ajhlovestheatre

POP OFF, MICHELANGELO!

book, music and lyrics by Dylan Marcaurele

directed by Joe McNeice

Underbelly Boulevard, London – until 13 July 2025

running time: 75 minutes no interval 

https://www.popoffmichelangelo.com

Sometimes a show comes along that gently/unexpectedly knocks you sideways. Pop Off, Michelangelo! is one such show. It’s short, sharp and exhilarating, packed with camp joy, musical theatre Easter eggs (Six is the most obvious one, with its emphasis on historical accuracy filtered through a pop sensibility, but a show that also references niche masterpieces like Fun Home and Parade suggests creator Dylan Marcaurele really knows his stuff) and, as exquisitely staged by Joe McNeice, gets the balance between sincerity, eccentricity and camp joy exactly right. 

This mini-musical chronicles the rivalry between Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci,  the former a self-made success, the latter equally as brilliant but less appreciated in his own lifetime. Marcaurele’s book and McNeice’s production are deceptively ingenious in that they are rollicking good fun (Michael Marouli’s blinged-up, vaping Pope is an absolute riot, as is Aoife Haakenson’s saintly Marisa Tomei…you really have to see this to understand how she fits into the story) but you also find yourself caring very deeply about Michelangelo and Leonardo (Max Eade and Aidan MacColl respectively, both utterly adorable).

As befits a musical about titans of art and design, the production looks fabulous. The programme doesn’t credit a set designer but the chequerboard floor, Greco-Roman pillars and pop-art cloud combination is stylish and fun, while Emily Bestow’s detailed, joyfully anachronistic costumes and Adam King’s colourful lighting are pretty much perfect. Sundeep Saini’s choreography owes much to the world of music videos and feels entirely appropriate.

If the overall tone is one of breathless camp chaos, the kind of show where Laura Sillett’s gloriously OTT baddie Friar (who definitely isn’t wearing clothes from Temu, by the way….a ridiculous but highly amusing running gag) makes an appearance in the balcony of the theatre solely to villainously laugh at the misfortunes of our heroes, McNeice ensures that it is consistently focused. It’s also wickedly inventive: the marble block out of which Michelangelo sculpts his legendary Pietà is suggested by lighting and movement but is so well set up that, by the time we get a glimpse of the final work, courtesy of PJ McEvoy’s beautifully realised projections, it’s actually genuinely moving. 

Having just one creative responsible for the book, music and lyrics can sometimes lead to self indulgence, but that’s definitely not the case here. There is a consistency of tone between Marcaurele’s often hilarious but surprisingly well informed script and his poppy, eclectic, fiendishly catchy score. What I could hear of the lyrics seem to be pretty brilliant, but Ed Lewis’s sound design, while not exactly overwhelming, often makes it a little difficult to pick out the sung words, which is a shame in a show as witty as this one. Aron Sood’s three piece band sounds great though, and often larger than it actually is.

Pop Off, Michelangelo! is also that rare beast, a show you actually wish was longer than it’s 75 minutes. It feels like there’s a slight headlong rush towards the finale, and it really would be no hardship to spend another half hour or so in the company of this thoroughly engaging cast of characters. Eade and MacColl, the latter resembling a younger Jak Malone, are a winning central pairing, like two disheveled cherubs. This is naughty, slick, hugely entertaining, and genuinely very clever without beating you over the head with its ingenuity. A bonkers delight.