Music, Mayhem and a Mezzo, Crazy Coqs Review
Written by Penny for Theatre and Tonic.
Disclaimer: Ticket was gifted in return for an honest review. All opinions are our own.
Crazy Coqs is a gorgeous little venue, an opulent cabaret bar downstairs at London’s Brasserie Zedel, tucked away behind Piccadilly Circus. It’s a little bit of Paris in the heart of London. Cabaret tables are closely packed in, creating an intimate atmosphere, with low lit red lamps on the tables adding to that slightly decadent feeling. It’s a popular venue for a wide range of performers, with West End stars offering solo shows, alongside established and up-and-coming cabaret shows.
Music, Mayhem and a Mezzo is written and performed by Juliette Pochin and James Morgan, both a professional and real-life partnership. They may not be household names, but they boast a seriously impressive list of credits. Having performed on some of the world’s greatest stages, they have also produced multi-platinum selling records, working with stars like Alfie Boe, Luke Evans and Bryn Terfel. But now the couple are taking centre stage themselves, with an hour of cabaret that promises original comic songs, musical mashups and the entire history of Western music condensed into three minutes.
Pochin is the driving force behind the show, she is the Mezzo of its title, she sings and accompanies herself and does the bulk of the audience interaction. Morgan plays a little bit on his reluctance to be in the spotlight with a nice self-deprecating humour and stays mostly in the background. But he does show us his musical prowess when Pochin joins him on piano for the aforementioned mash-ups and an amusing demonstration that there is no such thing as an original tune – even linking Nokia ringtones to great classical compositions!
A large part of the show sees Pochin performing comedy songs, taking on familiar subjects including drinking prosecco, dating apps, the menopause and kids leaving home. It’s fairly amusing, albeit a little predictable and safe. She does tackle some more topical issues – a folk song about Prince Harry is a bit too long but does get one of the biggest laughs of the night when she refers to him as the “ginger whinger”. There’s also a song about the absolute chaos in UK politics – if it felt a little unpolished, this can be forgiven as after the local elections in the days running up to the show, more than a few rewrites were required, and with three months to go before their run at the Edinburgh Fringe, there will probably be a few more. It’s a tough time for political satire!
Pochin has a warm stage presence and is a very accomplished musician with a powerful singing voice with a beautiful, rich tone. But, whilst the impact of an operatic mezzo singing songs about mundane everyday life and its first world problems can be effective, her singing is sometimes a little overpowering for the material.
The show is lifted by the inclusion of musical mashups, mixing classical music with contemporary tunes. For their history of Western music, Pochin and Morgan took the songs of Abba and rearranged them in musical styles ranging from medieval through baroque and romantic (who knew Dancing Queen would mix so well with Mozart?!), to the iconic Bond theme from the 20th century. It’s very clever and a treat for anybody with a musical ear to be able to play along and pick out the contrasting melodies.
The mashups allow for some audience interaction as we are asked to guess the artists being mashed together, with the promise of a chocolate for the first person to guess correctly. We were also invited to play their musical quiz and guess a famous family being described by singing out their name. At this performance, Pochin and Morgan were surprised to see a group of their friends from the ENO Chorus in the audience and there was a bit of a tendency to direct all of the audience work at these friends, which is probably a sign of nerves mixed with inexperience. But as a regular member of the audience, it did leave me feeling that the show wasn’t particularly inclusive, so this is something to watch for future performances.
The show ends with possibly its strongest song. Referring to their home town of Brighton, Pochin is looking forward to summer days when she can go for a refreshing swim in the sea … an up tempo and upbeat little ditty all about exactly what the water companies have done to our seas and rivers, and all the more impactful for its jolly melody and sentiment.
There’s nothing particularly groundbreaking in Music, Mayhem and a Mezzo, but if you’re looking to spend an hour with talented musicians whose songs are relatable and entertaining, with a little bit of swearing and a lot of middle class angst, this will definitely put a smile on your face.
Music, Mayhem and a Mezzo will be at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe from 2-10 August. Find out more and book tickets on the Fringe website.
☆ ☆ ☆
