Musical by Boy George (Music and Lyrics), book by Mark Davies, directed by Christopher Renshaw.

The theatre is small, the stage set in the midst of a bar. Audience participation was invited, especially by Leigh (“Ich bin Kunst”) and Philip. In terms of acting – mimics, movement – and voice, Philip and George were especially good.

The whole cast had fabulous voices, the guys’ blending wonderfully together when they sang. The lighting was nice as well. I liked that the stage wasn’t the only place of interaction; there was a phone booth and a room in the middle of the stage, which could be closed off with a curtain; at the edge of the stage were couches and tables.

While slightly repetitive, the music was enjoyable, and the lyrics were lovely and very fitting for expression emotion and characters – ballads and catchy tunes – almost three hours long.

“Stranger in this World” (sung by George) was, to me, one of the most evocative and touching pieces, closely followed by “Petrified”. I really liked that I was drawn to the characters through the lyrics; I feel that words are often set aside in the newer musicals in favour for special effects. Not so here.

Marilyn was very bendy, she managed to get her leg up parallel to her body *ouch* ;D, and her movements were excellent, although she acted the role, not so much living it. I particularly liked “Guttersnipe” (with George), which was great fun. Leigh was excellent, very convincing and Philip was great fun.

I didn’t quite see the love story between Kim and Billy. For me, the musical was more of a promenade in a world of artistic expressions of difference – very colourful, very realistic and touching. I enjoyed the music, the spirit, and especially the great cast.

I thought the friendship/love evolving between George and Billy drew more attention as I missed chemistry and sparks between Kim and Billy. Steve and Billy were good singers, but not quite as captivating in their interpretation as George and Philip were.

Both Josie and Kim were good, impressive singers, although I missed a little stage presence. Big Sue’s “Il Adore” was haunting, I particularly loved the emotion in her words. My favourite was George, though, Evan Morton was sparkling, truly memorable.

Altogether, one of the best new musicals I’ve seen – you just have to love it when a cast isn’t just good, but also motivated ;D.

Cast:
Philip Sallon: Ryan Molloy
Billy James: Declan Bennett
Kim: Lucy Newton
Derek James, Petal (drug dealer): David Burt
Josie James: ?
Leigh Bowery: Julian Clary
Marilyn: Daniel Carter
Big Sue: Gail Mackinnon
George: Evan Morton
Steve Strange: Martin Neely
Guru Dazzle: Robert Shelly
Also: Nicola Dawn, Lucy Harris, Alana Phillips, Nathan Taylor