DYLAN MARCAURELE’S POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! STAGES A HIGHLY ANTICIPATED STRICTLY LIMITED RUN AT UNDERBELLY BOULEVARD SOHO
Dylan MarcAurele’s Pop Off, Michelangelo! today announces its transfer to Underbelly Boulevard Soho for a limited 5 week run, following its highly successful season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 and concert performances at The Other Palace.
Returning to London in a revitalised production, Dylan MarcAurele’s Pop Off, Michelangelo!, directed by Joe McNeice, opens on 23 May, with previews from 17 May, and runs until 22 June. Full cast and creative team to be announced shortly.
A smash hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it received a Popcorn Award Special Mention, MarcAurele and McNeice reunite to take you on a wild ride through Renaissance Italy. Pop off, Michelangelo! is a high-camp musical comedy telling the (somewhat edited)history of two of Italy’s greatest artists, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci, as they both race to create the most legendary religious masterpieces.
Dylan MarcAurele said today, “I am so excited to be bringing Pop Off, Michelangelo! to London audiences, especially in such a vibrant and dynamic venue that is Underbelly Boulevard Soho.
With the vision of director Joe McNeice and the brilliant Blair Russell at the helm, this camp artistic rivalry promises over-the-top drama and uplifting singable anthems. It’s a love letter to artistic ambition, queer identity, and a wildly inaccurate version of history. Expect electropop bangers, and a whole lot of divine intervention (or lack thereof). It’s ridiculous and heartfelt, and most importantly, a whole lot of fun.”
Director Joe McNeice said today, “I’m delighted to be directing Dylan MarcAurele’s fabulous and hilarious Pop Off, Michelangelo! and to bring this absolute celebration of a show to the heart of Soho, right where it belongs!”
Pop Off, Michelangelo! is on sale now at https://underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/pop-off-michelangelo/
www.popoffmichelangelo.com
Instagram, TikTok: @popoffmichelangelo
POP OFF, MICHELANGELO!
By Dylan MarcAurele
Writer: Dylan MarcAurele;
Director: Joe McNeice;
Choreographer: Sundeep Saini;
Musical supervisor & orchestrations: Aron Sood
Costume Designer: Emily Bestow;
Lighting Designer: Adam King;
Casting Director: Sarah-Jane Price;
Producer: Blair RussellProductions
Production Manager: James Anderton
General management: Paul Virides Productions
17 May to 22 June
at Underbelly Boulevard Soho
The high-camp musical comedy that stole the Fringe makes its limited West End debut season.
POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! tells the story of best-pals-turned-bitter-rivals Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. A bloodthirsty friar is on the hunt for homosexuals in Renaissance Italy at the exact moment when childhood friends Mike and Leo realise they both like boys. Terrified, they devise a foolproof plan to gain God’s forgiveness: they simply need to become the greatest religious artists of all time. Can Michelangelo gaslight, gatekeep, and girlboss his way to the Vatican? Will Leonardo ever shut up about his helicopter? Featuring an original electropop score as infectious as the bubonic plague, POP OFF, MICHELANGELO! is an unhinged adventure that you won’t want to miss.
Dylan MarcAurele is a New York-based writer and recent winner of the Jonathan Larson Grant and the Richard Rodgers Award. His other credits for Book, Music, and Lyrics include MEG4N (2024 US Tour starring Rosé of RuPaul’s Drag Race), and The Real Housewives of NYC: The Musical (featured on Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live). As a composer, his work includes Lewis Loves Clark (2024 NAMT Festival; 2020-21 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellowship), Tea with G (reading directed by Scott Schwartz), and The Land of Forgotten Toys (Broadway Licensing). In playwriting, his piece God Gives Ryan a Very Important Job premiered at the 2023 Samuel French OOB Festival. MarcAurele has also written music and lyrics for Miley Chase: The Science Ace (Broadway Licensing) and the song “Say Bravo!” (sung by Andy Cohen with the cast of Vanderpump Rules at the Paris Theater, Las Vegas).
Joe McNeice directs. He is the founding Artistic Director of the Lavender Theatre and the founder of Lavender Productions Ltd. In 2023, he launched the 250-seat open-air Lavender Theatre in Epsom, opening the venue with a revival of Irving Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun, starring Eurovision’s SuRie. His other directing credits include DIVA: Live From Hell! at the Turbine Theatre, which was nominated for Best Off-West End Show at the 23rd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards. In 2024, he directed a revival of DIVA at London’s King’s Head Theatre and Underbelly Cowgate in Edinburgh. As a producer and writer, he co-wrote and produced the 2020 charity Christmas single Christmas Again: The Show Must Go On! for the Theatre Support Fund+, and worked on Magic Mike Live (US Tour). He is also the creator of On Hope, A Digital Song Cycle, and co-wrote the full-length musical Twilight Robbery with composer Matthew Spalding. Writing credits include Songs in the Key of Springfield (2016), Des Ludo’s Good Clean Fun (2018), and Sugar and Smoke (2018), all performed at the University of York.
Listings Information
POP OFF, MICHELANGELO!
Underbelly Boulevard Soho
6 Walker’s Court, Soho, London W1F 0BT
www.popoffmichelangelo.com
Instagram, TikTok: @popoffmichelangelo
www.underbellyboulevard.com
Box Office: 0207 432 3860
TICKETS
£15-65, previews £10-35.
Running time: 75 minutes approx.
Content warnings: themes of homophobia, strong language
17 May to 22 June
Performances Tuesday to Friday at 7pm
Performances on Saturday at 3pm and 7pm
Performances on Sunday, 2pm and 6pm