I Wish My Life Were A Musical has its cake and pretty much eats it, as a musical making gentle fun of musicals, at the King’s Head Theatre and then touring
“What is it that keeps you motivated?”
Everyone loves a musical, right? Well if that isn’t necessarily the case, it’s surely true that everyone loves to take the piss out of musical theatre when they can. Alexander S Bermange’s I Wish My Life Were A Musical pushes that to the max, poking endless fun at any number of theatrical stereotypes all in the space of an 80 minute fringe musical with added jazz hands.
Matthew Parker’s production goes hard as this really isn’t a place for subtlety and whilst it might sometimes seem a little big for the intimacy of the stage at the King’s Head Theatre, that showbiz energy is what powers the musical along. From solos to duets to full company numbers, the pacing rarely flags as Bermange accompanies proficiently on the onstage piano.
Luke Harley, Sev Keoshgerian, Jessi O’Donnell and Julie Yammanee appear to be having a ball, dipping in and out of the material as it lampoons any- and everyone stagey. Chirpy auditionees, noisy audience members, jaded divas, closet musical fans, nervous understudies, all get their moment to shine in a show that manages to remain playfully light-hearted.
The result is pleasingly good fun although not unsurprisingly, it’s not the show to take someone to try and convert them to the joy of musicals. There’s too many in-jokes and meta-references for it to truly work on that level but all right thinking people know who Idina is, don’t they?! Worth catching in Edinburgh and beyond.
