★★★★☆
Brisbane Festival certainly knows how to make an entrance.
For opening night, QPAC was playing host to the all-female cast of Strong Is The New Pretty, while just outside, the Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent had gone in completely the opposite direction with The Choir of Man.
Nine British blokes. A fully functioning pub. Beer on tap. And 75 minutes of absolute bangers. If that doesn’t sum up the wonderfully chaotic breadth of Brisbane Festival, I’m not sure what does.
First staged at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017, The Choir of Man has since travelled through London, Chicago and Europe before finally making its way down here to Australia. And it’s easy to see why it’s lasted.
The premise is wonderfully uncomplicated. The set is a pub. Not a theatrical interpretation of a pub. Not an abstract collection of timber designed to symbolise one. It is, quite literally, a pub. Beer taps, stools, tables, old-school British decor and enough stained glass to make your grandfather feel immediately comfortable. The taps work too.
There’s a 15-minute pre-show before the actual performance begins, which I won’t spoil because discovering it is half the fun. I’ll just say this: get there early.
There are freebies involved, and the audience very quickly learns that this particular fourth wall was never especially important to begin with.
Once the show proper kicks off, The Choir of Man tears through pop and rock songs from across the decades, including Somebody To Love, 500 Miles, Hello, Chandelier and Save Tonight.
Then, because apparently these blokes understand Australians frighteningly well, You’re the Voice turns up too; an instant way to get the audience on side.
The cast of Ifan Gwilym-Jones, Norton James, George Knapper, Connor Mellor, Alex Mallalieu, Mark Loveday, Kristian Morse, Tyler Orphé-Baker and Tristan Whincup are ridiculously good together. Vocally, there isn’t a weak link among them.
Their harmonies are huge, the solo performances land beautifully and, importantly, they actually feel like a group of mates rather than nine musical theatre performers who met at rehearsal six weeks ago.
The only thing I wanted was a little more volume. When you’ve got songs like Welcome to the Jungle in the chamber, you’re allowed to make the tent shake a bit.
George Knapper provided one of the night’s biggest surprises when he suddenly launched into a tap routine across the bar and tables. I certainly didn’t walk into the Spiegeltent expecting a man to start tap dancing above the beer taps, but there we are. It was brilliant.
Some Nights is another standout. Using beer mugs as percussion, it somehow makes the clinking of glassware sound considerably better than it normally does at closing time.
For all the singing, drinking and pub banter though, there’s a surprisingly lovely idea sitting underneath the whole thing. The show looks at the history of the “public house” and what pubs have traditionally meant to communities. Not just as somewhere to drink, but somewhere to meet.
Somewhere to celebrate. Somewhere to complain about your boss, talk absolute rubbish with strangers, mourn, flirt badly and occasionally sit beside somebody when they’re having a rough time. That’s where The Choir of Man moves beyond a jukebox concert.
Each performer has his own story and personality, and while the show never gets bogged down trying to manufacture drama, there are genuine moments of vulnerability mixed amongst the silliness. It gives the night some weight without suddenly becoming a TED Talk about male friendship.
Alex Mallalieu deserves particular praise. Performing as a Swing in the central storytelling role, he carried the night with confidence and warmth, even while dealing with a few unnecessary interruptions from one particularly enthusiastic patron. He handled it like an absolute professional and carried straight on.
There’s a real danger with a show this relentlessly cheerful that it could start feeling forced. Thankfully, it never does. The reason is probably quite simple. The lads look like they’re genuinely having fun.
They muck around with each other, interact with the audience and somehow maintain the feeling that everyone inside the Spiegeltent has just stumbled into their local pub on a particularly good night. Except this local has world-class singers, live instruments and a bloke tap dancing on the furniture.
The Choir of Man doesn’t reinvent musical theatre, nor does it need to. It’s warm, funny, loud-ish, incredibly well sung and almost aggressively likeable. You’ll know most of the songs, you’ll probably sing along to several of them, and there’s a decent chance you’ll leave wanting a pint.
The Choir of Man runs to 26 September as part of the 2026 Brisbane Festival. Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Festival Village, Southbank Qld 4101.
Tickets are available here.
Website: https://www.brisbanefestival.com.au/events/the-choir-of-man
Socials: https://www.instagram.com/choirofman/
Photo credits: The Other Richard
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