Nov 54 min read

Review: Pop Off, Michelangelo! (The Other Palace)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's happened. London finally has a show about Leonardo and Michelangelo. No, it's not a long-awaited musical adaptation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (though that's only a matter of time surely), it is the London premiere of Pop Off, Michelangelo, imagining the friendship between the two renaissance artists before they were fierce rivals. Essentially, just imagine Wicked but with art. You got it! But would this musical manage to pop?

Following an Edinburgh Fringe debut, Pop Off, Michelangelo! heads to London for two days at The Other Palace. It tells the story about best friends Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. After realising they’re both gay, they attempt to earn divine forgiveness by becoming the greatest religious artists of all time. As they both grow into themselves, their lives and careers take off in different ways, turning what was once a close friendship into a rivalry so bitter, even Mona Lisa would look furious.

Obviously Pop Off, Michelangelo! is not a verbatim musical, nor has it been fact checked, though it has been inspired by speculation on both artists sexuality. Written by Dylan MarcAurele, the plot may verge on the paper thin but it has a lot of fun in doing so, cramming in as many pop culture references as humanly possible. Sometimes these references do come at the expense of actual dialogue with a sense that less could be more, but this is a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously, only wanting to make the audience laugh, and in that respect it does the job artfully. You may need to be up to date on your memes and pop culture knowledge to get the most out of it, with one brilliant line about Drag Queen Monet X-Change highlighting the writers ability for a gag and a smattering of musical theatre references delighting this reviewer.

The songs are similarly fun if not all the strongest you will ever hear. There are a handful of great numbers in there with opening number ‘Let Me Be Your Renaissance Man’ setting the bar high from the beginning. The standout for me was ‘Pick Me Girl’ a strong and well put-together number musical theatre fans will love, sung effortlessly by Maiya Quansah-Breed, giving it her best Marisa Tomei (it will make sense if you see the show). Other numbers don’t fare as well with ‘Networking Event’ as long, tiring and frustrating as… well, a Networking Event.

This is a fringe show and as such it hasn’t translated as well to The Other Palace. While this is one of the smaller theatres in London, for the state the show is currently in, it still felt too vast. I got the sense the production may have fared better in the smaller studio space downstairs as the Main House didn’t feel like the most natural fit for this show in its current form. Director Joe McNeice makes the most of the extra space with tongue-in-cheek choices of characters going from extreme meltdowns on stage to nonchalantly moving props along themselves, all with a knowing wink to the audience.

Aidan MacColl and Max Eade lead the six-strong cast as Leonardo and Michelangelo, with a great chemistry between them and both getting moments to shine individually. It is their shared time on stage that really elevates the show though with this double act showcasing both of their fantastic talents. Conn McGirr is a highlight as Sali with a beautiful voice and stunning stage presence turning his bit part into a standout. The always wonderful Maiya Quansah-Breed, while drastically underused, makes her presence felt with her big musical number and some brilliant comic timing early on as “Mother”. The cast is completed by Paul Toulson as The Pope and Lucy Carter as Savanarola, both of whom seem to be camping it up to another level entirely in overstated and exaggerated performances that feels like practice for panto season - there is something infectious about their performances though.

As subtle as a sledgehammer, demure and mindful this show is not. That said, Pop Off, Michelangelo! is still a lot of fun and deliciously camp, though it felt like it was still a work in progress to me rather than its best version of itself. Sometimes, the show tries to cram too much in and overdoes it with the pop culture references when it doesn’t always need to come at you quite as thick and fast as it does. While there are a number of funny lines in there, not every joke lands while some extremely niche references will leave some scratching their head. Quite often, the tone of the show does feel strangely reminiscent of The Book of Mormon, mainly in the friendship between our main two. Straying quite closely to that can work against this show which still needs to work out exactly what it is and carve out its own identity in doing so. I have no doubt it will get there though. Though it is far from perfect, Pop Off, Michelangelo! is guaranteed to put a smile on their face of anyone who likes their shows as loud and proud as this. It might not always pop, but when it does, it really goes off!