The idea for Fuccbois: Live In Concert, writer and performer Bridie Connell’s musical merging toxic dating culture and her passion for boy bands, stems partly from a childhood dream. “Like so many ’90s kids growing up on a diet of girl groups and boy bands, I wanted to be a pop star,” she says. “But the chances of me getting cast in an Irish boy band were very slim.
“So I thought I could make my dream come true if I write a show.” Clara Harrison, Bridie Connell, Gabbi Bolt and Megan Walsheare “the world’s biggest boy band”. Credit: Nick Moir That show, with book, lyrics and music by Connell, and a name inspired by the term f__kboys, or Fboys (a modern version of a dating player), is a real-time concert by the “world’s biggest boy band”.
Fuccbois members Brendan, Brandon, Tyler and Brendan are a swaggering foursome on the last date of a lengthy arena tour. Offering soulful expressions, slick, crotch-grabbing choreography and 12 toe-tapping original pop songs, it is also a window into the performance-like nature of Fboys’ behaviour. “I remember being at a wedding years ago and watching this man deploy almost word-for-word the exact same line on a series of different people throughout the night,” Connell says.
“I realised it was like a routine.” Her friends’ observations about similar men reinforced ideas about Fboys’ patter being like a honed performance. Connell, a long-time lover of cheesy pop, saw potential for a show.
“In a weird wa.