Evergreen Virtual Academy Announcer (0:00)

Are you a parent looking for an independent, flexible and tuition free school in Oregon? Evergreen Virtual Academy offers a dynamic and tuition free public education with Oregon certified teachers for PK through 12th grade students. Your student gets a laptop, live class sessions and the ability to chart their own unique path plus in person events and social activities all year. When school has no walls, learning has no limits. Learn more and enroll now. Evergreen Virtual Academy evergreenvirtual.org When's the last.

US Cellular Home Internet Announcer (0:30)

Time you got something that was fast, reliable and affordable? Like almost never, right? Well US Cellular Home Internet is breaking that streak. You get fast speeds, a rock solid connection and a super sweet price. Just $39.99 a month. When you bundle it with a wireless plan. That means you can stream, scroll, shop and binge without lag or crazy bills. It's not magic, just really good Internet. Check out U.S. cellular Home Internet Today built for U.S. terms apply. Visit uscellular.com for details.

NetCredit Announcer (0:59)

NetCredit is here to a personal loan or line of credit. When other lenders say no, apply in minutes and get a decision as soon as the same day. If approved, applications are typically funded the next business day or sooner. Loans offered by Netcredit or lending partner banks and serviced by NetCredit application subject to review and approval. Learn more@netcredit.com partner NetCredit Credit to the people.

Mickey Jo Theatre (1:31)

I have taken to calling the show the last 300,005 years. Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to those of you listening to this review on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I'm a professional theatre critic and a content creator here on social media and today we are going to be talking about one of London's newest arrivals in the world of musical theatre. It is hot mess. I had the joy of seeing the show last week when it opened at Southwark Playhouse Elephant in London. I had seen it previously at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it became this hot ticket, this sold out, award winning, celebrated success. I am so glad that it has finally made its way down south and that London audiences are now getting a chance to enjoy it as well. It stars Tobias Turley and Danielle Steers as humanity and the earth in an increasingly toxic relationship that allegorically represents our own relationship with the planet, and talks in a playful and funny and and ultimately more serious way about climate change, all with a score of absolute bangers. I can't wait to tell you more about the show and why I enjoy it so much and why you need to go and see it at Southwark Playhouse. But before I do, if you have already had the chance to see Hot Mess either at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe or at Southwark Playhouse or before Edinburgh when it did a little preview run in Birmingham, the Birmingham Hippodrome, specifically a venue which is really nurturing and developing new musicals at the moment, doing fantastic work. Let me and everyone else know what you thought of the show in the comments section down below. And if you enjoy listening to my thoughts and want to hear more of my reviews about other new musicals and all sorts of other pieces of theatre, make sure you are subscribed or following me on whatever podcast platform you might be hearing me on right now. But in the meantime, let's talk about Hot Mess. So Hot Mess has gone on something of a developmental journey. It is co written by Jack Godfrey, this rising star musical theatre composer, and Ellie Coote. The two of them together wrote the brilliant 42 Balloons, which recently had its North American premiere in Chicago Cargo after various versions in the uk. Jack is also the composer behind Babies and Hot Mess is a show that they developed together a few years ago. It's had a little bit of a title change, but it is this musical representation of our relationship to the planet and so talking about climate change, but doing so through this witty concept of a couple of a relationship. In many ways it follows a lot of traditional romcom tropes, more so than I initially realized, in fact. There is one moment when they're having something of an argument and then it's raining because the earth is getting frustrated and emotional, so it's raining and then they suddenly kiss in the rain. And it hadn't occurred to me foolishly when I first saw the show, what an obvious rom com moment that is. Like when you're thinking of romantic comedy tropes and these stories of epic relationships that then go a little bit wrong. That kind of dramatic kiss in the rain. Very the Notebook. Very Hot Mess. Now I want to walk you through a little bit of the plot and how this actually works on stage, because even the most imaginative among you may be struggling to concep conceptualize how one person plays the Earth and another plays humanity. And it is literal. It's not that like she has a name and he has a name and it's like representing the thing. She is literally portraying Earth and referred to as such and he is literally representative of all humanity, which is obviously a difficult thing to write. It's also a difficult thing to stage. It's also a difficult thing to act. So kudos to everyone involved for not only wrapping their heads around how this is going to make sense, but also delivering such a neatly packaged version to the audience. And more so than anything else, that's what this show is. It is very streamlined and condensed in order for us to be able to instantly grasp what it is that we are looking at and just have fun with it. It doesn't wade into some of the more complex and thorny and devastating conversations around climate change. There was a real inclination, it seems, from the writers here to write something that was accessible, that could be enjoyable, but that could foster conversations about our relationship to the planet, about climate change, about these important convers, conversations without A, hitting people over the head with a hammer or B, making everyone feel so depressed and disempowered that, you know, everyone was going to disengage from the conversation and feel as though there was no hope whatsoever. And so it's a careful balance of what they're trying to do here. We're going to circle back to that idea when I tell you more about my first impression of the show and what my expectations of it were and how that sort of shifted a bit. But it's summarized best, I think, by a very parallel interpretation of it that a friend and I had when we both were at the same performance of the show in the first week of the Edinburgh Festival, which was to say that it feels a little bit like going to see a musical that's being put on at the Science Museum and walking away thinking, wow, that was actually really great and like too good for the Science Museum because it is deceptively clever and sophisticated behind this sort of metaphorical ozone layer, if you like, of wit and joy and comedy, with its best creative asset undeniably being the score. Now let's talk a little bit more about the show, how it works, how it's staged and what actually happens. So this is a one act musical that charts the entire duration of this relationship. So beginning, as you might expect, hundreds of thousands of years, millions of years, I don't know numbers about science a long time ago. It starts a little while in the past and actually continues beyond the conclusion of humanity's time on Earth or with Earth. For that reason, I have taken to calling the show the last 300,000 five years. I think it's funny. And it begins with the Earth on stage, introducing themselves to us alone and in search of a soulmate and in search of a species to cultivate, essentially. And the Earth is flirting with single celled organisms before ultimately becoming very enamored with the dinosaurs and having to cope after their untimely meteoric demise. All of which takes place over the course of a single opening number and which conveys to us, the audience, how this is going to work, because this is the Earth talking about themselves in a very playful way. The whole thing is riddled with these brilliant puns. In that first number, Earth is essentially looking for a species to date, and it's like Earth getting ready to go on a date. And so says the line, I'm not picky, I'm just naturally selective. That is the caliber of the writing that we're going to get throughout the rest of the show. Soon enough, a second entity enters the playing space and introduces themselves as Hugh Hue. Manatee, that is, which is a little bit of an eye roll, but it's also cute enough, and I'll allow it. And even though we're expecting this to immediately become this epic Roman romance, there is initially a sort of a frosty reception here, because humanity is not Earth's typical idea of what an apex predator ought to look like, especially after Earth just got out of a relationship with the Tyrannosaurus rex. And this is where we have the opportunity to, within the metaphor of Earth and humanity as a relationship, nod to other relationship tropes, because there's a little bit of dialogue here between the two of them about Earth's previous partners not being right for them, a little bit toxic, and the notion of the person you settle down with who isn't necessarily person that you might expect. It's also a nice little theatrical introduction to their relationship that's a little bit. Not enemies to lovers, necessarily, but they grow increasingly more irritated by each other. It's a little bit she Loves Me a Little Bit Much Ado About Nothing as well, I guess, let's call it you've Got Mail. But with cave paintings. And eventually, as humanity begins to develop, that little bit of friction between them actually ignites more of a romantic connection, at which point the two of them begin to thrive in this hugely successful relationship. So, in fact, that when humanity grows frustrated about the progress that they could be making if they had more resources, Earth makes them aware of the fact that there are actually more resources lingering beneath the surface, which is this hysterically wild metaphorical representation of their relationship being taken to the next physical level. I don't think I need to put too fine a point on that. You get the idea. You certainly do in the show. And since this is a musical about climate change and about the entirety of our relationship with the planet and the duration of humanity as a species, we can all predict where this is going. And it inevitably reaches a place that is a little bit more destructive, a little darker. Like the last five years, we eventually get to some great frustrated argument songs and some great breakup material, which hysterically is so defiantly performed by Danielle Steers Earth that the entire auditorium of people applaud for it, perhaps louder than any other moment in the show. And what it represents is Earth expelling humanity from the planet in the wake of all of this destruction and climate change chaos. And I do find it very funny that the notion of our potential extinction as a species is so enthusiastically applauded by this audience. That's very sweet and it speaks to the material and the performances. But from new acquaintances to power couple to complicated exes, it's the writing and the creative choices behind this show that really make it as entertaining as it is. So let's talk about that next. Now, the greatest asset of this show, perhaps alongside the very winning and witty concept, is the fantastic banging score by Jack Godfrey. It feels closer to babies than 42 balloons, stylistically, just because it still has that same kind of early 2000s sort of pop feel. Jack Godfrey is writing the most dynamic, exciting contemporary musical theatre pop scores alongside the likes of Marlow and Moss. And I do think that this could be the direction that new musical theatre writing is sort of detouring into. And I think that's a very interesting idea. And there's a lot of real earworms in this show. If I had to pick out a strongest song in the score, It Might be Tomorrow. That is also the most infectious melody. If you listen to that, that will stay in your head for at least a calendar week. Do not say I didn't warn you, but go listen to it regardless. It's a great song. And not only is it a great melody, the lyrics are great and deceptively clever. This is what I love is this show is not holding up its smartness in your face. And look, see how clever I am. See what I did? See that reference that I put in there? There's so much that you could miss because the songs just sound like these kind of standard relationship slash breakup pop songs. And Tomorrow is like, I know I've done you wrong, girl, but I'm gonna work on myself. That sounds ridiculous coming out of my mouth. I know. And this comes in response to the Earth putting a little bit of pressure on humanity about the need to clean up the oil spills and the nuclear waste and all of the devastation that has been wrought. And humanity replying that their plan was to work towards the of reducing carbon emissions and not utilizing fossil fuels eventually. And that is what the song echoes when humanity sings, I'm going to figure it all out tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. And there is one verse in particular when they are singing about all of the other things they have going on which has been distracting them. And these chapters brilliantly nod to the history of human development. I don't know if I've been mishearing one on the earlier version of the recording or if I misheard it last week, or if there has been a lyric change because there was one line that I'm sure it didn't used to be this, but it's now. And then I had a fight and then another fight, which is a nod to World War I and World War II. I think there's another lyric later on in that verse that says something to the effect of that I was stuck inside because I was kind of sick, which I'm pretty sure is nodding to COVID 19 and lockdown, or the Spanish flu in the early 20th century, or the plague. You know, pick your. Pick your pandemic. And just a handful more in that verse like Then I Took a Flight. That are all made to sound like very generic things someone could be doing in their day to. But they are about different human achievements and turning points in the history of civilization, which is so clever, but not nearly as clever as this other thing that I found out. Because there is later on a nod to the line from Macbeth. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in this petty pace from day to day. And I, at the press night performance, asked Jack Godfrey, because there's a little echo in the backing as part of the fantastic orchestrations, I should point out from Jack Godfrey and musical supervisor Joe Baten, who always does fantastic. And it's this echo after tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, that goes tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow. And it sounds a bit. The depth of the voice sounded a bit like Jack Godfrey. And so I had to ask him. I was like, is that you? Have you recorded your voice to do that for the backing vocals? And he said, oh, no, it's, you know, John Gielgud. And I started laughing because I assumed that was a joke. Guess what? It isn't. They took John Gielgud delivering that actual line from Macbeth. They took a recording of the acclaimed actor Sir John Gielgud and they remixed it and they put it in the song. And then I guess, told no One or perhaps a very small collection of people, because. And I said to him, this is the kind of thing that you need to loudly talk about because that's so brilliant. And, you know, I see a lot of theater. I try and I try and know stuff, and I don't think that I ever could have told you and, like, plucked out from hearing this remixed vocal. Oh, yeah, that's Gielgud. Like, I can't. I can't be doing that. That. And also, how insanely brilliant is that? What an exceptional theatrical Easter egg to have Sir John Gielgud in the score in the recording of Hot Mess. I love that so, so much. Now I want to talk about the way that the relationship is actually understood and the personalities are actually portrayed on stage. And much of this, I think, is the brilliance of Ellie Coote, who is both the book writer and the director of the piece, because it is, I think, quite a challenging idea to navigate. And it is explicated with such brilliant CL and charm and wit. And some of the stickiest ideas about how we are actually going to be able to understand relationship between a species of people and a planet, instead of becoming an obstacle to our enjoyment, is somehow repositioned as the funniest moments in the book, in the script, because there are these brilliant lines that arise from the ridiculousness of the whole thing, with humanity trying to strike up some kind of a conversation with Earth, who is giving the human race cold shoulder, figuratively and literally, because, you know, snow. And humanity, in attempting to flirt, says something to the effect of, I think I saw you earlier. Were you outside? And Earth replies, I am the outside. Which takes this idea of something that could be impossibly difficult to rationalize or understand and turns it into a hilariously silly joke. And it does kind of feel as though a conversation may have happened at some point when putting this show together around the idea of, like, is this too challenging to understand? And they simply said, what if we just decide that it's easy and decide that it works, and because they enter that decision with such confidence, then the audience agrees to do the same thing. We all suspend whatever complex layer of disbelief we have to to watch a rom com about humanity and the Earth, and we also suspend our own stakes in it as well, Perhaps even the littlest bit too much. Now, I mentioned I wanted to talk about what I expected this show to be and what I then discovered about it, because prior to seeing it for the first time, my assumption was after hearing, you know, our relationship with the Earth represented via A real relationship. I thought we were going to go to a place that was really dark and toxic and that we were going to see this relationship become more and more manipulative and exploitative. And at the beginning, the Earth has such control. The Earth is a boss. The Earth is empowered and confident and holds all of the cards and is very much the dominant force in the relationship, deigning to eventually entertain the wishes of humanity and then in granting access to her natural resources, as it were. And what I really hoped would happen is that we would see humanity go from this sort of meek, geeky Seymour in Little Shop esque kind of arrival and develop into a more dominant figure and then kind of exert their authority over the Earth and we would see a real turning point in the balance of power in the relationship. And I don't know that we ever really do like the Earth. Earth gets more and more frustrated and unhappy about the way the relationship is progressing. And there is reference to a perhaps affair when humanity goes unexpectedly to the moon. Because in the context of the Earth being your romantic partner who is also a planet, I guess going to the Moon for the first time does constitute cheating on them. And even with all of that happening, and even as we really begin to represent the climate change of it all, Earth just gets angry and then eventually stands up for themselves, but. But never really relinquishes power in the relationship, which is exciting to see and it's great to see strong roles written for female performers. It's also very well received, like I said, by the audience. I just don't know if it takes us to that hard hitting conversation about climate change or about toxicity in relationships and kind of emotional abuse that we could be exploring. Boring. If we were to push the thing just a little bit further in that direction. If we were to see the Earth having given themselves over to the relationship and then getting, I guess, gaslighted and taken advantage of, which kind of feels like what we're doing with the planet, really. And so I did expect it to get a little bit darker. And I do think there is a version of the show that could still go there a little bit more. I understand at the same time the inclination to keep it accessible and palatable and instead make this really charming and funny and enjoyable date night show. I mean, it's the perfect date night show. My goodness, that will then have people going like, and you know what, we should really talk about climate change more rather than being like God. And I know, and it's terrible and the planet is slowly dying and there's nothing we can do about it because the billionaires are responsible. Like it's ultimately probably more beneficial to introduce the conversation about climate change this way rather than to be like and remember everything's terrible right now. Now, few more creative details I want to talk about. I really enjoyed Alexandra Sarmiento's choreography and there's only two performers on stage but really well incorporated into the show. I like its visual identity a lot. And this is another big question. How do you design a show where the Earth is standing there and there has to be a space that is bigger than them? Is it going to look like the galaxy? Is it going to look like the universe? And it's sort of imagined as a kind of studio apartment kind of a setup with the. These shelves that wrap around. There is something sort of planetary about it. It also looks a little bit like the rings that some planets, admittedly not the Earth, have around them. But it's very sci fi and colorful. The set and costumes have been designed by Shanko Chowdhury and have been lit by Ryan Joseph Stafford. I occasionally. I liked the lighting and I liked the sound design very much. I wanted a little bit more spotlighting just on the performers faces. It's been adapted from. From the Edinburgh Festival Fringe staging to play to three sides in the auditorium. This slightly less than desirable auditorium I think at Southwark Playhouse. Elephant. And they play very well to the seats on the side. I don't think you need to worry about where you are sat necessarily unless you're maybe at the very extremes. But a little bit more lighting on their faces I think would go a long way. Finally, one more detail I want to tell you about the show and I've been trying to honor this in the way I talk about these characters in the review as well is that technically. And Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coot are very good at this. There is no, no gender specificity written into the script. They are humanity and the Earth. So allowing perhaps for some modulations of keys, there is the idea beyond this production and it's incredibly well cast and we will talk about them in just a moment, that these two characters could be portrayed by a whole range of different performers of different gender identities and you could explore different kinds of relationship dynamics in the story of humanity and the Earth. And a lot like how Constellations is now being done circa the last London revival with all of these different types of castings for this couple. I would love to see loads of versions of Hot Mess into the future as we career towards the extinction of humanity with loads of different examples of performers in these dual roles. That's something that the last five years has never really been licensed to do because that show is wildly specific and Jason Robert Brown has wildly specific feelings about how it needs to be done done versus Jack Godfrey and Ellie Coot, who couldn't care less and who are literally opening the doors to, you know, all sorts of different combinations. But to finish, let us talk about this one and the performances of Tobias Turley and Daniel.