What do you get when you cross earth’s mightiest superheroes with as many pop-culture references as Fat Thor had beers and add in a cabaret burlesque show with a side of musical theatre?
You get MARVELous: The Show.
This Australian made risque parody has finally super-hero-landed into Brisbane, after playing to audiences in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. MARVELous was created, written and directed by Samwise Holmes – whose name in itself is a geek laden mashup – and also performs in the show as Deadpool.
No Marvel character is off-limits, no joke to crass, no pop-culture reference too obscure and no cross-over too inconceivable during this 80 minute production. Which unfortunately for us on opening night was plagued by technical issues with microphones and sound, some missed cues and a couple of unintentional wardrobe malfunctions. In looking at other productions, Brisbane also has a smaller cast (12 performers are now 8) and less elaborate set. Whilst the fantastic lighting does a mighty impressive job, it can’t cover some of these shortfalls.
Even with having Deadpool as the show’s narrator, there is no real plot line or story, even with a clever re-name of the team to “Ass-vengers”. Some of the performance pieces feel completely lost, pointless and even confusing. The music choices didn’t help some numbers – I’m sorry bit the big band 40s style music for Captain America and his dancers was just a bad fit.
It took until about the mid-point of the show for it to really start landing the intersection of dance, comedy, strip and cabaret.
The Deadpool x Hamilton mashup which starts about Iron Man, then into Spiderman before concluding on Captain America was one of the standout numbers in the show – it was clever, witty and hit all the right points.
As soon as I heard the strains of “Singing in the Rain”…I knew what was next and I wasn’t disappointed. This number was a great example of taking an associated pop-culture moment for a Marvel actor (not character) and including it in the show. (You know the rules, now you have to watch).
What I did enjoy most about the show is the smaller-blink-and-you’ll-miss-them moments. Like lift muzak playing for a Captain America segway, or the pinky holding Cynthia and Ari nod during a particularly well done play on “Defying Gravity” with Loki and Lady Thor.
The breadth of pop-culture references and mash-ups also gives the show a chance to have a wide appeal and enjoyment factor – even if you aren’t deep into Marvel lore. Star Wars, Wicked, Hamilton, Dirty Dancing, The Simpsons, Nickelback, Flashdance and Swan Lake all get a look in.
Two of the show’s best numbers are left to last. The aforementioned Dirty Dancing number, in which Captain America and Bucky finally have their Stucky moment, was brilliant both in its comedy, storytelling and dance athleticism.
The finale which creates the multi-versal super secret boy band from Spiderman variants showcases the finest aerial work of the show, set to the tunes of NSYNC (yes, that song from Deadpool v Wolverine – another clever tie-in) and Backstreet Boys.
Do you need to be a Marvel fan to enjoy MARVELous? I’m going to say yes. Unfortunately the show’s technical and pacing issues would be a lot to overcome if you weren’t knowledgeable and invested in these characters from the outset. Whilst the dance and vocal performances are strong, they are not worthy enough to wield Mjolnir.
And if you get that reference – go see the show. It’s still a gleefully geeky gawk at a gaggle of great (and gorgeous) guys and gals.
B at the Bows 