Laura Baldwin, Liam Forde and Dan Buckley in Eugenius! at The Other Palace, London. Picture: Pamela Raith
Eugenius! continues at The Other Palace, London until 3 March 2018.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Paul Taylor Mills has chosen a new British musical to celebrate The Other Palace’s first year in business, and while this might seem a risky move, it’s a well mitigated one.
Eugenius is co-written by boy-band star Ben Adams, it boasts some big-name (albeit voice-only) contributors in the shape of Brian Blessed and Mark Hamill, it’s had a star-filled one-night-only test run at the Palladium, and, most importantly, it has its own superhero saviour in the shape of producer Warwick Davis.
Throw this all together and the result is a shoulder-padded 80s pastiche musical – synths galore! – that retreads some well-worn geek-turned-superhero paths but with enough comic style, razzamatazz and catchy anthems to disguise the Lycra-thin plot.
Eugenius is the story of archetypal nerd Eugene (the excellent Liam Forde in his West End debut), who whiles away his time in his dull Ohio hometown by drawing the adventures of his own comic-book superheroes Tough Man and Super Hot Lady as they do battle with their arch nemesis, the Evil Lord Hector.
In true Stranger Things style, he’s got a chubby and equally geeky friend in the shape of the sexually frustrated Feris (a show-stealing Daniel Buckley) and a friend who’s a girl [blushes] called Janey (the also-excellent Laura Baldwin).
In a plot point straight out of an 80s movies, a big-name Hollywood producer – Lex (Cameron Blakely, on great form) – looking to create a superhero franchise snaps up Eugene’s comic creation and whizzes our hero off to La La Land.
There, from the set of Tough Man the movie, his head is spun by the glamour of it all, little realising that his comic creations are in fact real and that the super-villainous Hector is on his way to Earth to wreak havoc.
(Don’t bother yourself too much with the plotting. Think Galaxy Quest meets Tron meets The Last Starfighter meets The Greatest American Hero. If, like me and Warwick Davis, you were a teen in the 80s, you’ll get a nice buzz from the endless references – Freddy Krueger, Bill and Ted, Gremlins, the Karate Kid, Top Gun and, of course Warwick’s own Ewok Wicket from Return of the Jedi – but if not, it will be no less a show.)
At the helm is Ian Talbot – the former Open Air Regent’s Park artistic director – who keeps the pressure on throughout.
With the exception of a few awkward empty beats, usually at the end of a big production number, the action is relentless. There’s some wonderfully 80s-inspired choreography too from Aaron Renfree, so your eyes are never left wondering what to do. (Look out for the dancing fish!)
The pop-synth songs are a cut above, and they’re impressively infectious. You’ll be sure to go home humming the ‘Living On a Prayer’-esque ‘Go Eugenius!’, even if for no other reason than its brain-dead relentlessness.
Ben Adams and co-writer Chris Wilkins – credited with book, music and lyrics – do a wonderful job of capturing the upbeat mood of the 1980s, and as evinced by the crowd rising to their feet and fist-pumping the air, they can sure write a catchy number, if not a wholly convincing book.
It’s a big company – 17, not including the voice talent, and a band of five, all crammed on to Hannah Wolfe’s slightly claustrophobic stage. It’s a team full of accomplished singers, comic performers and skilled dancers, and there’s not a weak link. Buckley stands out and gets the biggest cheer at the curtain, but brava Melissa James for the smokin’ hot (if not particularly progressive) turn as Super Hot Lady.
So ignore (or wallow in) the potty plot and enjoy the nearly, but not quite, Rocky Horror-ness of it all.
A sophisticated night out it ain’t – Sondheim need not watch his back – but it is a fun one that will get you up out your seat and clapping along. Whether it’s got the potential to be a low-budget cult classic only time will tell; perhaps you could get the ball rolling by turning up in your leg-warmers and fanny pack…
Craig Glenday
Tickets for Eugenius! at The Other Palace are available HERE
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