"Grindr The Opera"

Nottingham Arts Theatre.

Here is a musical that is different from any other musical I've seen in the past, but is every bit as entertaining as the best of them, with its' tongue thrust well into it's cheek!

This musical parody takes a deep dive into Grindr, the gay dating app, and four characters who use the app for hook ups and all have a connection by the end, with each other.

Devon, the romantic one of the four characters, is played by Patrick Barrett. Devon is a doctor by profession and after a few failed romances decides it's time to get back on the dating wagon again via Grindr. What a voice Patrick has, in fact everyone in this show are blessed with really powerful voices that can easily accommodate both operatic and classical styles of singing.

Tom is the cynical one, played by Kane Verrell, who I last saw on stage about seven years ago in the musical "Club Tropicana" at the Theatre Royal. Tom doesn't quite know what he wants from love and life so uses the app to find out what he really wants from future relationships.

Jack is the twink and played by Will Joel who is just discovering this new world and is up for absolutely everything, well almost!

Don is the Daddy of the bunch, played by Dereck Walker. Don is married, has a son and is the opposite to Tom because he knows exactly what he wants and how and when to get it, even if he has to pay for the pleasure. Despite this tough, devil may care image, there's a song that Don sings which shows another side of the man, but his closeted side reappears when he is almost outed by one of the other characters,a nd then the full discretion is revealed in a later scene from one of the other characters!

Christian Lunn plays Grindr, who apparently is the mythical siren of casual sex (you see how educational theatre can be?) and returns as an app on smartphones. Christian has a large range vocally, playing and flirting with the comedy lyrics of the songs. You must admire Grindr's footwear as well as he is blessed with a pair of killer heels, which are almost as high as the notes he reaches.

Grindr has two helpers, Trogorium, played by Oliver Cartwright and Versipellis, played by Will Loader.

Will and Oliver are also Swing members of the cast with Will also taking the role of Dance Captain.

The book, music and lyrics are by Erik Ransom, all of which are immensely funny and incredibly rude, fortunately I have a sense of humour so found the whole show very humorous, although there are some parts which really make you think about modern day dating, gay, straight or whatever, and whoever you are into, and about the pros and cons of finding love via an app as opposed to the old ways of actually meeting someone face to face.

There is one scene which is saucy, maybe even risque but nothing ruder than what you'd see on the TV after the watershed. I was advised that the content was filthy, I wouldn't describe it as filthy, just saucy and a great deal of fun; after all, we're all adults here. Maybe my level of depraved viewing is lower than I once thought because I saw no filthiness in two consenting adults having fun in the comfort of their own bedrooms!

Director and Choreographer is William Spencer, who is a local Actor/Director, who I've had the pleasure of reviewing several years ago, so it's great to see him return to the Arts Theatre stage with this show. If this sauce had to be rated, it would definitely be Heinz; it's great fun with just the right amount of male flesh on stage to satisfy the predominantly male audience. The choreographed pieces work really well with the score, which is absolutely excellent. If I were to make any comparisons, the show is a cross between the gothic fun of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and a lesser appreciated musical called "Jerry Springer The Musical", which I have only seen on TV over the Covid period and absolutely loved it. After all, sex is supposed to be fun, as well as funny, isn't it?

Associate Director is Lilly Butcher

Musical Director and Orchestrator is Aaron Clingham. What a band indeed, completely tucked away stage left, they sounded absolutely awesome. The volume was immense as the comedic value from the script, sounding powerful and classical/operatic in tone, at times quite Wagner-esque, at other times pure musical theatre with songs like "We Met On Grindr". The vocals were powerful, as was this band that accompanied the vocalists.

Set & Costume Design is by David Shields and has a real Gothic design in both set and costume, obviously to show the darker underbelly of the dating game via mobile apps. In the foreground though we saw the more modern design with the various character's natural environments, so there's a nice mix of Grindr's gothic habitat with the contrasting modern environment.

Lighting Designer is Chuma Emembolu. I loved this design because it made sure that it pointed you to whatever part of the staging and character we needed to focus on, as well as creating a thrilling and exciting artist's palette of colour for the whole stage, giving another layer of thrills, especially whenever Grindr was on stage.

Sound Design is by Dominic Young. As mentioned previously, the sound volume was perfect for me, and combined with the lighting design, they created atmosphere.

Production Manager is Jacques James Moussi.

Intimacy Director is Emma Bailey.

Producer is Peter Bull for Above The Stag Theatre Ltd.

This show was the final outing for "Grindr The Opera" of its' current tour, and I was so pleased to have caught it here in Nottingham. Having downloaded the soundtrack before seeing the show, I just knew that I was going to love this show, mainly because of the humour, and seeing the music connect with the actors and storyline just created the perfect fun, saucy night out.

I'd certainly recommend anyone who has a sense of humour to see this show the next time it comes round. If you expected full nudity and things being waved in your face, you'll be disappointed - you see more male flesh in "The Full Monty". What you will get is a brilliantly and cleverly written piece of theatre, smothered with sauce, as well as food for thought about modern dating. I loved it.