New musical from Harry Shearer and Tom Leopold

He voices Waylon Smithers and Montgomery Burns in The Simpsons, so Harry Shearer knows a thing or two about a secret longing between a humble assistant and his powerful boss.

But making FBI director J Edgar Hoover’s closeted homosexuality almost the entire focus of Here Comes J Edgar! flattens out a complicated character – and, more crucially, removes much dramatic impetus in favour of repetitive gay jokes with diminishing returns.

The first half, especially, is rife with double entendres, references to Hoover’s penchant for muscle magazines ‘for the articles’ or a secretary bursting in on him and his ‘lifetime assistant’ Clyde Tolson getting intimate. This show, co-created by Seinfeld and Cheers writer Tom Leopold, was first conceived as a radio project with Kelsey Grammer and John Goodman in 1994, and its sensibilities sometimes feel their age.

We watch as our anti-hero rises effortlessly to become America’s top crimefighter, harnessing the growing business of publicity to burnish his tough-guy reputation as he becomes increasingly despotic. That such a divisive figure is at the centre of a joyful carnival of musical theatre is the show’s main gag.

The biography is told in flashback as a dying Hoover’s life flashes before his eyes, which might excuse the lack of psychological insight and failure to drill into too many details, especially the most tyrannical and corrupt aspects of his immorality. 

But Hoover’s rank hypocrisy in using his sizeable resources to target and harass other gay Americans seems too crucial to be reduced to a passing comment. And it would mean that mocking his reputed trans tendencies would have more of a satirical point than inviting the audience to laugh at the sight of a burly man in a frock.

Hoover’s role in bringing down gangsters such as John Dillinger is told through light sketches, as is his shady association with organised crime, epitomised here through the fictional Tony Clownpants, a caricature with more than a hint of Fat Tony. Sorry to make another Simpsons reference, but this show has cartoonish sensibilities throughout, and is often redolent of the spoof musicals that sometimes feature in Matt Groening’s animation. But running at two hours plus interval, a joke expanded way out of hand.

All that said, there’s plenty of fun to be had in the set pieces, which bring full-on Broadway razzle-dazzle to an intimate fringe theatre. High production values, including a live band and tightly choreographed numbers, all help sprinkle stardust on Hoover’s rotten reputation, while the verve of the lively, talented cast is infectious.

Bryan Batt, who played the also-closeted Salvatore Romano in Mad Men, is commanding in the title role, striking a fine balance between flimsy machismo and the requisite musical theatre camp.

As Tolson, Hugo Bolton is very effective with his pouty passive-aggression, especially about his lover putting his job over their relationship. As with other characters, the disappointment is that the plot doesn’t serve him especially well, his leaving Hoover and subsequent rapprochement feeling very perfunctory.

There are a number of other stand-out moments, prime among them Laura Medforth, above, as Hoover’s buttoned-down secretary allowed to discard her primness in a moment of lusty cabaret. And seeing four of the presidents Hoover served under sing a close-harmony number about how they all should have reined him in, below, is certainly memorable. 

The glitziest showtunes from late Barbra Streisand collaborator Peter Matz carry all the camp you could want, although some of the slower numbers are more plodding, possibly down to the characters’ lack of emotional depth.

And yes, there are some good gags, if not quite enough to go around, plus some amusingly absurd sidelines that range from the brilliant – a god-like voice in a toilet cubicle – to the indecipherable – a Romanian brothel madam who sings a paean to Indiana. But a few more oddities might have been welcome to shake things up. Meanwhile, in-jokes about stars of the day such as Vilma Banky, Randolph Scott and John Garfield are likely to sail over the heads of all but the most dedicated fans of Hollywood’s golden era.

While there are moments of great fun, Here Comes J Edgar! is less than the sum of its flamboyant parts because of the superficiality. Thirty-two years after that radio recording, and it still feels like a work in progress.

• Here Comes J Edgar! plays at the King's Head Theatre until August 16. All images © Mark Douet

Review date: 17 Jul 2026
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Kings Head Theatre