Image: www.melbournefringe.com.au
Pop|Press is a hilarious and fast-paced comedy performed by an outstanding cast. With a murder mystery at its centre and seven super-catchy pop songs and dance numbers throughout, Pop|Press is the second original show written and performed by the multi-talented Will Hannagan this year. Hannagan is adept at examining the well trodden territory of celebrity culture in refreshingly new and meaningful ways.
Pop|Press tells the story of Heath Row, the former frontman of a One Direction-style superstar boy band. Heath Row has retired from his boy band and is trying to find his way to making ‘real art’. In the process, Heath gets caught up in blackmail, celebrity gossip scandals, possible homicide charges and the launch of the latest smartphone. Pop|Press takes its name from the podcast which acts as a framing device for the narrative and guides us through the glitz, glam and debauchery of the rich and famous. The murder mystery at the centre of the narrative drives the story and focuses the absurdism, satire and rapid fire jokes while still allowing for seven knockout musical numbers.
The show is a celebration of all the latest people, products and themes to captivate the pop culture sphere. Hannagan’s characters parody an all star cast of pop icons from Justin Bieber to Julian Assange. The musical numbers perfectly mimic today’s electro-pop with very contemporary vocal stylings. The show is a comedy packed with wall to wall puns and gags about pop culture references. The humour is quite fast-paced and very current so it is easy to miss something, but if you do miss a gag here or there, there will be many more jokes coming straight after. The podcast which frames the narrative is a hilarious and very apt parody that is part Sarah Koenig’s Serial and part Perez Hilton-style glam goss.
Hannagan’s production is obviously the work of someone with a deep love, appreciation and understanding of pop music and celebrity culture and yet it is not uncritical. Pop|Press provides a wry examination of celebrity and surveillance. The show explores a range of contemporary issues such as the interaction between technological advances and the eroding of privacy, surveillance of celebrities, sextapes and paparazzi in the technological era. The show also makes a number of tongue-in-cheek but none-the-less quite apt comments on contemporary feminism and the heteronormative conformism of the pop world. There is even a subtle dissection of product endorsement and celebrity sponsorship. However, despite touching on some quite piquant, contemporary themes, the show does not delve too deeply and never forgets to be playful, light hearted and fun.
The musical numbers transform the modest stage of the Lithuanian Club’s Ballroom into a Sindey Myer Music Bowl extravaganza. Charlotte Tooke’s choreography perfectly replicates the backing dancers of pop superstars’ big stadium shows such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. Clever lighting design enhanced this effect. White costumes consisting of baggy pants and loose jackets with tight singlets or nothing but bare chests underneath looked like they could have been snatched from the set of a Miley Cyrus video clip. The costume design also allows the actors to switch seamlessly between a range of supporting roles as the narrative requires.
The cast of Pop|Press is so talented that in some instances the parody pop is actually better than the original it is sending up. Hannagan is wonderful as the Harry Styles-esque Heath Row. He has a versatile voice with which he effortlessly delivers his numbers while performing complex dance routines in sync with his backup dancers. Michelle Brasier who plays Igloo Fantasia, an ‘Australian pop rapper’ clearly modeled on Iggy Azalea is a formidable rapper herself with a powerful stage presence and unlike Azalea, she can also sing. Hannagan’s seven original ‘club bangerz’ co-written especially for the show with Thibaud Mateos Hernandez, would rival the most catchy of the pop songs playing on Nova or Fox FM. Hannagan is fluent in pop and knows exactly how to deliver smash hits every time.
The title Pop|Press is perhaps the least impressive thing about the production and does not fully capture the captivating fun and intrigue of the show. The story is engaging, the characters are all the more endearing for their flaws and complexity and the musical numbers are not to be missed. The show is absurd and over the top at times, but never loses focus or interest and the examination of themes goes surprisingly deep without ever getting too serious.
Created by Will Hannagan
Cast: Will Hannagan, Michelle Brasier, Brett Fisher, Sarah Jane Calsiña,Jessica Mortlock, Erin Luisa, Charlotte Tooke and Melissa Howard.
Songs by Thibaud Mateos Hernandez and Will Hannagan
Choreography by Charlotte Tooke
Melbourne Fringe Festival
Fringe Hub – The Ballroom, Lithuanian Club
44 Errol St
North Melbourne
Friday 18 September to Friday 25 September
