American Psycho: The Musical at Chapel Off Chapel
6 September 2025 in Melbourne, preceded by other activities.
It was a special outing for our 11th wedding anniversary and rare foray into the inner south. The day began with coffee and self-administered anniversary tarot readings at Nan's Bakehouse (the local home of good vibes) before the train trip in and down.
This day also coincided with the divorce round (AFLW edition), surely an auspicious timing. We had a table booked at the Prahran Hotel, plonked ourselves in front of the telly and enjoyed a lively and satisfying game. It was the Blues' day in the end, and deservedly so.
Chapel Off Chapel was buzzing when we got there. People were lining up to have their photos taken wearing blood-splattered raincoats and holding prop axes. It would've made a good foreshadowing scene for a slasher movie.
The crowd was a fun mix of flamboyant theatre kids, Patrick Bateman cosplayers and suburban goth weirdos. I'm not sure what we were, although I was wearing my bloody knives earrings. And we all filed into the venue and took our seats.
The show was great. They managed to capture the bleak alienation of the story while periodically breaking into song and dance. The actor playing Bateman was perfect, the whole cast great (especially the vocal performances), and excellent lighting and set design.
This was also my preferred type of musical, which is one where the story is primarily told through dialogue, with songs interspersed. I like this better than play-through or (solely) jukebox musicals. This being American Psycho, of course it was necessary to drop in some Phil Collins and Huey Lewis (and the News), but doing so made sense and most of the songs were still originals.
On the way out, well, it is clear that Chapel Street is really not for me. We failed to find a quiet place to debrief over a cocktail—everywhere was either a club or closed. Instead we headed back to our end of town for a nightcap.
