Rating: 4.5/5
Venue: Gilded Balloon Patter House, Edinburgh
Pop Off, Michelangelo! is the world premiere musical comedy about besties-turned-bitter rivals Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. After realizing they're both gay, the two childhood friends attempt to earn divine forgiveness by becoming the greatest religious artists of all time. Can Michelangelo gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss his way to the Vatican? Will Leonardo shut up about his helicopter? With an electropop original score as infectious as the bubonic plague, and a script that has not been remotely fact-checked, this brand new Renaissance adventure is both hilarious and unhinged.
The latest in a trend of pop-ified biographical shows, Pop Off Michelangelo! tells the secret story of the friendship between the two titans of the Renaissance, DaVinci and Michelangelo.
In one word, I’d describe this show as a triumph. It speaks CAMP fluently, and isn’t scared to go the extra mile when it comes to the humour, but at the same time it retains a degree of wholesomeness that took me by surprise. In this take on two of the most prominent figures in the history of art, we are presented with the hostility of the Catholic church towards LGBT+ people, and the lengths to which these characters would go to succeed in the arts and hide their true selves.
The score has a sprinkling of Six, and ticks all the boxes of an ear worm, with clever lyrics filled with references and puns delivered perfectly by the talented cast made up of a group of incredibly talented performers. In this point I have to make a note: a lot of the references come straight from viral TikTok trends, and at the rate the internet moves, I worry this will chain the show to a specific moment in time, not to be understood or enjoyed by audiences even a year from now.
One of the biggest strengths of the show is depicting where characters are at. We have a very emotional scene in which Michelangelo reflects on his faith, and on the practicalities of the father-son relationship of Jesus and God. Even though superficially this number might strike as silly, it goes to show a deeper understanding of Michelangelo’s beliefs. Don’t be mistaken, the show is very critical of the church and doesn’t pull any punches, but it was so clever in showing that it understood its protagonists.
This show has a bright future, and I can’t wait to see what its future post-Fringe holds.
You can book tickets to see Pop Off, Michelangelo, here.
Review by Luma
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