Review: MUSIK, Wilton’s Music Hall

MUSIK, written by Jonathan Harvey with music by The Pet Shop Boys, is a precise, pitch-perfect hour of comic cabaret that not only confirms Harvey’s incandescent brilliance as a writer but also shines a worthy spotlight on Frances Barber’s extraordinary gift as an actor. The show is a fictional cabaret, The Billie Trix Story, the rambling recollections of a delusional, fame-obsessed singer who insists she has shaped every significant cultural moment from the 1950’s to the present day.

I’m familiar with a lot of Harvey’s work and I can say with some confidence that Billie Trix is one of his finest comic inventions. To try to bring her alive to you I would say she lies at a wonky intersection between Liza Minnelli, Jackie Stone (Patsy Stone’s eccentric older sister in TV’s Absolutely Fabulous) and Spanish pop legend Alaska, but everyone watching the show will find echoes of their own camp cultural icons in what they see. Nevertheless, this character is no clumsy synthesis of faded divas beloved by gays, but with the benefit of Harvey’s seemingly unbridled imagination (I’d love to glimpse his ideas book!) and Barber’s impeccable ear for dialogue, Billie is a star in her own right. Every line sparkles with unfiltered precision and mostly inappropriate hilarity. Not a syllable is wasted and every line is rich in detail and light in touch: the jokes never feel forced. In Barber’s hands she lets them fly, trusting the audience’s intelligence.

It’s hard to imagine anyone other than Barber being Trix, so consummately has she inhabited this character. She is magnificent, swaggering and delusional in equal measure but with a sincerity that makes her as unexpectedly touching as it does irresistibly funny.

The music interludes, songs by The Pet Shop Boys with lyrics by Harvey, form a somewhat sobering counterpoint to the barrage of humour. Here, Harvey’s judgement proves excellent. He does not try to create patter songs with witty rhymes, but follows the often dour beats with similarly clunky sentiments, a knowing reference to the Trix’s unknowing and abysmal lack of talent. He steps back, creating a subtler comedic layer that adds realism and depth to the enterprise.

All of this is presented in a gorgeous production that under Terry Johnson’s precise direction gift-wraps our faded star and presents her to us surrounded by seamless visuals on a bank of old-style TV monitors that is part TED-talk, part personal appearance at a gay club. It’s simultaneously polished and understated, allowing the rays of comic genius to shine. The inspired use of the tambourine as cue prop had me in hysterics, but to say any more would be a spoiler. Indeed it’s hard to write about the trajectory of this show without giving things away and ruining it for future audiences, so intricate are its storylines. Nevertheless you should pay close attention to the man who takes Billie’s virginity, I’ll leave it at that.

MUSIK is a confection of comic brilliance and pathos, and a loving satire of celebrity and self-delusion. Every detail works and every contributor both on- and off-stage seems to be at the top of their game here, creating something that is a little hour of pure magic, and should certainly not be missed.

Written by Jonathan Harvey
Music by The Pet Shop Boys
Directed by Terry Johnson
Lighting design by Lee Newby
Sound design by Luke Swaffield
Video design by Leo Flint

MUSIK plays at Wilton’s Music Hall until Saturday 25 October.