Backstage with… the stars of Welcome To Chippendales – charting the murderous history of the American dance troupe
When you see that a new show about the Chippendales is starting on Disney+, your first reaction is probably: “Oh cute, those little animated squirrels who are best friends with Mickey Mouse!”
But no. It’s not the Rescue Rangers.
Instead, a drama about the drug-filled and murderous history of one of the most iconic dance troupes in America, the Chippendales, has hit the streamer – you know, the buff lads that take their clothes off for their adoring audience of (largely, but not exclusively, women).
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With an all-star cast, Welcome To Chippendales tells the story of US immigrant Somen ‘Steve’ Banerjee (played by Marvel star Kumail Nanjiani) and his rise to fame, and infamy, and finally his fall from grace, all in the name of keeping his raunchy revue show alive at any cost.
Joining Nanjiani is Broadway icon Annaleigh Ashford, who plays Banerjee’s wife Irene, White Lotus star Murray Bartlett as troupe choreographer Nick De Noia and Dan Stevens as Paul Snider – the man who killed his Playboy model wife in a fit of jealousy.
“The Chippendales dancers are sort of an American icon, if you will,” Ashford explained to Backstage, the TV and film podcast from Sky News.
“They’re sort of a funny part of pop culture that came about in the late seventies and kind of lived through the early nineties.”
She added: “Since the dawn of time, we’ve been watching men get to watch women take their clothes off, so it took until 1970 for women to watch men take their clothes off.
“That’s always been sort of… Chippendales culture that I think is fascinating – but basically, we think of collars and cuffs and men taking their pants off for ladies. Finally.”
Pic: Disney+
Pic: Disney+
Ashford also explained that her mother’s love of true-crime meant she knew about the troupe’s murky history.
“My mom watches a lot of true-crime shows, and so she had told me about it many moons ago.
“Lots of murder and in lots of different places and very, very shocking. The kind of story that if you wrote it from your brain, we’d all say, ‘that’s too crazy. That would never happen in real life’.
“So that’s obviously why we needed to make a television show about it.”
But while Ashford was tapped in to what the Chippendales are – Nanjiani had less of an idea.
“I honestly didn’t know much about the story behind it until this project came my way,” he admitted to Backstage.
“I didn’t know that it was an immigrant who started Chippendales, I didn’t know that it had this like sort of sordid backstory with, you know, the sex and drugs. The arson and murder were surprising – so I really had no idea until… the creator of our show told me what happens episode by episode.
“And that’s when I found out all of this. I had no idea about any of this. Chippendales is a part of pop culture… but the story behind it surprisingly is not.”
The Chippendales has a pretty dark history… Pic: Disney+
When asked what made them want to play the roles, one a murderous strip club owner and the other his dutiful wife, Ashford replied: “We crave characters who are complicated, who have high stakes, who have challenges, and the circumstances of this story are just a wonderful sort of breeding ground for all of those complicated things to navigate as a character and as an actor.
“Just if anything, I was happy to say yes, to dive into some good wigs and wardrobe.”
Nanjiani fired back: “I thought you said it was because of me that you wanted to do it. You said the reason you were doing it was because of me. What? I don’t know what all this stuff is…?”
Ashford said that of course her co-star was one of the “puzzle pieces” as to why wanted to take the role, with Nanjiani joking: “I just want to be a piece of the puzzle.”
Welcome To Chippendales is streaming now on Disney+ – hear our team’s review on this week’s Backstage, the TV and film podcast from Sky News.
Entertainment
Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner and investor of Swansea football club saying it’s ‘an underdog just like me’
Police are taking no further action over Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
Officers said they had investigated “comments about a forthcoming court case made during Kneecap’s performance” at the festival on 28 June.
However, after Crown Prosecution Service advice, they decided there is not enough evidence “to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence”.
The Avon & Somerset force started investigating the Irish group’s show last month, as well as comments by punk-rap duo Bob Vylan.
It said they were looking at a possible public order incident.
Police said on Friday that the investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance was ongoing.
The London duo were widely criticised – and caused a BBC crisis – after leading on-stage chants of “death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces).
Kneecap’s Liam Og O Hannaidh appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June. Pic: PA
Kneecap posted a photograph on Instagram, which the group said was an email from police announcing the case was being dropped.
They said their packed Glastonbury gig was a “celebration of love and solidarity” and reporting used “wildly misleading headlines”.
Fears over what Kneecap might do or say during the performance had prompted the BBC not to show it live.
The group said: “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close… yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
“There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts,” they added.
The police statement on Friday said they had informed Kneecap of their decision to drop the case.
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One of the group’s members appeared in court in June charged with a terror offence.
Liam Og O hAnnaidh is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in the UK, at a gig last year.
He was released on unconditional bail ahead of a second court appearance in August.
Entertainment
Tomorrowland: ‘Devastating’ blaze destroys main stage at major festival – two days before it was due to begin
A huge fire has destroyed the main stage of a major festival in Belgium – two days before it was due to begin.
Tomorrowland is a dance music event as big as Glastonbury – and David Guetta was due to perform.
Footage showed flames and thick plumes of black smoke engulfing the stage and spreading to nearby woodland on Wednesday.
The fire gutted the main stage
Fire crews attempt to bring the blaze under control
The annual festival in the town of Boom, north of Brussels, is one of the biggest in Europe and attracts about 400,000 people over two consecutive weekends.
It is famous for its immersive and elaborate designs and attracts big names within dance music – including Guetta, best known for tracks When Love Takes Over and Titanium.
Dutch DJs Martin Garrix and Charlotte de Witte were also due to perform, along with the likes of Swedish House Mafia, Eric Prydz and Alok.
Black smoke could be seen rising into the sky
The festival’s website described the creative elements which went into the elaborate main stage.
The theme, described as Orbyz, was “set in a magical universe made entirely out of ice” and “full of mythical creatures”.
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Organisers said no one was injured in the blaze but confirmed “our beloved main stage has been severely damaged”, adding they were “devastated”.
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen added: “We received some truly terrible news today. A fire broke out on the Tomorrowland site … and our main stage was essentially destroyed there, which is truly awful.
“That’s a stage that took years to build, with so much love and passion. So I think a lot of people are devastated.”
Spokesperson Debby Wilmsen told reporters ‘a lot of people are devastated’
Despite the fire, Tomorrowland organisers said they were still expecting 38,000 festivalgoers at DreamVille, the event’s campsite.
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