SuperYou at Curve, Leicester - review

An amalgamation of great modern musicals, parent’s cautionary tales, and anti-bullying education resources, SuperYou is enjoying its first fully staged production in the UK.

Building on its formations (fans have been following the online sensation for years), it feels too complex for a show simply preaching the power of embracing one’s own quirks.

Lourds Lane, the writer/composer/heart of SuperYou, is obviously a massive musical theatre fan. As kids, our heroine Katie and her brother Matty excitedly exchange Sondheim-esque speech patterns as they create superhero alter-egos to overcome their bullies at school and home. When the Boltz, Katie’s creations, come to life, they chant “rise up!” like Hamilton and co. And when there’s a whole subplot about going viral – more on that later – the cast comes together for a gospel ballad that all feels quite Dear Evan Hansen.

Now fully sung through, Lane gives us syrupy duets, rock ballads, and even country throwdowns (“Why am I singing a country song?” asks Blast). Each is delivered with raucous energy by the band, housed high above the stage. Linked together with call and response lines, either wrapping up or setting up how we’re meant to be feeling, there’s no break in pace or time to catch up in the first exhausting 75-minute act.

Especially when the plot starts to go awry – there’s meet cutes and relationship woes, a chance stint working as a marketeer, social media fame, tragedy, grief and illness, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of the superheroes at play. It’s ambitious; with the action annotated by video screens (designed by Caite Hevner) bringing illustrations and TikTok feeds to life on a playful fire escape set (designed by Anna Louizos).

In part – and at its best – SuperYou is an arena-filling concert, with pink, purple, and blue spotlights (designed by Ryan J O’Gara) illuminating our internal idols, dressed in individual super suits (by Cynthia Nordstorm) calling out for cosplay, and bursting through slick K-Pop-inspired choreography while breathing brilliant pop numbers. In others, it is a melodrama where a barefoot, speechless mum (Belinda Lee Chapman) performs contemporary dance next to a bottle of Smirnoff. With both direction and choreography by Joann M Hunter, there’s a sense of internal conflict on which way to swing.

But the cast save the day. Vicki Manser’s Katie is a vocal powerhouse, her anthems bursting out of the studio space. Playing her younger self is a charming Aaliyah Monk who shares dreamlike, jubilant moments with Owen Lloyd (as her brother). Courtney Stapleton (as Blast) relishes in her big belt to cheers from the crowd as she slides down a fireman’s pole, and Kingsley Morton (as Ima-Mazing) gives great physical humour. You do really care for each and every one of them.

At its heart, SuperYou is a rollicking call to misfits, a gateway for a young person to find love and appreciation, for both themselves and the arts. But in relishing every possibility, it ends up losing its real superpower.