SuperYou, a musical with book, music and lyrics by Lourds Lane, was due to open off-Broadway when COVID thwarted its progress. However, in keeping with the show’s themes of creativity and empowerment, plus help from TikTok and social media, the performers went from the New York stage to socially distanced performances on the backs of trucks. The songs became online hits during the summer of 2020, culminating in ‘in-concert’ style performances at the Lyric Theatre in 2023.
SuperYou has since had what’s been referred to as a “complete reimagination” and is at Curve for an almost four-week run of its world première, although there are currently no details of performances at any other venue.
Loud, with anthemic power rock ballads, and proud of its purpose, this sung-through musical has a big heart and strong messages of discovering your inner strength and showing kindness towards others and yourself. As writer and composer (and performer), Lane is very much the driving force behind this show with a predominantly female team of cast and creatives, many of whom appear to have been with the musical from the beginning.
Young Katie White (Aaliyah Monk) loves to draw, inspired by her older brother Matty (Owen Lloyd), and together they create their own superheroes, Lightning Girl and M-Power. Together they fight Katie’s nemesis, Mi-Roar (Will Bozier), along with her friends as imagined superheroes Ima-mazing (Kingsley Morton), Blast (Courtney Stapleton), Seven (B Noel Thomas) and Rise (Lourds Lane).
As an adult, Katie (Vicki Manser) is a graphic artist but stops drawing her superheroes after a traumatic event, exacerbated by a difficult relationship with her mother (Belinda Lee Chapman). Romantic involvement with aspiring rock singer Jay (Damien Walsh) helps her to rediscover her creative side, leading her to reignite her inner superhero and find acceptance and strength.
The “feels” are strong here, and you can’t help but be swept up in the exuberant enthusiasm and positivity radiating from the stage out into the audience. In terms of relatability, the various issues raised (grief, rejection, not fitting in) are all things we experience as humans, but the overriding theme is not to be too hard on ourselves, particularly if you’ve ever been called “a misfit and a geek, a weirdo and a freak”, to quote from one of the big numbers “And Now I Rise”.
Lane’s music and lyrics embrace numerous musical styles and genres, from rap to rock, jazz and country, but power ballads are the “bread and butter” of this show (and the all-female band led by Jenny Deacon are superb). Manser and Monk as Katie, adult and teenager, are both excellent, belting out the big numbers as well as the more tender songs. There are some fun moments too with the “SuperYouman” ensemble cast coming into their own during the “She’s the Rage” number.
The individual style of all the performers is celebrated and JoAnn M Hunter’s choreography (Hunter also directs) also reflects different forms of dance, including more balletic sequences with the expressive Chapman as Katie’s mum, who is otherwise mute.
Four moving panels in Anna Louizos’s set work really effectively with Caite Hevner’s video projections as the various comic characters are brought to life.
There are many positives in this show, but it feels there is still some work to be done. In its next iteration, particularly if the West End is the next step in SuperYou’s journey, more focus on developing the relationships with Katie’s mum and also Jay would be welcome and help to tighten up the storytelling in act 2. Cutting back on the length of some of the songs would also be worth revisiting; the dialogue is sung through, but there are areas where this is then repeated during a song, which slows things down.
Bright, bold and with rousing and well-performed numbers, SuperYou offers a big blast of positivity—which is always welcome.