Blair Russell Productions has officially announced the full cast for Dylan MarcAurele’s high-camp musical adventure, Pop Off, Michelangelo!, which returns to the Udderbelly stage at Underbelly, George Square, for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025. This highly anticipated run follows a smash-hit 2024 Fringe season and a successful eight-week engagement at Underbelly Boulevard Soho in London.
Reprising their celebrated roles are Michael Marouli (Pope), Max Eade (Michelangelo), and Aidan MacColl (Leonardo da Vinci). The ensemble will be completed by Kurran Dhand (Salai), Aoife Haakenson (Mother), Sev Keoshgerian (Italian Chef), and Laura Sillett (Savonarola).
Producer Blair Russell expressed his excitement, stating, "I can't wait to bring Pop Off, Michelangelo! back to Edinburgh after our fantastic London run. Having our incredible cast reprise their roles is such a treat – they've brought such amazing energy and comedic timing to these characters. There's nothing quite like performing at the Fringe, and I'm excited to bring this production back to where it all began.”
Pop Off, Michelangelo! plunges audiences into Renaissance Italy, where childhood friends Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci discover their shared attraction to boys amidst a friar's homophobic witch hunt. Terrified, they concoct a plan to earn divine forgiveness by becoming the greatest religious artists of all time. The production features an original electropop score, praised by critics as "infectious as the bubonic plague."
Reviews from its previous runs have been overwhelmingly positive, with The Stage calling it "Fresh, filthy and surprisingly uplifting," and WhatsOnStage hailing it as "Joyful, chaotic, queer, and smart." West End Frame lauded the music as "the best original music I heard at the Fringe."
Directed by Joe McNeice, with choreography and intimacy direction by Sundeep Saini, and musical supervision by Aron Sood, Pop Off, Michelangelo! promises a vibrant and unhinged theatrical experience.
Performances run from July 31 to August 25, with press invited from August 2.
