Dylan Mulvaney is “The Least Problematic Woman in the World”

10/14/2025

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This is a theatrical photo featuring a woman standing center stage in an extremely bright, colorful, and surreal set dominated by hot pink and purple lighting. She is dressed in a playful, angelic outfit consisting of a tiered, ruffled white mini-dress, knee-high silver boots, and large, prominent white feather wings extending dramatically behind her. She stands in front of a curved, ribbed white counter. The background is a wall of shelving filled with small white and pink products, all bathed in purple light. Two small, vintage-style television screens in the top corners show her image, one in a white swimsuit, reinforcing the theme of idealized, perhaps manufactured, perfection. — The Least Problematic Woman in the World (Photo by Andy Henderson)

This is a dramatic and high-contrast theatrical photo set in a pink, retail-style space. A woman in a black outfit, a dark eye mask, and high heels is positioned on the right, leaning over a pink object that resembles a scale or low hand truck, with her mouth open in a shout or gasp. The set behind her features a curved, pink, ribbed counter and surrounding shelving filled with various white and pink products. Three prominent TV monitors are mounted on the shelves, each displaying the large white word "top". The stage floor is covered in a vibrant hot pink carpet with papers scattered on it, and the lighting is harsh and dramatic, emphasizing the chaotic and consumer-driven atmosphere of the scene. — The Least Problematic Woman in the World (Photo by Andy Henderson)

Remember last season, when I said the most joyous gay musical ever was The Big Gay Jamboree? Well, there’s a new girl in town, and her name is Dylan Mulvaney! Dylan’s one-woman show with music, The Least Problematic Woman in the World, is the most laugh-out-loud entertainment currently in New York, and Dylan — star, writer, and lyricist — makes her New York stage debut with enough ebullience and energy to power the city!

Dylan builds on her viral series Days of Girlhood, live shows such as Day 365 (which celebrated her transition), and her West End debut in the musical We Aren’t Kids Anymore to create a semi-autobiographical version of her own journey to self-awareness.

That she is not afraid to go over the top, leaving her audience helpless with laughter, allows her to make subtly powerful points about the trans community. And make no mistake about it — Mulvaney’s show is a joyous embrace of life as a trans woman.

The show begins as Angel 666 awaits assignment to a new life on earth. Having been born previously as, among others, Eve, Cleopatra, and Anne Boleyn, she hopes for an easier role this time. But God has other plans, and 666 finds herself in the body of Dylan — a boy’s body. Dylan feels he is a female trapped in a male body, but has no way of expressing it. Authority figures around him, including his mother and the Roman Catholic church, try to make Dylan fit in with societal expectations, but it doesn’t take.

After facing the pleasures and pitfalls of fame as a “palatable” trans icon, Dylan attains full self-realization of who and what she really is, with a little help from a God who not only makes no mistakes but knew exactly what he was doing with her.

While Dylan is the only person appearing on stage, she is helped along by videos, designed by Caite Hevner, of people in her story, appearing on the three screens along the back wall of the Barbie-pink set designed by Tom Rogers. Her “supporting cast” includes the vocal talents of Alan Cumming, Marilu Henner, and Chris Colfer, and on-screen appearances by Miss Bunny, Our Lady J, Rosie O’Donell, Peppermint, and Dylan herself among others.

Enver Chakartash’s costumes highlight the many stages of Dylan’s life, from his school uniform to her more glamorous spokesmodel outfits to her white angel’s robes complete with big feathery wings.

This is a highly stylized theatrical photograph set in a room with striking pink and blue/purple neon lighting, reminiscent of a dream-like retail space. A woman with a large, fixed smile sits on a pink, ribbed counter in the center of the frame, wearing a short-sleeve shirt and dark skirt. Behind her is a wall of brightly lit shelving filled with products, including white bottles, boxes, and a vertical row of boxes that appear to be Barbie dolls. In the center of the shelving is a large monitor or opening framed like a vintage television, showing a pink-curtained window view. The floor is covered in a hot pink carpet, and the overall effect is surreal, glossy, and saturated with color. — The Least Problematic Woman in the World (Photo by Andy Henderson)

No fewer than four composers created the show’s score. Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss (SIX) provided the show’s opening number / title song, setting the mood for what’s to come. Ingrid Michaelson (The Notebook) wrote the power ballad “Pass Me By”; three more songs came from Mark Sonnenblick (KPop Demon Hunters); and the closing number “I Am a Woman” was co-composed by Sonnenblick and Abigail Barlow (The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical).

Dylan herself contributed the lyrics for all the songs except the first. This is a quite good score for this short, fast-paced musical, with the songs relaying a sense of Dylan’s emotional state at every turn.

Under the precision comedy directing of Tim Jackson, The Least Problematic Woman in the World brilliantly showcases the talents and the story of Dylan Mulvaney. Be aware that there will be audience participation, on stage and off, but for 90 minutes you’ll be in Dylan’s world, so just give in and enjoy yourselves. I strongly recommend getting tickets and going down to the West Village to see the joyful explosion that is The Least Problematic Woman in the World!

The Least Problematic Woman in the World is presented at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher St., in New York, through Nov. 30, 2025. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to leastproblematicwoman.com.