Mark Twain (possibly) once said “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” That’s advice the writer Dylan MarcAurele and director Joe McNeice have taken gleefully to heart. Originally an American musical, Pop Off, Michelangelo! has been brilliantly brought to life in London with a British cast and creatives.
Despite being born decades apart in real life, POM imagines Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci as teenage besties in Renaissance Italy. Unfortunately for them, the fanatical friar Savonarola is on the hunt for sodomites – and the boys have just come out to each other. Their brilliant plan? Become world-famous religious artists to get into God’s good books and avoid a very fiery end.
From the moment a troupe of winged, cherubic artists fluttered into view in the opening number ‘Let Me Be Your Renaissance Man’, I was completely in. The tiny Underbelly Boulevard stage bursts into life with Aron Sood’s band and Sundeep Saini’s sparkling choreography, making every inch count. Max Eade (Michelangelo) and Aidan MacColl (Leonardo) are a perfect double act – one buttoned-up and tortured, the other flamboyant and full of heart – with real emotional chops to match the comic madness.
The show is completely daft, gloriously camp, and utterly unafraid to lean into the absurd. But it’s not just fluff. Between songs about divine forgiveness and gay sex (yes, there’s one called ‘I Want a Man to Fuck Me and for God to Not Mind’), there are piercing moments of real emotional truth. In one standout scene, Leo visits Michelangelo shortly after Mick has been commissioned to sculpt David, by Siderini – who recoils in disgust when he sees Leo’s flamboyance. He asks if M knows L, and he denies it. The heartbreak is amplified by an earlier song that references Peter’s denial of Jesus. The parallel is clear, and it stings.
The musical flits between the sublime and the ridiculous with joyful abandon. There’s a song called ‘Networking Event’, a delightfully savage parody of art world schmoozing. The boys head to the Platonic Academy (art school), where they meet Salai (Kurran Dhand) and get a guided tour of the cliques. Straight out of Mean Girls, complete with their own Renaissance clique: the Medici’s. Clad in baffling Buzz Lightyear-inspired outfits, they’re a riot of catty elitism and eye shadow.
The show is full of these surreal flourishes. Michelangelo keeps having visions of the future, including repeated appearances by actress Marisa Tomei (played fabulously by Aoife Haakenson, who also plays the boys’ mother earlier in the show). She eventually flies through the clouds, with Michelangelo on her back, to save Leonardo – of course she does! Aoife also delivers a banger titled ‘Pick Me Girl’, calling out Michelangelo for performing piety like a spiritual try-hard: something along the lines of “No one likes a pick-me, Michelangelo.”
Then there’s the Pope. Played by Drag Race UK royalty Michael Marouli, he’s an absolute show-stealer – camp, commanding, and not here for anyone’s nonsense. Whether or not the role was always meant to be this flamboyant, Marouli has made it his own.
Laura Sillett’s Savonarola gives us inept malice and burning obsession, including an unpleasant reference to Saltburn’s bathtub scene that had us all trying to collectively push the image away. Sillett deserves a special shoutout for a wig mishap the night I was there, that occurred during a ridiculous dance scene with Machiavelli (Sev Keoshgerian as a horny Italian chef). She handled it with total professionalism and comic timing – it was one of those magic live theatre moments that simply added to the comedy.
Musically, the show is tight. With only keys, bass, and percussion, the band delivers a slick, catchy electropop score. Tracks like ‘When You Met Your Son, Jesus’ manage to be both cheeky and devastating – asking whether God accepted Jesus for who he was, or expected him to conform. It brought a tear to my eye. Eade delivers the number with quiet sincerity, grounding the show in something real. His Michelangelo is the more emotionally burdened of the pair, while MacColl’s Leo – all fabulous swish and open-heartedness – injects pure joy.
The visuals are just as strong, and the costumes – designed by Emily Bestow – deserve a special mention. A running gag about Savonarola’s robes being mistaken for a Temu order was a particular highlight, and the costumes throughout add an extra layer of humour and visual flair to every scene. PJ McEvoy’s video design projects changing settings onto a floating cloud above the stage – everything from the school name to Sistine Chapel frescoes and much more – combined with Adam King’s clever lighting, they seamlessly turn the mostly black-and-white set into art schools, churches, whatever the narrative requires! The whole thing feels lush and imaginative, making incredible use of the intimate space.
Oh – and yes, there’s a gay orgy in a nightclub called The Crooked Cannoli. Because it can’t all be seriousness and emotion!
Pop Off, Michelangelo! is what happens when absurd queer comedy meets real emotional storytelling and pulls it off. It’s camp. It’s clever. It’s a little bit unhinged. And beneath the glitter, it says something sincere about shame, love, and what it means to be seen.
See it now before it ascends to queer cult classic status – it deserves to.
Pop Off, Michelangelo! is playing at the Underbelly Soho until July 13th
Words by Nick Barr
Photos by Danny With A Camera
