I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical – King’s Head Theatre / Plays On Film 

I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical, streaming via King’s Head Theatre’s Plays On Film.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Although it might have one of the most convoluted titles in recent musical theatre history, I Wish My Life Were Like A Musical follows a fairly simple premise. Four performers lay bare the sometimes less glamorous aspects of a life lived in musical theatre. Referred to understandably by the acronym IWMLWLAM, this show light-heartedly dissects everything from casting calls to love songs.

Writer and composer Alexander Bermange is no stranger to the vicissitudes of musical theatre, having created more than a handful of shows that have received critical and commercial acclaim. IWMLWLAM originally premiered in London in 2018 then at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe the following year, playing to sold-out houses throughout its run.

To a certain extent, it’s easy to understand its popularity at the Fringe, with audiences that undoubtedly consist heavily of theatre folk. There are plenty of in-jokes – musical and lyrical –  that will have those in-the-know in stitches.

For a musical to succeed however, it has to appeal to a wider audience and Bermange achieves this by underscoring each number with an obvious love of the industry. His characters may beef about auditions, being the understudy or dealing with fans but he makes clear that they wouldn’t have it any other way. In fact the title number, sung by Charlotte Anne Steen in Chris Whittaker’s digital production for the King’s Head sums up that all-consuming passion that drives performers on.

Bermange is a careful, concise lyricist whose witticisms are meticulously constructed to complement not simply the music but the punchline too. And IWMLWLAM has a punchline in every number and there are no sacred cows here.

Divas are satirised with forensic precision (Steen again), while Luke Bayer’s gentle lyricism explores the endless frustrations of the stand-by performer. There’s a wonderful number called ‘I Love to Sing’, performed with evident glee and perfect comic timing by Charlotte O’Rourke as she (purposefully) hits wrong notes and miss-times phrases. It must be difficult to get it so right by getting it so wrong. Lucas Rush too delivers a hysterical apology, intimating that musical theatre performers might sometimes be a tad dramatic when it comes to their health.

Despite the tongue-in-cheek comedy throughout, the finale details some very strong and deep emotions that go some way to explain why the performers do what they do. There’s a sense of duty to the people who have helped and encouraged along the way. There’s the sense of family that is generated by friends and colleagues who are all working toward the same goal. The rush of excitement and pride in your work. The number ‘It’s More Than Making Magic’ gives Marvin Hamlisch’s ‘What I Did For Love’ a run for its money and in this era of theatrical uncertainty, it could become a musical theatre performer’s anthem.

Whittaker’s production is given a simple staging as part of the King’s Head Plays On Film season, which also features Bermange on the piano as musical director, pianist and co-arranger with Jerome van den Berghe. It’s also worth mentioning a rather atmospheric lighting courtesy of lighting designer Clancy Flynn, which somehow lends this digital production an air of theatrical authenticity.

Paul Vale