There’s no doubt about it – The Choir of Man is a Fringe favourite around the world for a good reason.
This is a polished production, one that has dotted the ‘i’s and crossed the ‘t’s. It knows itself – particularly its strengths – inside and out. It’s well practiced, with high production value. In short, it’s got its shit together.
The Choir of Man are just that – a choir, of men – who’ve set up shop in their local, The Jungle. They’re lads, blokey-blokes, talented young chaps, and together they make up a choir that helps each other through all times, good and bad. It’s home to the Choir.
Let’s start with the choir – and boy, are they good. The voices of each and every member of the choir were flawless. Most are able to play an instrument, sometimes two, and often all can dance. As I said, this is a well-oiled machine.
The crowd was going absolutely nuts as the choir expertly upped the energy, enthralled with their stunning slower renditions (including a truly fantastic rendition of Sia’s Chandelier), and even pulled some lucky punters on the stage for a free pint. There’s certainly no faulting the singing, that’s for sure!
Where the (admittedly small) fault lies is actually in the spoken word sections of the performance, particularly in the second half. Whilst the introductory section is very well done and very clever, from then on the spoken word merely hints at certain plot points, such as one of the Choir members recently going through a bad breakup. Unfortunately it doesn’t wholeheartedly pay off in the final spiel.
Also, I understand that this is the ‘Choir of Man’, but the unseen female characters are presented rather terribly – as shrews breaking the hearts of these men, or lambasted for essentially being boring (a la Josh the Bartender’s wife). Come on CoM, you can surely do better than that in 2019.
All in all, the fantastic singing makes up for the small gaps in the plot. Definitely a must-see this Fringe.
Kryztoff Rating: 4.5K
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