FLOP! The Best Songs From The Worst Musicals

Review by Penny

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This full-throttle hour is a whistle-stop tour through some of the world of musical theatre’s most notorious or forgotten flops (including highlights from Carrie, Moby Dick, and of course Diana the Musical) via their most redeeming songs. At its heart, this show is a love letter to the artists who pour everything into work that may not end up as the hit they’d hoped, while revelling in the absurdity of some of the visions along the way!

Arthur Hull is a talented musical theatre performer but, moreover, an exceptional emcee with superb comic timing and unmatched charisma, even when devolving into an unhinged but entirely valid rant about Tom Hooper’s voyage into making musical movies. He owns the stage with a couple of hilarious props, mastering the use of two keyboards and occasionally creating his own backing music live – the performing of this show from start to finish is a feat in itself, and Hull achieves it with such gusto that we cannot help but be utterly enamoured. His audience interaction is hysterical, allowing us all to feel part of every moment. While there are a couple of points in the show that could benefit from a little tightening, for the most part even on-stage blunders are joyously charming.

Though the sound balance still needs some adjusting, the lighting design is simple but supremely effective, executed with the perfect timing necessary to pull it off.

A chaotic evening of celebration, FLOP! The Best Songs From The Worst Musicals can be seen at Wilton’s Music Hall, 1 Graces Alley, London E1 8JB Thursday 24 - Saturday 26 September, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Gilded Balloon, Teviot Thursday 6 - Sunday 30 August (not 12, 19, 26)