EDINBURGH 2013 - BWW Reviews: [title of show], Assembly Checkpoint, August 17 2013

There is a kind of musical I've started to call plinky-plonk (the name is a work in progress). They're invariably set in New York, and they always involve a perky group of young twentysomethings and a piano. And I find them supremely irritating, and '[title of show]' is definitely one of them.

That's not to say it has nothing going for it. The idea - two guys write a musical about themselves writing a musical - is fun for a while until the constant meta-commentary starts to grate, and to be fair, the fact that the show (that rare beast, a completely original musical) ended up on Broadway against some bleak odds is an undeniable achievement. It's just that when a character says he doesn't want the show to be "self-referential, self-indulgent bulls**t", I couldn't help but squirm at how close it was sailing to that particular gust of wind.

Then there's the fact that the indulgence is actually on behalf of the writers, Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, who starred as themselves in the original production along with their friends Susan and Heidi. So much of the script is based on the dynamic between these people - not to mention the real events from their lives and careers - that having those relationships represented by entirely different performers seems to reduce the impact and enjoyment of what's happening by about half.

Individual cast members are not at fault by any means - they're all highly competent performers and a pleasure to watch. Robbie Towns (Jeff) is a hugely likeable stage presence and Ricky Johnston is, ignoring what seemed to me like an instance of fake corpsing (one of the very worst things in the world), rarely less than great. Jamie Lee Pike's terrific voice impresses in its moment in the spotlight, and Carley Stenson probably has the best comic timing of all - though it doesn't hurt that she also has the best lines.

If I can be allowed to go a bit meta myself: my review, though pretty snarky, isn't necessarily a wholly negative one. This production - the UK premiere, by a nose - is a success on its own terms, and the audience on the day I saw it lapped it up. It's the show itself, with its self-referential, self-indulgent bulls**t (yeah I went there) that wasn't for me. And this is the last sentence of my review.

'[title of show]' runs daily at 15:10 until August 26.

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