A heavenly show, set in hell. One not to miss!
DIVA: Live From Hell! is a one-person show starring Luke Bayer as Desmond Channing, the ambitious, mean, and potentially murderous president of the high school drama club. He is in hell and he is telling his story. The book and characters are by Nora Brigid Monahan and the music and lyrics are by Alexander Sage Oyen. This show has a glittering history with numerous awards (including Best Musical at the Everything Theatre Awards) and a previous sell-out run at the Turbine Theatre. All with very good reason. This show is such good fun and an absolute 5 star show for me.
This production really hinges on the performance of Luke Bayer, and thankfully he gives an incredibly impressive and surprisingly versatile performance. From the title of the show I assumed that as long as Bayer was able to do camp and haughty, he’d be able to perform the role well. Cleverly this show has Bayer playing not only Desmond Channing, but also Desmond Channing performing as all of the other characters in his story. The quiet put upon best friend, the straight theatre bro, the friendly substitute drama teacher, all of these characters show off a really strong range and also provide lots of avenues for camp comedy without becoming stale. Bayer’s depiction of the straight theatre bro in particular was absolutely hilarious and had the whole audience laughing from just a few words every time that this character was used.
This is also quite a challenging singing role, with different characters singing and Bayer having to show who was singing at what time, which he did without issue. He has obvious vocal talents which he gets to display generously in this show.
Coming into this show I was expecting something camp-tastic and fun, which this show absolutely was, but also a lot more. The script is clever, biting, and witty, with a cavalcade of musical theatre references, most of which I got, but some of which were sadly outside of my musical theatre knowledge, but this does not take away any of the enjoyment from the show.
There is a minimal but well used set with some clever mirror moments, but nothing too distracting to take away from the star main performance. This show is obviously well honed by now and it is incredibly slick and well done. It has some of the manic exciting energy of something being made up on the spot, paired with perfect timing of musical and lighting cues throughout.
There is not much else to say about this show, just that I highly recommend getting tickets and I can guarantee you will be thoroughly entertained. DIVA: Live From Hell! is playing at the Kings Head Theatre until the 29th June, and will be playing at the Underbelly at the Edinburgh Fringe 1st-25th August