Review: [title of show] at Southwark Playhouse Borough

[Title of Show] is a self-referential meta-musical written by Hunter Bell, with music and lyrics by Jeff Bowen. The show records its own creation process as an entry in the New York Musical Festival.  Following its 2004 Off-Broadway run, the musical eventually transferred to Broadway in 2008, earning Bell a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical.

Directed by Christopher D. Clegg, with musical direction by Tom Chippendale, this London production, presented by Taylor Jay Productions, faithfully captures the show’s spirit of humour through its infinite self-referentiality.  With the musical festival’s submission deadline approaching in three weeks, Hunter (Jacob Fowler) and Jeff (Thomas Oxley), a pair of musical writers, struggle to create a project. They invite their friends Susan (Mary Moore) and Heidi (Abbie Budden) to join, and eventually come up with something that reflects their own creative process, titled…[title of show] –  the cheeky blank space you need to fill on the festival’s submission form.

The music style sometimes may remind you of The Book of Mormon. While the melody might not please the ear the most, it certainly pleases the mind for its humorous vibe, in songs such as “Die, Vampire, Die” and “Secondary Characters”, going hand in hand with the performing style of the cast, especially that of Budden and Moore. The two “secondary characters” are second to none, extremely hilarious and vocally impressive in funny songs such as “What Kind of Girl Is She?” as well as in the more emotional “A Way Back to Then”. Fowler and Oxley, as the writing pair, convey their artistic struggles directly to the audience properly, while not taking themselves too seriously.

Josh Smith’s design aligns perfectly with the show’s minimalist aesthetic, featuring four chairs with a huge neon palette against the back wall. Ben Ward, the music supervisor/fifth character, sits upper stage right with his keyboard. He’s also quite funny as Larry, providing occasional one-liners as well as the music score throughout the show.

“I’d rather be nine people’s favourite thing than 100 people’s ninth favourite thing”, sings Jeff. Struggling in-between artistic pursuit and the desire of fame and wealth, the crew eventually admits that it is okay to pursue recognition (especially Tony Awards), but it remains essential to create something they truly enjoy themselves. Twenty years after its debut, [Title of Show] is an insider’s lens for time-travel, offering a glimpse into the vigour, vibrancy and creativity of 2000s Off-Broadway, and probably the industry in general.

You mightalso like

First Look: [title of show] at Southwark Playhouse

Tobias Turley, Joaquin Pedro Valdes & Matthew Harvey Announced as October Special Guests For MickeyJoTheatre: Live!

Listings and ticket information can be found here

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Theatre Weekly (@theatre_weekly)