Shooting Star: A Revealing New Musical, Two Brewers Clapham
Photo by Sam Mackenzie Armstrong
Written by Annie for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
A new musical has landed in London, at none other than the Two Brewers in Clapham. Shooting Star - A Revealing New Musical is the semi-autobiographical tale of Hans Berlin - in which he transports audiences into the wild world of the gay adult entertainment industry.
Sold as an immersive musical experience, the show has transformed the back room of the Two Brewers into the fictional dive bar The Black Rooster. The space is a great setting for the show, despite the lack of staging or props, it somewhat uses the space to its advantage. Its tagline as being immersive is slightly disappointing, with very few successful breakaways from the main stage, leaving the audience struggling to keep up with following the cast as they move around the space. It felt like a struggle to try to make the show immersive and didn’t quite work in the way it potentially had hoped.
The show follows an aspiring but struggling actor, as he tries to break into the world of acting, but instead falls into the world of gay adult entertainment. It delves into the lives and humanity of the stars, which are often misunderstood in this industry.
There are some catchy tunes and a sense of direction for the storyline, but it feels unfinished and unpolished overall. The songs show some merit and guide the story, but the show would really benefit from some assistance with the writing as it doesn’t quite reach the desired end goal it clearly has in its sight.
The lyrics are somewhat witty and humorous, but often a bit too on the nose for you to then take the low moments of the show seriously.
The cast are full of energy and splendour - bringing much needed entertainment and colour to the show. Sadly, the songs let them down - with it all feeling a little unconfident musically. The sound in the venue also is terribly imbalanced, with many lines, and often entire songs being drowned out by the booming music.
Davina de Campo fronts the show, as has the confidence and grace as you’d expect. Her pivotal ballad was sadly however completely lost against the music, it’s a shame the sound let down the show so drastically.
Shooting Star has every good intent to be a successful new musical but at present, there are a few too many creases that need ironing out before it can be considered a transfer. I would love to hope it engages some interest in continuing its development, as I hoped to really enjoy the show, given it sounds as if it could have potential.
★★
