🎭 Julie: The Musical
📍 The Other Palace Studio, 12 Palace Street, London, SW1E 5JA
🗓 Thursday 13th June 2024
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JOYFULLY AND CHAOTICALLY QUEER!
Pride month seems the perfect time to celebrate legendary queer icon Julie D'Aubigny and in JULIE: THE MUSICAL this French sword-fighting, opera-singing bisexual from the 1600's takes centre stage to tell the story of her life.
The show is presented as Julie sharing her story with the audience and the intimate setting of the Studio at The Other Palace really helps the audience to engage with the anecdotal way in which the story is narrated. Sam Kearney-Edwards shines as the fabulously fiery female and competently leads the cast in what can only be described as a cheeky and chaotic telling of this outrageous story.
It's hard to describe the format of the show as it seems to merge a few genre's together and what we're presented with is almost a comedy sketch show mixed with stand up, musical theatre and rock concert!
The cast play all the music live on stage and create an electric atmosphere with their dynamic performances. There was unfortunately a slight issue with the levels of the sound which meant when the music was going full throttle the vocals became too quiet and got lost.
There is however no denying the energy and joy that emits from the stage and JULIE: THE MUSICAL is laugh-out-loud funny, in your face and unapologetically queer - and I loved every second of it!
The book, lyrics and compositions by Abey Bradbury are fun yet informative and get the audience instantly hooked and never once loses them. Bradbury also stars in the show and as Thevenard she is wonderfully humorous. Such an expressive performer, she exudes confidence and demands attention in a dazzling performance.
Zachary Pang plays a diverse plethora of characters and is equally brilliant in each of them. His gratifyingly comic performance throughout is succinct and playful.
Melinda Orengo as Marie is sweet and engaging in her pivotal role within the story, giving absolute believability from start to finish.
As Act 2 progresses, Julie's behaviour becomes more eratic until there is a sudden shift change and we see a completely different side to her. Kearney-Edwards gives a breathtakingly honest performance during the finale and in a juxtaposition to the rest of the evening the show ends in a profoundly quiet and touching way.
At the heart of this production is a euphoric celebration of queerness and a heartwarming self discovery in a world where you don't belong.
I definitely see a future for this production however I do believe that there needs to be an additional couple of people in the cast. Whilst the multi-rolling on dosplay was exceptional, there were times when it was difficult to follow which character the actor was meant to be. This would also allow a fuller sound to the music and enhance the production even more.
The set, costume and lighting designs are all glorious in the show and I'd be interested to see this production grow into a bigger venue and show off its real potential.
JULIE: THE MUSICAL is presented by Le Gasp! and Croft & Dye Productions and is playing in the Studio at The Other Palace until Sunday 30th June. Click here to book your tickets.
Neill Kovacic-Clarke
All views are my own and I pride myself on being honest, fair and free from influence. Theatre is subjective and it is important to remember that all views expressed are just those of one reviewer.
My ticket for this performance of Julie: The Musical was gifted by Chloé Nelkin Consulting who invited me to watch the show in exchange for my honest review. The fact that my ticket was gifted played no part in the content of my review or the star rating given.
CAST LIST:
Sam Kearney-Edwards as Julie D'Aubigny; Melinda Orengo as Marie De Florensac (& others); Zachary Pang as D'Albert (& others); Abey Bradbury as Thevenard (& others)
RUNNING TIME (approx):
2 hours, including interval
CONTENT WARNINGS:
Homophobia and Transphobia; Use of homophobic / transphobic language; Strong language; Scenes of a sexual nature; Mentions of abuse; Discussions around mental health; Depiction of a panic attack; Flashing lights
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