Pop Off, Michelangelo! – Underbelly Boulevard Soho

Max Eade and Aidan MacColl in Pop Off, Michelangelo! at Underbelly Boulevard Soho, London. Picture: Danny With A Camera

Pop Off, Michelangelo! continues at Underbelly Boulevard Soho, London until 13 July 2025.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Have you ever pondered the true nature of Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci’s rivalry and relationship? The historicity of their suspected illegal homosexuality and its influence on the staggering talents that turbo-charged the Italian Renaissance? Then you’ve come to the wrong place. Writer-composer Dylan MarcAurele is stubbornly unconcerned with the Wikipedia of it all. Rather, he has taken the premise of these two (most likely) queer geniuses who changed the world and has had a little fun. Blessedly, he’s invited us along for the ride.

Pop Off, Michelangelo! began life as an Edinburgh Festival Fringe show and that DNA is still clearly visible. It runs a brisk 75 minutes, it is irreverent, it is silly, and it is a damn good time. Growing up together, best friends Michelangelo and Leonardo realise they share a sexuality that the church deems sinful. Their ingenious solution to this unjust world? To go to art school and create works so revolutionary the whole world – including the Catholic Church – will have to change.

For many of us, it will be a delight to see Underbelly Boulevard producing musical theatre again. When the venue opened as Boulevard Theatre in 2019 with the sublime Ghost Quartet, it felt like this gorgeous new performance space would have a bright future, changing the London theatre scene with its technologically sophisticated auditorium and daring programming. Since the tragic financial pressures of the pandemic put an end to that dream, it has played host to a variety of entertainments, but the stream of pop stars, burlesque dancers, comedians and drag queens we have seen pass through its doors have provided a good scene-setting for this colourful show.

The vibrant set – designed by Joe McNeice (also director), Emily Bestow and PJ McEvoy – is immediately arresting, lit beautifully by lighting designer Adam King, and features faux-Ionic pillars arranged beneath a large cloud that serves as a screen for McEvoy’s video design. Bestow’s thoughtful and prolific costume design is inspired also, nailing the Renaissance-camp tone perfectly. In a production with a lot of talents firing on all cylinders, and as brilliantly funny as MarcAurele’s book is with its cheeky take on religion and sexuality and non-stop stream of pop culture references, it may actually be his songs that are the highlight.

The idiom is musical theatre-infused dance pop and the execution is delicious. MarcAurele even succeeds where many musical comedies fail – his lyrics are just as funny, if not funnier, than his dialogue. Momentum is never lost and every new song is welcomed by the eager audience. It doesn’t hurt that musical director Aron Sood’s band sound fantastic, melding backing tracks seamlessly with live keys, bass and percussion for a tight and authentic pop sound. When the music gets loud and Sundeep Saini’s choreography kicks into full swing, the dance pop joy is infectious.

Though the show is named for the younger artist – played with a sensitive touch by Max Eade – Aidan MacColl’s gloriously flamboyant Leonardo Da Vinci is every bit a co-lead. Despite their differing tones giving the slightest concern they could be acting in different plays, they somehow retain an effective and convincing non-sexual chemistry. In fact, it is this very championing of platonic love and support that is most heart-warming.

There is a time and place for orgies – and rest assured, Pop Off, Michelangelo! makes plenty of time for orgies – but how touching it is to centre and celebrate the supportive community that has helped keep many LGBTQ+ people alive in the face of terrifying historical oppression. After all, despite the purely carnal lens through which the Catholic Church has viewed homosexuals, they have always been – to quote the show – just normal people with a lot of houseplants.

Elsewhere in the talented cast, RuPaul’s Drag Race UK superstar Michael Marouli proves his comedy chops once again with his hilariously subversive take on the Pope, Kurran Dhand delivers sweetness and impressive vocal chops as Leonardo’s lover Salai and Sev Keoshgerian throws himself un-self-consciously into his many comedic roles with an astonishing level of commitment. As Friar Savonarola, Laura Sillett is a brilliantly arch-panto force. All appear to be having great fun on stage and it is hard not to be swept along in the fun.

Despite playing a large number of roles – including Marisa Tomei, because of course Marisa Tomei has to feature – Aoife Haakenson is credited in the programme simply as ‘Mother’. And fair enough. Perfectly apt. Sure, the roles she is given are designed to be larger-than-life crowd-pleasers, but she nails every single one of them and truly pops in a show featuring a whole lot of popping.

While perhaps not the best place to revise for your upcoming exam on art history, Pop Off, Michelangelo! is a relentlessly entertaining and irreverent night out, a delightful tonic for our troubled times topped off with a sparkly pink cocktail umbrella. With its cutting humour and abundant pop culture references, this feels like a show that could be around for a long time. I look forward to it making fun of the celebrities of tomorrow – while still, importantly and necessarily – serving as a safe space for and celebration of LGBTQ+ communities in times of ever more terrifying oppression. This is a fabulous night out. Pop in.

Ian Bowkett