Women dressed as men dressed as women is the premise for Connie & Carla, Nia Vardalos' follow-up comedy to her wildly successful debut, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. This gender-bending musical, which "plays like a bargain basement Some Like It Hot," didn't score nearly as well with critics or audiences - but apparently gays love it!

Debbie Does Grease

If you're into glitter gowns and show tunes you'll certainly lap up three bonus musical scenes, one featuring Hollywood veteran Debbie Reynolds singing Worse Things, from Grease. The legend herself also talks about reliving her glory days for Connie & Carla ("We didn't call it drag, we called it 'glamorous'") in a special tribute feature, which is otherwise an opportunity for cast and crew to gush over their favourite MGM high-kicker.

There's yet more shameless fawning in a 25-minute Making Of featurette, but once cast and crew get over how gosh-darn great they all are, there's also an instructive exploration into the practical aspects of the shoot peppered with lots of behind-the-scenes footage.

The gloriously tacky production design, cheesy choreography, and naff musical arrangements all come under scrutiny along with the ordeal of hair and makeup. Cinematographer Richard Greatrex explains how dependent he was on the work of the makeup team - because he really needed "to make them [Nia and Toni] not look... ugly". Vardalos gives Lembeck the credit, though, making him one of her "best friends" because "he made me look pretty!" (Dressing In Drag throws further light on the two-and-a-half hour process of making Vardalos look slightly less manly.)

What A Drag...

Lembeck provides introductions for five deleted scenes and is quite frank about his reasons for excising them eg an opening scene in which the girls talk about chasing their dreams was cut for being "cloying and redundant". He's slightly more diplomatic in a feature commentary with the incessantly bubbly Vardalos, explaining the mechanics behind those elaborate stage sequences while she tosses out lame punchlines with irritating frequency. But Lembeck wants us to know he also has a sense of humour, noting that a cast of dragged up blokes "starts to look good at the end of a long day".

David Duchovny gives his opinion in a frankly outrageous outtakes reel, exposing his buttocks and farting - thankfully not at the same time. Yes, there may be a lot of hot air in this DVD package for Connie & Carla, but at least it's buoyant.

EXTRA FEATURES