One Man Musical - Beyond Pleasance Courtyard - Review

Often celebrated as one of the greatest composers in the history of musical theatre, Fringe shows often choose to sing Andrew Lloyd Webber's praises in thank yous and love letters, but musical comedy duo Flo and Joan take things down a different route returning to the fringe with their 2024 hit One Man Musical, which offers a hilarious satirical glance at the life and work of the theatre impresario.

As the name suggests, we see just one cast member (albeit flanked by Flo and Joan on keys and drums behind) on stage. Edward Easton, donning a smoking jacket, plays the Man. Although never named officially as Lloyd Webber, most probably due to legal reasons, we all know who he's unofficially portraying, and that is all a part of the comedy. Easton commands the stage, delighting in his best friend - a cat, strutting around with all the power and confidence you would expect and proclaiming 'No one says no to Andrew'. With incredible comic timing, Easton plays out the life of the composer from being a unusual kid who believed that nothing bad happened in theatre to a man lamenting a string of supposed flops.

The songs by Flo and Joan are clever, funny and witty, pulling apart the life of the man and throwing jokes left, right and centre at topics such as wives named Sarah, inspiration for musicals being pulled from strange places such as pet cats and trains (cue a musical number on roller skates), his time working with Tim Rice, and an incident with some frozen meat. The audience is in stitches throughout as Easton jumps from love ballads to night club rave styles of song and perches on a tiny stool to play an equally tiny piano. Although, that tiny stool was teetering on some dodgy little legs at the performance I attended, leading to giggles from both Easton and the musical duo, so I wonder if that survived further into the run.

Whilst the story of the man has certainly been created with some artistic license, perhaps taking little true things and exaggerating them for comedic effect and political teasing, it is all done with heart and a love of theatre. The successes are celebrated and laughed with, such as with references to a phantom and the greats who have starred in both that show and Cats and the shows that haven't done so well as still talked about with some fondness. There are also some playful jibes thrown at fringe theatre, such as the man moaning about performing in a converted gym.

Walking a fine line of somehow getting away with it - I can only imagine the amount of red tape and legal loopholes this production come in contact with, One Man Musical is a comedic delight perfectly suited for theatre fans who would catch every little reference and joke. No wonder tickets are flying out the door.