Julie The Musical was created by Abey Bradbury and it tells the story of Julie D'Aubigny, a real historical figure from 17th century France. Julie was an Opera singer, she was also a renowned swordswoman and a flaming Bisexual, Julie is thought to be one of the first openly Bisexual public figures in recorded history, making her a LGBTQ+ icon.
The musical is Julie telling us her life story in a very chaotic way which reflects her chaotic lifestyle. There are just 5 actors who all play multiple roles, I think there are about 15 roles which are divided up between the 5 cast members and this adds to the chaotic style of the show.
Julie (Sam Kearney-Edwardes) was married at a young age to Sieur de Maupin but not long after the marriage he had to move to the south of France for work leaving Julie behind to be taken care of by D’Armanac the man who had introduced them (we later find out that the reason D’Armanac was so good to Julie was because she had been his mistress). D’Armanac sets Julie up in an apartment in Paris but she is board as there is nothing for her to do. D’Armanac hires a fencing master names Suranne to ease Julies boredom but Julie ends up running away with Seranne and this is where her adventures begin. Julie eventually became board of life on the road with Suranne and ends up joining the Marseille Opera, it is here she meets and falls for a merchants daughter named Amelie. Amelie is sent to a convent by her parents so Julie follows her and takes her vows in order to enter the convent. In an attempt to escape the convent and have no one follow them Julie sets fire to a dead nun burning down the convent.
Julies relationship which Amelie does not last long and Amelie eventually returns to her parents. On her travels Julie meets friend and rival Gabriel-Vincent Thevenard and they both join the illustrious Paris Opera. Whilst working at the Paris Opera Julie meets Marquiesse Marie De Florensac the most beautiful woman in Paris, at a royal ball Julie ends up kissing Marie which enrages a group of men who challenge her to a duel. Duals are now illegal in France so Julie is forced to flee to Brussels. Whilst in Brussels Julie joins the brussels opera house and becomes mistress to Elector of Bavaria, he eventually tires of Julie and so to get his attention she stabs herself on stage. Elector of Bavaria offers Julie 40000 francs to leave him alone but she refuses the money and returns to Paris. Whilst in Paris she reconnects with Marie and the two fall in love and live together until Marie passes away.
The set for the show was quite simple and looked like the back stage of a theatre with costumes on rails, graffuti along with posters for the opera on the walls and props strewed around the place, there were also a variety of instruments set up around the stage. Although simple I feel the set worked really well for the fast pace of the show. The show is staged in sort of a concert format with the 5 cast members all playing a variety of instruments. I think each cast member played at least 3 different instruments which includes drums, saxophones, guitars, accordion, flute and even Kazoo's, the cast also created and arranged the instrumentation and harmonies for the show. I found the songs catchily melodic with a slight rocky edge to them, and they fit in perfectly with the story they were telling.
This cast is extremely talented and it was a joy to watch such a talent group of people doing what they love on stage. Sam Kearnet-Edwards in the lead role of Julie was perfectly cast they seemed so comfortable in the role and their comic timing was on point. Sam also has a wonderful voice and I would love a cast album with Sam as Julie. Sophie Coward plays a number of roles and she switches between them seamlessly each character is distinctly different from the next and all are played superbly, Sophie's comic timing is excellent and she brought about many laughs during the show. Georgia Liela Stoller's most memorable roles were the hilarious Seranne the fencing instructor and Marquiesse Marie De Florensac, two very different roles both of which were performed so superbly by Georgia. Georgia gets to perform a lovely ballad as Marie and this shows off Georgia's voice beautifully. Fabien Soto Pacheco's main roles were D' Albert Julies ex-lover and best friend and Amelie both roles were executed very well but it was his hilarious portrayal of Amelie Julies nun lover which I enjoyed the most. Alexander Tilley is naturally funny and was hillarious as Thevenard the farm boy turned opera singer and Julies frenemy.
I loved this show, I loved the songs, I loved its energy and I loved it's extremely talented cast.
I have to give this show four stars, its a Chaotic, laugh out loud show which will leave you wanting to go out and live your best life.
Julie The Musical is on at the Hope Mill Theatre until 24th June, you can purchase tickets by clicking on the button below.
If you would like more information about Julie The Musical and see where it will be touring to please click the button below.
Photo Credit - Andrew AB Photography
*Our tickets for this show were kindly gifted in exchange for an honest review
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