Closer to Heaven – Turbine Theatre

The cast of Closer to Heaven at the Turbine Theatre, London. Picture: Mark Senior

Closer to Heaven continues at the Turbine Theatre, London until 30 June 2024.

Star rating: three stars ★ ★ ★ ✩ ✩

While I was at the Turbine Theatre, I received a lap dance. I start this review with this information not to titillate, but to warn. To be fair, this new production of Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys’ musical Closer to Heaven is heavily advertised as an immersive and outrageous experience. Warnings in the theatre bar hint at nudity, volume and smut. We are even warned upon entering the theatre that leaving a provided signal card green side up on the cabaret-style tables is an invitation for a “hand on the shoulder or feather on the face”. But, just so more nervous potential attendees are fully aware of what sort of show this is: there is a non-zero chance you might end up with a performer in your lap.

The Turbine Theatre has been transformed into a nightclub for this show. In the bar area, this doesn’t extend further than one flashing light and a DJ playing dance tracks at a conversation-breakingly high volume (a surprising decision for a venue historically very good at creating a comfortable environment for neurodiverse patrons), but the auditorium itself has all the haze, lasers and grime you would expect from an underground dance bar. TV monitors even show CCTV footage from around the theatre – a device used to brilliant effect late in the show as performers take the plot all around the venue.

As you can probably infer from the tone, I am no great connoisseur of nightclubs, but the atmosphere at Closer to Heaven is probably its greatest achievement. There is decadence and danger in the air, and the Pet Shop Boys’ score is authentically electronic and danceable. Of course, musical theatre lyrics necessarily differ from pop, and in this respect, the songs fare less well. What can be excused as catchy-but-meaningless in a pop song does sound painfully unnatural when spoken by a character we are supposed to believe is a human being.

This isn’t to question Pet Shop Boys’ mastery of the pop song – a mastery they have demonstrated time and time again – just to suggest that perhaps not all necessary adaptations to the medium of musical theatre have been made. Given that we are some 23 years from Closer to Heaven’s first live outing, this is a disappointment. However, when musical director Aaron Clingham’s band locks into the groove, the temptation to bob along in your seat is irresistible.

The performers also help sweep you away on this journey. Frances Ruffelle gives a masterfully shambolic turn as the delusional but loveable ex-pop superstar Billie Trix. She is the resident headliner in this club, and Ruffelle takes the job of entertaining its patrons every bit as seriously as her fictional counterpart. She has the best songs, the best lines, and the best outfits, but never relies purely on the material to power her through. The performance is committed, energetic and thoroughly engaging.

Amidst the chaos of club life, a love triangle emerges between the club owner’s daughter Shell (Courtney Bowman), new employee “Straight” Dave (Glenn Adamson), and troubled local drug dealer Lee (Connor Carson). These three are charming in the heart of the piece, with Bowman’s vocals in particular providing many of its musical highlights. There is no weak link in Closer to Heaven’s 10-strong cast, and it is a delight to see the energy they bring to Christopher Tendai’s choreography. Special mention must go to David Muscat, however, for his seedy, repulsive, but hilarious portrayal of wealthy record label executive Bob Saunders.

The narrative elements of the piece do keep the audience engaged, but its characters are drawn thinly and we are given more opportunities to watch them ingest impressive amounts of drugs than learn about who they are and why we should fall in love with them. Mercifully, Harvey’s book does at least contain some genuinely hilarious lines, and director Simon Hardwick ensures many of the weaknesses of the plot are rendered irrelevant by the outright fun on offer.

A key theme of the play is accepting who you are. I’m not the sort of person most likely to have fun at a show like this. I’m not a clubber, a risk-taker, or to be perfectly honest, a fun-haver. In my capacity as reviewer, I’m even worse than that: I am forced to be an analyst, an observer. This hedonistic theatre probably isn’t made for me. Even so, I cannot deny that I had a lot of fun with Closer to Heaven. There is an infectious 1990s irreverence about the piece that marks it out as unique. The music is often transportive and the performances – particularly from Ruffelle and Bowman – are more than enough to justify the trip south of the river. This isn’t necessarily perfect for every theatregoer, but it is certain to be a night to remember for many.

Ian Bowkett