Review: Yes, Isaac Mizrahi does know everybody

From Elizabeth Taylor to Zendaya, Isaac Mizrahi has dressed them all. In his nearly two-hour cabaret, “Isaac Mizrahi: I Know Everybody,” the fashion designer and all-purpose entertainer sings, jokes, flirts, name-drops his celebrity Rolodex and more with the help of his jazz band.

Wearing all black with gold chains, red-and-black shoes, and a dramatic white rose pinned to his chest, Mizrahi tells the audience he’s aiming for “Claudia Schiffer for Chanel.” One Instagram commenter, however, saw “Barbara Bush,” a contrast that captures the show’s spirit. He may no longer be in his prime, and that’s the point. He’s in on the joke.

Mizrahi doesn’t hold back. Whether on Project Runway All Stars or onstage, he critiques, confesses and flirts without a filter. Early in the show, after warmly acknowledging his band’s pronouns, he pivots to politics, saying he copes with the White House by “Trump eating” and invites the audience to follow his steps.

“That’s the lesson of Trump America: Never put off for tomorrow the addiction you can have today,” Mizrahi says.

The show jumps from politics to personal feelings to full-on thirst. Mizrahi flirts shamelessly with his band, which takes it on the chin, and dedicates songs to Jon Hamm and Timothée Chalamet. But the man of his life is his husband.

“My husband, Arnold, who is gay,” Mizrahi says more than once, just in case the audience — or Arnold — would forget.

From the start, he sets the tone: This will be the gayest show in town. His songs included Noël Coward’s “Mad About the Boy” and a revision of “You’re the Top” that modified Cole Porter’s already risque lyrics.

Mizrahi embraces camp with pride. He even instructs the audience to Google “bussy” and “gerontophilia.” In fact, “I Know Everybody” could be described as cabaret for the chronically online.

All that jazz

In his cheeky number “Drop the Name,” Mizrahi lists everyone he knows. Some names raise eyebrows, like Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, while others inspire gasps from the crowd: Liza Minnelli, Meryl Streep, Madonna.

The men are flirtation fodder. The women? Icons. Between emotional songs like “Out Here on My Own” from the movie Fame (in which he appeared at 17 in a small role) and a jazzy cover of Madonna’s “Borderline,” Mizrahi shares affectionate fashion-world stories about the women he’s dressed and adored.

Take Elizabeth Taylor. Her team sent him measurements. He didn’t trust them, so he used his own. The dress fit. Later, she sent him a note – his was the only one that did.

“Darling, if you gave the right measurement, everything would fit you,” Mizrahi says.

Mizrahi may be an entertainer now, but fashion gave him the legends, the stories and the confidence to perform. And he doesn’t forget it. By the end, he returns to what matters most: identity.

“My pronoun is Liza,” he says.

Yes, the crowd may show up for the name-dropping, but they stay for Mizrahi himself. The wit, the warmth, the voice. A show that gives the impression of being alone at dinner with him, sharing his apple pie.

IF YOU WANT TO GO: “Isaac Mizrahi: I Know Everybody,” 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. June 7, at Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St. Tickets are $64 to $140.