Jacki Weaver inherits a San Francisco drag bar from her estranged gay son in new comedy Stage Mother

Two-time Academy Award nominee Jacki Weaver is headlining a sweet-looking new dramedy called Stage Mother, following a conservative Texas church mother who inherits a San Francisco drag bar.

The Australian theater veteran portrays Maybelline, a self-avowed ‘Southern Baptist choir mistress,’ who learns the unthinkable at the start of the trailer – her son, who lived in San Francisco, is dead.

Naturally, she decides to go to the funeral, as it’s learned that she and her husband have been estranged from their child: ‘One of us has to go, make sure he’s put to rest properly,’ she tells her gruff-looking spouse. 

From there, she enters the wild world of gay San Francisco nightlife, where she meets her late son’s best friend, played by Lucy Liu (rocking a blond wig).  

She also learns from a business associate (the handsome Adrian Grenier of The Devil Wears Prada fame) that her son owned a drag bar, Pandora’s Box, in the Castro.

What’s more, business is suffering and the establishment is in danger of closing. 

This sets the stage for the fish-out-of-water comedy, as the stable of drag queens (led by New York City-based icon Jackie Beat) must contend with Maybelline and her ideas for how to save them.

One of the Pandora employees openly wonders, ‘Is Mommie Dearest gonna be our new boss?’ 

While Maybelline herself reasons, ‘I’m a Southern Baptist choir mistress – different songs, same divas. Some of the same wigs, too.’ 

Other notable performers in the film include Tangerine star Mya Taylor.

Stage Mother looks to be the latest update in drag-saves-the-day comedy originated by films like The Birdcage (itself an update of the French stage farce La Cage Aux Folles) and Priscilla Queen Of The Desert.

The film premiered in January at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, and is set for release in the UK at the end of July and on streaming platforms beginning August 21st.