In its overdue Melbourne premiere season, pitch black satire American Psycho delivers a heady blend of shocking thrills and perverse comedy in this confidently staged, wickedly heightened production. 

First staged off-West End in 2013, where the season sold out before opening night, the stage version of American Psycho finds a surprisingly strong fit in the world of musical theatre, with Patrick Bateman’s first person narration facilitating a firm bond of complicity with the audience. Bateman progressively spirals into a fantastical inner world, which ends a ready home in the theatrical artifice of the musical.

Book writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacara faithfully adapts American Psycho from the controversial 1991 Bret Easton Ellis novel and the iconic 2000 film. So widely known is the character of handsome, highly sexualised serial killer Patrick Bateman that the work benefits from the audience’s cultural awareness of his exploits. Indeed, some opening night audience members arrived dressed in blood spattered costume. 

While American Psycho has a full set of original music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik, a handful of 1980s hits from the movie are interspersed in the score, adding significantly to the recreation of the decadence of the 1980s. 

The debut production from newly formed company See You Sunday, American Psycho benefits from the well honed skills and broad experience of producers Mark Taylor and Aaron Robuck. Attracting a dedicated, highly talented team of creatives and performers, Taylor and Robuck have crafted a brightly polished staging filled with electric performances. 

As director, Taylor imbues the work with a deliciously exaggerated decadence. The excesses of the 1980s were more than the physical manifestation of goods, they extended to the avaricious, boastful attitudes of consumers to possessions and stature. In a work filled with shocks of violence, the outdated morals of the time are equally shocking and Taylor thankfully does not seek to soften their impact for a modern audience. Each character speaks and acts in a non-naturalistic, deliberately affected style, conveying a frantic world where every person has a little bit of “psycho” in them. 

Choreographer Sophie Loughran runs with this heightened style, creating a crisp, muscular dance vocabulary that chiefly focuses upon people wanting and expecting to be seen. Also serving as assistant director, Loughran works closely with Taylor to blur the lines between acting and stylised movement, particularly in the more violent sequences. Loughran is well served by a full company of eleven triple threat performers who perform her witty, dazzling choreography with the skill it deserves.

Musical director Aaron Robuck impressively performs dual roles, moving deftly between musical duties and playing the role of awkward closet case Luis. Pop harmonies are at a premium, with a particular highlight being the tight a cappella rendition of Phil Collins hit “In The Air Tonight.” Sound designer Marcello Lo Ricco once again delivers clarion immersive sound with vocal lines clearly highlighted against the instrumental tracks. 

Working in tight collaboration, set designer Harry Gill and lighting designer Sidney Younger make fabulous use of the tight Chapel off Chapel space. Clean white beams are lined with high tech lighting strips that instantly reflect mood with vibrant colour. Also featuring window panes of translucent glass, the single set represents a range of scenes, each achieved with simple positioning of furniture in an uninterrupted cinematic flow. 

Costume designer Jessamine Moffett pays loving homage to outlandish 1980s fashions, delivering the crisp lines of Patrick’s fetishistic focus on designer wear, along with garish taffeta gowns and pitch perfect gym wear. Moffett’s eye for outsized style is an ideal complement for Taylor’s larger than life direction, creating the ideal palette for the bold performances.

Conor Beaumont inhabits the role of Patrick Bateman with sharp precision. The intimate performing space allows a strong bond to be forged between performer and audience. Beaumont quickly and skilfully establishes this bond, compelling the audience to follow Bateman on his wild ride. Beaumont deftly straddles the line between reality and fantasy, flicking between the two as he clearly demonstrates the masks people wear to disguise their inner life. 

Montana Sharp delights as Bateman’s devoted secretary Jean, the lone voice of sanity in the musical. Singing the role with striking vocal beauty, Sharp highlights Jean’s naive vulnerability leading to a heart-stopping sequence in act two where the sweet young woman’s life is at risk. 

Sam Ward brings a wonderfully oversized confidence to Bateman rival Paul Owen, contrasting this with the later key role of driven Detective Kimball.

Jordan Malone completely immerses herself in the role of Bateman’s perennially skittish girlfriend Evelyn WIlliams. 

Each of the highly talented ensemble members has a key featured role to play as well as other supporting cameo roles. Jake Ameduri scores laughs with the room-filling bravado of Timothy Price. Ellie Nunan has medically tranquillised Mrs Bateman on another planet. Elaina Bianchi displays terrific dance skills as Vanden and other roles. 

Along with Robuck as a wonderfully delusional Luis, the ensemble is rounded out by the invaluable work of Carla Venezia, Dan Ham, and Lauchlan Mant. 

Produced and performed to a terrifically high standard, American Psycho is modern musical theatre in peak form. Lovers of musicals and of American Psycho itself should flock to Chapel off Chapel for this all too brief season. 

Man in Chair reviewed the original London season of American Psycho (look out for ensemble cast member Jonathan Bailey in the production images).

Man in Chair reviewed the Broadway season of American Psycho.

American Psycho plays at Chapel off Chapel, Melbourne until 21 September 2025. For tickets, click here. 

Photos: Mathew Chen