‘Like Evita on acid’ – it’s Berlusconi the musical

A musical about former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will open in London next month, telling the story of how he became the first of a new breed of politician, blazing a trail for the likes of Donald Trump.

Berlusconi the musical gives the tax-dodging, showgirl-loving, party-throwing media mogul credit as the man who showed not only Trump but also Boris Johnson and Jair Bolsonaro how to win elections by behaving badly.

‘‘The nuclear levels of dishonesty, the media manipulation, the misogyny ... all their traits come from the playbook written by Berlusconi years earlier,’’ said Ricky Simmonds, a former child star of long-running BBC school drama Grange Hill, who co-wrote the musical.

Simmonds and fellow Grange Hill actor turned TV producer Simon Vaughan created the musical with Francesca Moody, who produced the theatrical version of the TV series Fleabag.

‘‘We think of Evita as a political musical, and Berlusconi is that if you have taken a tab of acid,’’ Moody said.

Berlusconi’s biography reads uncannily like a trial run for his imitators.

A construction and TV tycoon elected prime minister three times, he partied as Italy’s debt soared in the first decade of the 21st century, and gave a knowing wink to tax dodgers while claiming: ‘‘I am the Jesus Christ of politics.’’

His wife left him over his relationship with an 18-year-old girl, and he was forced to resign in 2011 as Italy risked financial meltdown. A conviction for tax fraud followed, before details emerged of his ‘‘bunga bunga’’ parties with an underage dancer known as Ruby the Heartstealer. His repeated scandals and gaffes failed to deter his right-wing supporters, however.

Berlusconi, 86, still leads his Forza Italia party, a partner in Italy’s ruling coalition.