{"id":127791,"date":"2025-05-24T10:48:14","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T10:48:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/127791\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T10:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T10:48:14","slug":"pop-off-michelangelo-underbelly-boulevard-soho-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/127791\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop Off, Michelangelo! \u2013 Underbelly Boulevard Soho, London"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Writer<\/strong>:<strong>Dylan MarcAurele <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Director: Joe McNeice<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, the two towering figures of the Italian Renaissance, certainly met. Sources record at least one verbal altercation between the two artists in public. Most fictionalised accounts of their relationship focus on rivalry rather than friendship.\u00a0Dylan MarcAurele\u2019s high camp slice of panto-style musical theatre blends double-entendres, moderately catchy tunes, and unpretentious sauciness into a merrily unhinged celebration of the duo\u2019s enduring queer friendship.\u00a0One doubts the historical veracity, but who comes to Carry On-style pantomime for a history lesson?<\/p>\n<p>The plot is as wispy as Leonardo\u2019s ghost hovering over an empty canvas. Childhood friends and fellow \u201cravenous power bottoms\u201d Michelangelo (Max Eade channelling a diminutive Paul Mescal) and Leonardo (an almost inconceivably flamboyant Aidan MacColl) dream of a world in which god does not hate them for being queer. Who doesn\u2019t? The slogan \u201cJustice, truth, and no homos\u201d is emblazoned in Latin on the forum walls, suggesting the boys have their work cut out.<\/p>\n<p>The duo surmises that the solution to their woes is to become the most extraordinary religious artist ever, which requires the attention and assistance of the Pope (a divine Michael Marouli seemingly auditioning for this winter\u2019s panto dame jobs). But can the duo\u2019s friendship survive ambition, betrayal, and papal chicanery on the route to the top? As one of the lyrics has it, \u201cyou can\u2019t make a frittata without breaking eggs\u201d. Anticipate fireworks and nonstop references to Gen Z pop culture as Piet\u00e0 and The Last Supper fight it out for ascendancy. Some of the more niche references to RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race may leave all but the most avid fans scratching their heads.<\/p>\n<p>In the duo\u2019s way stands the serpentine Niccol\u00f2 Machiavelli (Sev Keoshgerian) and fiery preacher Savanarola (Laura Sillett), whose determination to extinguish moral corruption from Renaissance society sees her linger outside the back room of a dodgy Milanese gay bar. One almost wants to chant, \u2018She\u2019s behind you, Leo\u2019. Taking the fairy godmother role is Aoife Haakenson in the form of the Hollywood gay icon (at least, apparently, in MarcAurele\u2019s native New York), Marisa Tomei. Kurran Dhand pops up as Leonardo\u2019s muse and probable lover, Salai.<\/p>\n<p>MarcAurele\u2019s attractive song palette ranges from Cuban Salsa, through anthemic ballads, to funky electropop. There is one showstopper to enjoy in Pick Me Girl, an acerbic comment on vacuous celebrity culture, beautifully sung by Haakenson. The appealing Networking offers a pithy if overlong observation on the triumph of style over substance in superstar art circles. Sundeep Saini\u2019s choreography makes the most of Underbelly Boulevard Soho\u2019s limited stage space. Joe McNeice\u2019s zippy direction keeps the momentum flowing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Runs until 13 July 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Writer:Dylan MarcAurele Director: Joe McNeice Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, the two towering figures of the Italian Renaissance,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[38546,56374,748,56375,38547,393,4884,38548,56376,56377,257,38549,38550,56378,43115,56379,56380,6080,56381,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-127791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-aidan-maccoll","9":"tag-aoife-haakenson","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-conn-mcgirr","12":"tag-dylan-marcaurele","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-joe-mcneice","16":"tag-kurran-dhand","17":"tag-laura-sillett","18":"tag-london","19":"tag-max-eade","20":"tag-michael-marouli","21":"tag-michelangelo","22":"tag-musical","23":"tag-natalia-brown","24":"tag-pop-off","25":"tag-review","26":"tag-sev-keoshgerian","27":"tag-uk","28":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114562420114434927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}