DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL
Book and characters by Sean Patrick Monahan
Music & lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen
As president of the drama club and star of every school show, Desmond Channing spent most of his short life in the spotlight. When a rival student Evan Harris, a hotshot transfer from New York, challenges his throne, Desmond responds as any diva would, with lethal force…
Now stuck in the ‘Seventh Circle’, Hell’s most squalid cabaret venue, Desmond is forced to relive his disturbing tale of woe. As we join him and his band for their one-millionth consecutive show, Desmond performs with a desperate vigour in the hopes that he can prove he’s repented and can be freed from this eternal, campy torment!
Starring Jak Malone, fresh from his critically-acclaimed performance in Operation Mincemeat (Southwark Playhouse/New Diorama Theatre), as Desmond Channing and the entire company of larger than life characters. This darkly comic one-man musical, loosely based on All About Eve, has its European premiere with new direction and design from Joe McNeice.
Presented by arrangement with Music Theatre International (Europe) Ltd. on behalf of Dramatists Play Service Inc. of New York.
DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL is at Brockley Jack Studio Theatre 17th – 28th March 2020.
Press for the Original New York Production
A tale of jealousy and revenge, DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL is a musical for the theater kid at heart…genuine and accessible…the quintessential show for musical theater lovers. TheaterintheNow.com.
…clever, fun, camp and deliciously mean-spirited…DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL…displays a keen, witty sense of the closed-minded community and, particularly, the aches and pains of the high school years. TheaterScene.net.
DIVA: LIVE FROM HELL is a brilliant…one-man musical detailing the exploits of Desmond Channing, a high school drama student whose exploits offstage would probably make much of Broadway fare seem rather tame in comparison…The songs by Oyen are clever and vibrant and flow seamlessly with the script. Charged.fm.
Previous Press for Jak Malone
A beautiful exception is Jak Malone’s tender solo as yearning clerk Hester; as the lights fade around him, it’s as if nothing else matters in the world. The Guardian
Jak Malone mixes comedy with devastating emotional clout. Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor
The prize must go to Jak Malone who not only manages to bring almost everyone to tears, but morphs into a sea captain, reporter and a coroner in split seconds and with chameleonic skill. Musical Theatre Review
