Edinburgh Fringe 2024
Musical comedy “Pretty Delusional” hits with Gen-Z
Gianna Milici
Genre: Theatre
Venue: The Space Triplex
Festival: Edinburgh Fringe
Low Down
Gianna Milici’s Pretty Delusional is a musical comedy that explores being a hopeless romantic in a digital world of casual hookup culture. Gianna fearlessly expands in this musical, using simple elements of clown to explore her early impressions of love/relationships, while breaking out into song. This musical variety show is an absolute riot leaving you wanting to dance with your friends, love yourself, and ofcourse with newfound confidence that you are “hotter than Beyoncé!”
Review
Gianna Milici’s Pretty Delusional is a musical comedy that explores being a hopeless romantic in a digital world of casual hookup culture. Gianna fearlessly expands in this musical, using simple elements of clown to explore her early impressions of love/relationships, while breaking out into song. This musical variety show is an absolute riot leaving you wanting to dance with your friends, love yourself, and ofcourse with newfound confidence that you are “hotter than Beyoncé!”
Gianna seamlessly moved through storytelling and song, with the support of pop backtracks setting the tone for each scene (music by Shelbie Rassler). Performing the show in an intimate, in-the-round space allowed audiences to be immediately drawn into Gianna’s explosive energy- sighing along with her pitfalls in love and cheering, and even singing along with her triumphs!
While it is easy to fall into self-deprecation, Gianna embodies a difference of character between her/ and her younger self; allowing the audience to laugh together at even the most awkward past romances, without shame or discomfort.
Standouts of this piece included the song “Top the Bottom of your World” where Gianna is in her highly theatrical ‘villain era’ enacting her revenge on a past situationship. Afterward, she notes the revenge was all her in her head; revealing the inherent problem with making up stories about lovers that are not #trululu. Another strong moment was a ballet dance a-la Oklahoma of Gianna in a classic post-hookup dilemma. The story concludes with a message that having hope in love is not inherently bad or “delusional;” we must love ourselves and keep believing good things are possible to live happier lives.
If you are Gen-Z and struggling to find love – this is THE SHOW for you. In an era of Chappell and #bratsummer, Gianna transforms into a pop icon with familiar references as specific as Troy Bolton playing basketball in High School Musical to let you into her world of “delulu” crushes and icon romanticism. The joy in this piece is explosive! I highly recommend you see this show, if you want to have a fabulous time at the fringe (and a new Spotify song to sing to in the shower #hotterthanbeyoncé).
