to the proceedings, causing even more belly laughs than imaginable.   

Warren Sherrill’s direction of Diva Royale is a masterclass in orchestrated chaos—he doesn’t just guide the story; he unleashes it with precision. Under Sherrill’s comic finesse, the play’s rapid-fire pacing, costume changes, and tonal whiplash never feel out of control; instead, they pulse with purpose. Sherrill leans into absurdity without losing the emotional thread, allowing each moment of comedy to land while still honoring the characters’ deeper longings. In a cultural moment that demands clarity and courage, Sherrill directs both, making Diva Royale not just a comedy masterpiece, but a rhinestoned reckoning.

Jonathan Scott-McKean’s scenic design offers a sleek, versatile canvas that keeps pace with the play’s whirlwind energy. The multi-colored, illuminated flooring pulses with emotional intent—shifting moods and amplifying moments with a responsiveness that borders on choreographic. Vance McKenzie’s lighting design sharpens the chaos into clarity, casting expressive hues that elevate both comedy and catharsis. Meanwhile, Crystal McKenzie’s costume design grounds each character in their own brand of theatrical truth, from suburban practicality to spiritual spectacle. And while every look earns its place, one ensemble steals the spotlight: a shimmering swirl of gold and silver that signals Heinrich’s arrival like a disco ball descending from the rafters – think Studio 54 in its heyday.

In a world spinning faster than most of us can emotionally process, Diva Royale offers a glittering escape hatch. It doesn’t just entertain, it liberates. It reminds us that sometimes the most honest truths come wrapped in wigs and rhinestones, and that laughter, especially the kind that borders on absurdity, is still one of the safest ways to feel free. Diva Royale is total escapism with a dash of unabashed hope and plays through November 9 at Miners Alley Performing Arts Center in Golden.