THE REAL KYLE MCCARREN
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
★★★★
“a beautifully sophisticated show”
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is packed with new musicals this year, and The Real Kyle McCarren has certainly arrived with high expectations. Produced by Avalon (the same team behind Operation Mincemeat), this rock and roll musical – presented as a piece of gig theatre – has been created by a Tony and Emmy award-winning team, written and starring Jonathan Larson Grant recipient Andy Roninson as himself and indie international recording artist Sean McVerry as the titular role. Andy, who plays piano throughout the show, invites us in the opening number to “Upstate Wherever” way back in the year two-thousand-who-cares. He tells us about his best friend and bandmate, Kyle McCarren, who tragically died at the age of twenty-one. Throughout the show, we’re introduced to other people in Kyle’s life – friends, family, his definitely “ex” girlfriend Justine, and slowly we learn that the real Kyle might not be the one that Andy thought he knew.
The performers remain on stage throughout the show, sat atop high stools and moving to the microphones when singing their numbers. Whilst setup like a gig, the little touches like the ornate carpets on the floor create the cosy warmth of a person’s living room, as we’re invited in to share this story with Kyle’s friends and family. Andy tells us at the start that he can’t really sing, which seems an odd way to open a musical. But what we learn through the show is that sometimes you have stuff to express that you can’t do through spoken words alone, and music allows that.
Andy describes Kyle as an amazing guitarist and also an asshole. But others seem to remember him differently. My only uncertainty with the piece is that it sets up this underlying feeling that there’s going to be some sort of colossal twist or reveal which never really happens. Despite this, the music is compelling enough to keep you invested and, on reflection, I wonder if this is sort of the point of it anyway. Yes, Kyle’s death is a tragedy, but it’s also essentially the fault of a natural occurrence: a hurricane. In a way, the show is less about the death of one individual, but rather an exploration of the fleeting and ephemeral nature of life. It becomes less about Kyle and more about the people who knew him. As Andy tells us, when a person dies, the version of you they knew dies too. I think that’s what it’s really all about.
The songs are beautiful and I’m excited to re-listen to the soundtrack which is available online. “The Last Snow” is a particular highlight; sung by Justine (Sarah Coffey), the song very much celebrates life’s most beautiful moments and acts as a poignant reminder that we should hold on to our experiences in the moment because we’ll never know if we’ll get to experience them again. It’s a heartfelt and touching performance from Coffey. Vincent Jamal Hooper and Jaygee Macapugay who also join the cast give equally captivating performances, Macapugay’s song about the band at the funeral powerfully and elegantly capturing how a mother will fight for her child, even after death. Musically, it sits somewhere between musical theatre and an intimate singer-songwriter gig: warm piano-led melodies, gentle harmonies and arrangements that feel deliberately unshowy.
It’s a beautifully sophisticated show about the complexities of death and friendship, but told through gentle, conversational storytelling. It certainly brought a tear to my eye in moments, and I’ve already started re-listening to the songs on Spotify. Gorgeous work from all involved.
THE REAL KYLE MCCARREN
Forth at Pleasance Courtyard at Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Reviewed on 25th August 2026
by Joseph Dunitz
Photography by Natalie Powers
