Review: Choir of Man, at the Arts Theatre, London

This week has been… fun to say the least. Having time off is not supposed to be this stressful right? 

Well, after having not one but TWO shows cancel on me this week due to cast illness, plus a whole host of other problems, I couldn’t be happier to actually be in a theatre seat this week. And a pub. At the same time. 

I have been really looking forward to this one ever since I saw the video of their West End Live performance. I popped in to visit The Choir of Man, which is playing at the Arts Theatre in London at the moment. 

Welcome to The Jungle. Your local pub for tonight. And meet the colourful cast of characters it calls it locals. 

Grab a pint or three. And some pork scratching or crisps if you’re peckish (no fancy burgers in brioche buns here). While other pubs may have a football or darts team, this one has a choir. 

And oh WHAT a choir.

Created by Nic Dodson and Andrew Kay, the show was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, and has since gone on to play across both Australia (including at the Sydney Opera House), Europe and the USA, as well as a repeat stint at Edinburgh in 2019. And in October 2021, it finally got its London debut. And has just this week been nominated for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play at this year’s Oliviers! 

The show is a jukebox musical play (think that is the best way I can describe it), which hears songs you will know, but not in the way that you’ve heard them before: from Guns & Roses to Sia, to Adele and Avicci! Vocal arranger, orchestrator and Musical Director Jack Blume has done a phenomenal job on these. The harmonies and arrangements in this show are utterly phenomenal, and for me need to be seen (or heard) live to truly get the full experience. 

That's not just referring to the arrangements, but also to see a group of very talented guys, all in fine voice AND all actor-musicians! 

There’s no linear story to The Choir of Man as such, but through the night, you get to know these guys and their stories. They're all guys we know, from The Joker, to The Romantic, to The Beast (Gentle Giant I should really say), to The Handyman who loves to solve anyone's problems other than his own. 

If you're lucky, you can even get to have a beer with them - literally! The Jungle has a real working pub on stage, and guests are offered pints from the tap if they wish. Either by being invited onstage, or passed around via a giant paddle-board, depending on where in the Arts you’re sitting. 

The Arts by the way is the perfect West End theatre for it, as it needs the smaller spaces to be able to pull off the intimacy and comradery between actors and audience.

Before getting distracted with pints and setting….. I was.. oh yeah, saying there’s no linear plot. It doesn’t need one. I know I am normally one who doesn’t like things with no plot, but to me, it feels like The Choir of Man is more than that. Ben Norris, who both plays The Poet, and who wrote the monologues perhaps puts it best for me when looking at his section in the programme: 

Have a pint!

“The result, I think is a love letter with three significant addresses: music of course, but also human connection, male friendships in particular, and that most beloved institution - the pub” 

In an age where more and more traditional British pubs are torn down for goodness knows what, this show celebrates just how important pubs are - with a whole load of both music AND bromance. 

This is one show I think I can truly recommend to everyone - in fact, it's a perfect gateway to those who don't usually go to the theatre. There's no interval, it's a premise we can all get behind and relate to, the boys all seem to be characters we know, we know the songs. And there's pints. Have I mentioned that? 

But the main reason why I think I went away loving The Choir of Man so much is that it is so joyful! It makes you want to have a bit of banter with these lads (and one lady invited on stage was definitely milking every opportunity she got), you can sing along, you can not feel guilty about dancing in your seat. It may make you emotional near the end, especially in one of the encores where they sing this folk song A-Capella and unmic'ed! But the overwhelming feeling you get is joy. 

You coming out of the theatre going "That was a BLAST!" And to me, that is the best kind of show in my opinion. 

The Choir of Man is running at the Arts Theatre until 3rd April 2022 - please please PLEASE go if you can! 

If not, please join me in badgering them on Twitter for a UK tour - I know the Quays Theatre at the Lowry would be PERFECT for this!