From voice-straining high notes to limb-spraining high kicks, via on-stage smooches and off-stage feuds, award-winning musical revue I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical reveals everything that you could want to know about being a musical theatre performer… if only there were any who would dare to admit it. Returning to the Fringe with its unique blend of wit, whimsy and warmth, it presents the innermost secrets of the industry.
Created by ‘genius in comic songwriting’ (Cabaret Scenes) and iTunes comedy album chart-topper Alexander S. Bermange, and featuring a cast of West End regulars, I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical comedically covers the journey from wide-eyed drama school graduate right through to brattish diva, or past-it chorus member, or bitter has-been (or “never-was”) – and promises to delve even deeper than during its previous sell-out run.
Following the highlights (and low points) of a musical theatre performer’s career, the show unfolds through anecdotes, revelations and confessions – in song – that lift the lid on awful auditions, debilitating dance routines, mid-performance mishaps, and backstage backstabbing – alongside celebrations of those magical moments that make it all seem worthwhile.
I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical boasts a West End Wilma Award for Best Cabaret, a Broadway World UK Award nomination for Theatrical Event Of The Year, a Broadway World Scotland Award nomination for Best Musical Production and a Brighton Fringe Award nomination for Excellence. In the last year, a successful Korean-language production of I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical has premiered in Seoul, while a new British filmed version was streamed online for a limited season.
Composer and lyricist Alexander S. Bermange comments, Off-stage interactions that I have observed between performers and audience members have shown me that ordinary people are often extremely curious about the day-to-day lives of professional performers. I thought it might be fun to create a show that offers a glimpse behind the curtain in a way that is funny and irreverent, but brutally truthful, for theatregoers and theatre folk alike. Television talent show formats and the social media explosion now give the public a backstage glimpse of areas of the entertainment business, and parts of performers’ lives, that have hitherto been deemed off-limits. This piece goes even further in exposing these hidden truths, while simultaneously maximising their comedic potential. Bringing the show back to Edinburgh is giving us the opportunity to introduce some exciting new elements to the production, whilst obviously preserving the qualities that proved so popular last time.
Alexander S. Bermange’s previous credits encompass numerous musicals produced in London, around the UK and internationally, and many comic songs for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. Director and choreographer Joanna Goodwin’s recent London, national and international credits include Gypsy, Sunset Boulevard, Funny Girl and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
