Navigating a legal minefield with comedic flair, Flo and Joan’s One Man Musical is an incredibly and satisfyingly mischievous composition of character and musical comedy. It's a nod to musical theatre fans everywhere who will enjoy this hour of top-notch, yet carefully constructed, mockery.
Top-notch, yet carefully constructed, mockery
Starring George Fouracres, One Man Musical is a tongue-in-cheek spectacle about the He Who Must Not Be Named of musical theatre, referred to as such because of this character’s penchant for suing people. In this musical, we are taken through this composer’s contribution and impact on the musical theatre genre and industry, and the fateful evening that changed everything for him. It is an unbelievably on-point musical that has enough mainstream references to this person’s biography, back-catalogue of music and personality. Despite its reliance on us knowing a lot about him, the show also gives us enough context for those not as familiar to be able to enjoy it just as much. One Man Musical is a collection of awfulness that creates a bubble, giving us some reassurance that we’re not the only ones laughing at him for his specific awful things, like his voting record, background and musicals. In this way, Flo and Joan become the champions for the musical theatre industry professionals that this character has traumatised over the years, giving a voice to the voiceless and a way for us to laugh collectively at this person.
Fouracres faces a mammoth task, but he really becomes this larger than life, over-dramatic presence, playing on the stereotype of the upper-crust peacock, and pushes this concept as far as it will go. He creates a character that we love to hate, through all of his questionable behaviour and complete sense of delusion. Even if there is an exaggerated quality to Fouracres’ performance, it only serves to heighten the comedy without losing any of the realism that this character is based on. Whilst Flo and Joan’s music and script have created this geniusly funny characterisation and amalgamation, Fouracres digs into it, and brings it to life onstage which makes it seem like the man himself is standing in front of us.
Flo and Joan’s One Man Musical is a production that shows us what we’re all thinking in relation to this one character. This musical is a bigger hit than he has had in ages.
