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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Arifa Akbar

Here Comes J Edgar! A Musical Comedy review – show tunes, Mel Brooks zing and real human anguish

Bryan Batt in a pinstriped suit performs centre stage with arms outstretched, flanked by ensemble in dark coats
Exuberant … Bryan Batt as Hoover in Here Comes J Edgar! A Comedy Musical. Photograph: Mark Douet

This queering of FBI history does not seem like the stuff of fringe theatre. Created by American comedy royalty – Harry Shearer, a long-time cast member of The Simpsons, pens the book and lyrics with Tom Leopold, of Cheers and Seinfeld writing fame – the music is by the late Peter Matz, known for his work with Barbra Streisand. Alongside those commercial chops, Mad Men actor Bryan Batt plays the lead. It is even more curious that, as a very American story about the life and times of the eponymous first director of the bureau, it premieres in Britain.

It has been decades in the making too (beginning life on radio in the 1990s). How has it ended up here?

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