Massaoke: Sing the Musicals, Udderbelly at Underbelly George Square Review
Written by Brian Keachie for Theatre & Tonic
This was a packed and buzzing show – clearly a festival favourite! The staging of Massaoke: Sing The Musicals was excellent, with a massive screen displaying the lyrics in crystal clarity, making it easy for everyone to join in. Cleverly chosen video clips from classic musicals accompanied the songs, adding a nostalgic and cinematic touch.
The band – vocalist, keys, lead guitar, bass, and drums – delivered a tight, professional performance, perfectly balanced for most of the set.
The audience was a vibrant mix of all ages, and from the very first note, the atmosphere was electric.
The well-chosen repertoire spanned decades of musical theatre, creating a feel-good, 60-minute singalong that kept everyone engaged. The band members were skilled entertainers, encouraging audience participation and keeping the energy high.
A couple of small notes from this performance were that during instrumental solos, particularly from the lead and bass guitar, the volume could have been pushed slightly higher. The playing was superb, but it sometimes sat too far back in the mix.
Secondly, the big finale choice, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, missed the mark for me. While clearly intended as a rousing closer, the song’s opening lines (“Mama, just killed a man…”) felt jarringly inappropriate, especially given the number of younger audience members. This was amplified by the female vocalist acting out the lyric directly to an audience member with a gun-hand gesture to the head – something I found entirely unacceptable in today’s climate.
However, Massaoke: Sing The Musicals is superbly entertaining, high-energy hour that had the crowd singing and smiling from start to finish. Despite my reservations about the finale choice, I would still recommend it for the sheer fun and atmosphere.
Massaoke: Sing The Musicals plays at Udderbelly at Underbelly George Square until 24 August.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
