Edinburgh Fringe has never been the same since lockdown, possibly it never will be again. Consequently, 2019 proved an exciting end of another chapter in the history of the long-running arts festival.
Personally, it was one of the better years, not least because I got to direct a production of Green Days’ American Idiot, one of my favourite musicals, but also because it brought Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe back to the Scottish capital and to the Fringe; I’d last met them there when they visited to watch Seriously, Pet Shop Boys Reinterpreted, at the Roxy Main, in 2007.
12 years on, I exclusively revealed the duo, who now boast sales of more than 50 million records worldwide, were returning to bring their outrageous club hostess, Billie Trix, back to the stage in a brand new musical cabaret called MUSIK, which would receive its World Premier at the 2019 Fringe, where multi-award-winning Frances Barber would reprise the role she originated 18 years before in Pet Shop Boys and Jonathan Harvey’s West End musical, Closer To Heaven.
A 50-minute, one-woman show with a book by Harvey and six songs by Tennant and Lowe, including four new numbers written specially for the show, MUSIK opened on 5 August and ran until 24 August, at Assembly Rooms’ Bijou venue, on George Street.
At the time, Tennant and Lowe, commented, “When we wrote Closer to Heaven almost 20 years ago, we loved the compelling outrageousness of the character Bille Trix as written by Jonathan and performed by Frances Barber,” and a highlight of 2019 for me was popping along to the venue following a rehearsal where the whole team were in attendance Harvey, Tennant, the ever camera shy Lowe and Billie Trix herself, Barber.
MUSIK went on to play London’s Leicester Square Theatre, from 3 to 7 September 2019 and now, six years on, is set to return there, this time playing Wilton’s Music Hall from 14-25 August 2025. Tickets £12.50-£28, running time 1 hour, no interval, on sale here.
In anticipation, here’s my ★★★★★ of that original press night. Can’t wait to see the new revised production later this year.
Originally Published 8 August 2019
MUSIK | ASSEMBLY BIJOU, EDINBURGH
★★★★★
‘Barber’s mesmeric presence guarantees this Fringe show life after Edinburgh…’
REPRISING a character she created for Pet Shop Boys’ West End musical Closer to Heaven some 18 years ago, Frances Barber storms on stage as drug-addled club hostess Billie Trix in this hour of barbed one-liners, banging songs and beautifully crafted subversion.
The latest collaboration between writer Jonathan Harvey and Pet Shop Boys Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, MUSIK finds an ageing Billie Trix reflecting on her life, sharing often explicit tales. “Nothing will be more iconic than what you are about to witness…” she purrs, acknowledging her place at the Fringe. Then with nothing more than a bubble machine, some Jack Daniels, a puppet, a tambourine and some flowers in her hair, she’s off… Billie Trix is ‘music’, is ‘art’, is ‘gender’.
She reveals this during an epic rant, in which everyone from Madonna to Andy Warhol and Donald Trump are in her sights – all ripped her off, she insists. Jonathan Harvey is at his most biting as he cleverly weaves together satire, pop and in-jokes – lines revisited from Closer To Heaven get a particularly warm reception from fans present.
It’s a rapid-fire script at times as brutal as the architecture in the footage projected during the opening number, Mongrel, one of six songs in the show. Barber delvers each song and line with scarcely concealed glee, relishing each outrageous quip, her deft timing enhancing their impact.
As she prowls her desolate past, the soundtrack shadows her through the decades. Soup, a tongue in cheek tribute to Warhol, is delivered with complete conviction despite the absurdity of its nature. Run, Girl, Run, which will be familiar to some, takes on a whole new poignancy, while Ich bin Musik, with all its trademark doffs, whoops and loops of the 80’s is a good old-fashioned floor-filler. Friendly Fire, originally written for Closer To Heaven, carries perfectly the despair at the heart of the character.
Are Billie’s truths just the drug-fuelled ramblings of a damaged soul unravelling before our eyes? Does she know this deep down? It matters little by the time Barber sings the final number, For Every Moment, a thoughtful uplifting anthem that lifts the heart. So too does Barber’s mesmeric presence, which makes this one Fringe show guaranteed life after Edinburgh. As Billie might say, “Ich bin Fringe’.
READ MORE HERE: Pet Shop Boys musical cabaret MUSIK set to return to London
