Review: The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)

If you have a giggle at the title, wait until you see the show.

Let me begin by stating that this show is performed by five hugely talented actors (and a hugely talented pianist). Jack Brown, Bianca Bruce, Emma Hoy, Michael Leaver and Josiah Lulham are all wonderful, to the extent that I had to list them in alphabetical order so as not to play favourites. With big voices, lots of talent and a pair or two of dancing shoes, this quintet light up the stage. A special mention to Simon Bruckard, the brilliant pianist who was the driving force behind the performance.

It wouldn’t really be fair to praise the cast without praising the directors. Emma Leaver and Scott Dunsdon have taken a funny show and, through the simplicity of the staging, have turned it into something special. The ballet sequence in Corn, or the Cabaret-inspired Speakeasy were two moments worth mentioning.

I wish I could repeat a joke or two to demonstrate to you the hilarity of the piece, and thereby convince you to go and see the show immediately, but, unfortunately, that’s not how it works. To expose the plot of A Little Complex, Corn or Aspects of Junita would ruin the fun of it. Is it enough to mention that, at times, I had literal tears in my eyes from laughing too hard? How often do you hear that about a piece of student theatre?

The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) by Joanne Bogart and Eric Rockwell
Directed by Emma Leaver and Scott Dunsdon
Details of performances and more can be found on their Mudfest page.