Review: Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, Underbelly Boulevard Soho

“Gay hockey players with big butts – that’s what we want…” or so says the opening number of Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody which has skated into London after its successful off-Broadway debut and Edinburgh Fringe run. A love letter to the hit TV series about two rival hockey stars and their unlikely path to falling in love, this is a parody that knows exactly what its audience has come for. 

In its brisk 75-minute run time, the show is on to a winner with its excellent score and devastatingly funny one-liners. It opens with a clever framing device, as three ‘Susans’ reveal their secret longing for smut and invite us to indulge in their favourite pastime: putting their husbands to bed with an iPad and knocking back a ‘Xanax margarita’ while watching these hockey stars battle it out on the ice and in the bedroom. But it also allows a ‘wine mom’ narrator, played dazzlingly by May Tether, to guide us gently through the story, winking at the gaps that inevitably emerge when adapting television for the stage, making this not just a parody but a knowing, sharply condensed retelling.

Innuendo is used in full force here, with numbers about Shane Hollander (Zheng Xi Yong) “slapping his stick” and carrying a “heavy load”, and later a double entendre about being able to host Ilya Rozanov (Joseph Dann) at his cottage in Canada. But such is the quality of Dylan Marcaurele‘s writing that the script never feels churlish or overly indulgent. Instead it focuses purely on its source material to draw out the best of the parody genre. From in-jokes about Shane’s burgers to more nuanced observations about a character whose entire contribution to the show amounts to a single word: “Girl”.

It helps too that the cast are one-hundred percent committed to the point of conviction. You believe everything you see, and it never feels like a joke, which is a hard feat to achieve in a parody musical. Tether as the main Susan is sensational and is given full permission to show off her formidable belting. Dann, meanwhile, plays Ilya remarkably straight (if you’ll pardon the pun), making his flawless rendition of ‘Big Ass, Cold Heart’ all the more effective, and his troubled family history all the funnier in retrospect. Yong nails the hopeless romantic complex of Shane, who also delivers the best song in the show with aplomb, ‘This Fuck Was Different’ – a soaring Cabaret-esque ballad that even Liza Minelli would be proud of. 

Alan Kliffer‘s energetic direction makes light work of the show’s dizzying array of multi-rolling, which lands with accomplishment. Andrew Berlin shifts between one of three Susan’s, Ilya’s father, smoothie-shop worker Kip and a succession of jocks. Among others, these characters help deliver the evening’s roaring laughs alongside Sylvie Stenson as Shane’s mum and smoothie-shop co-worker Maria.

The action comes thick and fast, though at times the production is forced to catch up with itself and there is a tendency to lean too heavily on a minor blackout while the actors reset. Some of the scenic background artwork is unconvincing, though an assortment of props, dummies and puppets brings plenty of fun to the show’s saucier moments. Audience interaction is another gamble, which has the potential to either be hilarious or fall completely flat. 

But, for all these minor quibbles, this is a gleefully irreverent celebration of the series, powered by a terrific score and a cast who understand precisely what makes its melodrama so ripe for parody. Although, if you arrive having not watched the TV show first, good luck!

Written by Dylan Marcaurele
Directed by Alan Kliffer
Choreography by Brooke Engen & Tiffany Engen
Set Design by Sully Ross
Costume Design by Brendan McCann
Lighting Design by Devin Cameron
Sound Design by Germán Martinez

Heated Rivalry: The Unauthorized Musical Parody is playing at Underbelly Boulevard Soho until Sunday 1 November.