Andrew McClelland: The Very Model of a Modern Major Musical | Adelaide Fringe 2022 review
This clever pastiche of Gilbert & Sullivan is presented as a pitch to the Australia Council with the musical woven into a faux grant meeting.
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Andrew McClelland: The Very Model of a Modern Major Musical
Comedy
Rating: ****
Upstairs at Rhino Room
Until March 18
You’ll be hard-pressed to find anything like Andrew McClelland’s astonishingly clever Fringe show.
The Very Model of a Modern Major Musical takes the delightfully camp format of a Gilbert & Sullivan, Victorian-era comic opera (think HMS Pinafore, The Mikado, Pirates of Penzance) and twists it into a contemporary musical set in a gossipy law firm a la The Office.
Skilfully employing the tropes of iconic Gilbert & Sullivan works with fresh lyrics set to the music (now conveniently out of copyright) in a tight one-hour offering, what McClelland has created here is a wholly original musical within a musical.
While most of us were baking sourdough in lockdown, McClelland, whose passion for musical theatre is evident through his rich and booming vocals, actually wrote a full, three-hour musical.
Of course, the theatrical production for a cast of 70 and full orchestra just wouldn’t be viable for the Fringe, so with the aid of McClelland’s incredible collaborator Martine Wengrow, it’s presented as a pitch to funding body the Australia Council for the Arts, with snippets of the actual musical woven in to a faux grant meeting with theatre big wigs.
While that may sound convoluted, it wasn’t at all difficult to follow – a credit to McClelland’s talents as a writer.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t as well-versed in Gilbert & Sullivan as some others in the room, so a few of the references went over my head.
Even so, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the entirety of the upbeat show.
For some much-needed cheer in these gloomy times, head along and let your inner musical nerd soar.