More about: BlurRobbie Williams

Robbie Williams and Blur bassist Alex James are just some of big names in pop who are being satirised in the new comedy musical, Rehab: The Musical, which runs at the Union Theatre in Southwark, south London from September 20 until September 23 – and the show’s writers have admitted that lawyers have cast their litigious eyes over the script.

Written by Grant Black and Murray Lachlan Young, the musical – which claims to be nothing like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show – tells the story of the fictional Kid Pop, a 90s superstar who is “reluctantly consigned by the authorities to The Glade, a rehab centre for cross-dressing room mates, tanning addicts, group therapy and terrible food.”

With songs such as ‘Wanker’ (“My credit card is platinum my cock is solid gold”) and ‘Simply Everyone’s Taking Cocaine’ (“I’ve been having it blown up the old Khyber pass”), it comes as no surprise that lawyers have been paying attention.

“We’ve had a couple of warning shots across the bows, so we’re taking advice from our lawyer,” Murray Lachlan Young told iNews. “We don’t want to have to take too much out. It’s an edgy musical and if people can’t see the humour they should go and see Matilda instead.”

Speaking of the people who inspired the musical, Young said: “Robbie would probably laugh his head off at it. Alex James has broad shoulders and enough cheese to keep him going.”

Young added that the musical is far from being mean spirited.

He said: “Addiction is a real issue and it has wrecked people’s lives. But I know people who can laugh at their actions when they were at their lowest ebb.”

He added: “We have to find satire in life where we can and not take things too seriously all the time. This is a story about hope and the idea that people are able to change their lives.”

More about: BlurRobbie Williams