One Man Musical review – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s legal team might not like this one 

Andrew Lloyd Webber is in a bind, apparently. His superstars have shone, his starlight express has skated on and his cats have done, well, whatever it is jellicles do. Now, he’s on the hunt for the topic for his next big show, and he needs someone to appear in it. The easiest answer to both questions: himself.

Rosie and Nicola Dempsey, more commonly known as comedy musical duo Flo and Joan, have put Lord Lloyd Webber in their sights in this hour-long lampoon of the guy who once forced a group of aspiring performers to take off their shoes and sail off in a moon while singing “Over the Rainbow”.

For anyone who has read Lloyd Webber’s juicy doorstop of an autobiography Unmasked, there are some familiar comedy beats as the show rattles through the composer’s origins: growing up in west London, walking his cat Perseus on a lead, his love of Gothic architecture, meeting long-time collaborator Tim Rice (played by a bag of rice) and falling in love with his first wife Sarah. Indeed, the production’s pace only slows when it extends beyond where Unmasked ends, just as The Phantom of the Opera opens. 

What sells the show above all is the jaw-dropping performance from the “man” – George Fouracres. Dressed in a satin blazer and providing the dictionary definitions for pomp and flappability, Fouracres caricatures his subject almost, but crucially never quite, to the point of ridicule. Some magnificent tunes and subtle easter eggs will tickle the sides for the musical purists as well. 

Flo and Joan (who accompany the show and provide some supporting character turns) are onto a winner here, with both their central performer and subject matter: with an extra 30 minutes or so of material (the 80s and 90s are glossed through speedily), they’d have a five-star hit.