I CAN EARNESTLY SAY THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I’D BE GENUINELY MOVED BY A SONG CALLED ” THIS F**K FELT DIFFERENT THAT THE LAST F**K”

By Sophie Clark | Muck Rack Portfolio ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

And yet, there I was at the Underbelly theatre feeling real peril for the characters of Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody.

Presented as a retelling of the TV show by three tired housewives called Susan — in this house we are all Susan — in order to fill the time between seasons, Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody is emblematic of my personal horseshoe theory; that in order to make something this dumb, you have to be very smart.

The show, written by Dylan MarcAurele, is packed with fantastic joke writing within its plethora of ridiculous, and ridiculously catchy, songs.

The tunes are impeccably written with some brilliant turns of phrase, including some simply goofy ones which are equally welcome.

The cast also have powerhouse voices. For real fans of musical theatre, you won’t be left wanting for musical performances. Although the lyrics coming out of their mouths are beyond comical, it’s clear their vocal training is not.

The cast of only five manage to propel the momentum of the show from Canadian ice rinks to Russian apartments. The production itself was imported from New York, and while sometimes American shows don’t translate on the off-West End stage, the humour really carries through here.

The show does drag a little towards the 45 minute mark, given it is aiming to be as true to the source material as possible and it turns out there is a lot to fit in from a 6 episode series into a 70 minute show.

And, while it feels somewhat unavoidable, I do wonder whether people who have not seen the TV show will get most of the jokes in the unauthorised musical.

That said, millions of us ‘Susans’ have seen the series, and for us, the jokes really landed.

I was truly grinning from ear to ear throughout the production. From the opening number ‘What We Want’, to my personal favourite ballad ‘Big Ass, Cold Heart.’

Musical theatre-heads will especially appreciate the theatrical in-jokes sprinkled throughout the show.

For fans of Heated Rivalry, and fans of seeing something that hits the venn diagram of brilliant and really, really, silly, I’d highly recommend Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorised Musical Parody. 

Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody is running at Underbelly Boulevard until Sunday 1 November.

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Photo Credit: Matt Crockett