50 FIRST DATES: THE MUSICAL

The Other Palace

★★★★★

“The magnetic cast shimmers with soul and skill”

I’ll be honest: when ‘50 First Dates: The Musical’ was announced, I feared a carbon copy of the problematic 2004 film, ‘50 First Dates’. But like Henry, I’m glad I stuck around. The stage version is surprisingly fresh, bursting with heart, charm and pain. Forget 50: one date’s all it takes to fall for this musical!

‘Perfect Day’ travel blogger, Henry Roth, has it all – influencer status, an ambitious agent, success with the ladies. The world’s at his feet, even though he’s outrunning his past. During a pitstop in Key Largo, Florida, Henry meets Lucy, the town’s sweetheart. Suddenly he sees a reason to stay. But one perfect day isn’t enough when Lucy forgets everything by morning. Can love overcome memory loss? Or is one day all they’ll get?

With a hilarious book, music and lyrics by David Rossmer and Steve Rosen, ‘50 First Dates: The Musical’ removes and/or softens the film’s more controversial elements, landing in 2025 with depth and compassion. Henry is much less creepy, no longer deceiving though still disappearing; Lucy’s hopes and dreams are central rather than shoehorned in; Lucy has more agency, even though the men still steer the ship; racist portrayals are gone. The intrinsically flawed, overly romanticised medical premise remains, but the whole resonates much more deeply, heightened by the writers’ sensitive portrayal of pain: for all the sunshine and silliness, both script and score are imbued with quiet tragedy. The result is a breathtaking gut-punch of beauty and sorrow – an entire town forever changed by Lucy’s accident.

The score is hauntingly beautiful. Rossmer and Rosen’s music and lyrics, with arrangements by Matthew Jackson and Richard Beadle, are filled with hope and sadness. Such poignancy is woven into harmonic progressions, key changes and chords, it demands a cast recording. And not every song is sad, with the tongue-in-cheek ‘Key Largo’ bringing showgirl swagger, and the rousing ‘Finale’ ending on a high.

Casey Nicholaw’s direction paints in multicolour strokes, capturing the full breadth of emotion with effortless flair. He expertly shapes a relatively large cast into a living, breathing portrait of connection and chemistry. The staging is well balanced despite the unusual footprint. Standing on lobster pots to create different levels is very on brand, though could be more impactful with more elevation.

Fly Davis’ ingenious set design focuses on a spinning central structure, serving as various locations with some surprisingly fast turnarounds (get it?). Wood-panelled wings frame the space, transforming every inch into a canvas for projected imagery. George Reeve’s projection design is stunning and impressively varied, shifting from photo album to tropical beach, to expressionist art and more. It’s elevated by Aideen Malone’s lighting, shifting from realism to dreamscape with precision. Davis’ costumes radiate summer energy and capture each character’s essence, especially Lucy’s dad’s transformation and her brother’s colourful choices. There are also clever costume changes, with one sequence squeezing in five outfits by my count!

The magnetic cast shimmers with soul and skill. Georgina Castle’s Lucy is its beating heart, combining breezy allure with wicked wit and gut-wrenching grief. Her powerful vocals soar through the score – fierce, flawless, and in full control. Josh St. Clair’s Henry starts out broken but blooms into a steadfast supporter, powered by commanding vocals and irresistible charm. Charlie Toland’s Doug starts out brash but finds brotherhood, stealing scenes with killer comic timing. The whole ensemble radiates love and connection, uniting us all in shared struggle and flooding the stage with their glorious voices.

‘50 First Dates: The Musical’ pulses with warmth, soul and aching beauty. A richer, wiser version, you’ll want to see it again and again!

50 FIRST DATES: THE MUSICAL

The Other Palace

Reviewed on 24th September 2025

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SAVING MOZART | ★★★★ | August 2025

THE LIGHTNING THIEF | ★★★ | March 2025

HOMO ALONE | ★★★ | December 2024

JULIE: THE MUSICAL | ★★½ | June 2024

CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE 90s MUSICAL | ★★★★ | January 2024

A VERY VERY BAD CINDERELLA | ★★★★ | December 2023

50 FIRST DATES

★★

“it remains an interesting and worthwhile history lesson”

Jenny lives with Eric and Martin was just another children’s book in 1988. It wasn’t new and wasn’t even originally British, as it had first been published in Copenhagen in 1982. So how did this book become the starting point of a campaign, which ultimately led to the inclusion of Section 28 within the Local Government Act of 1988? After the Act is an entertaining musical, which tells the story of Section 28 through the eyes of those most closely affected.

‘Section 28’ refers to a specific clause with the Local Government Act of 1988, which prohibited schools from ‘promoting’ homosexuality, the wording of which was ambiguous enough that it resulted in the restriction of teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality, particularly concerning family relationships.

It is a strange era to look back on. Views that would be considered to be politically extreme nowadays were front and centre and were actually winning the argument. An imaginary enemy had been conjured up, largely driven by ignorance and misunderstanding. After the Act explores this period of recent history from multiple vital perspectives: teachers who could not speak up for risk of jeopardising their careers, students for whom bullying and discrimination had become a part of their everyday existence and the activists who fought hard to educate people and bring about real change.

The play splits fairly evenly into two halves. In the first act, we see the build-up to the passing of the Act in 1988. The tone is set clearly early in the play. People’s concerns about gay people are not challenged, whereas protestors are dismissed as mad rabble-rousers. Two scenes stand out in the first act. The first is where protestors have made it on the news at 6 on the BBC but are being silenced (fitting for the time) to not disrupt the broadcast. The second is the re-enactment of protestors abseiling into the House of Lords following the passing of the bill. These scenes are excellently written (Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens) paying tribute to the real-life activists involved.

The second act covers the aftermath to the passing of the Act before it was eventually repealed in 2003, detailing the experiences of people who had to live through this time period and how it affected them well beyond the law had been changed. This should be the point where it all comes together. However, the biggest issue is the contradiction between its comedic elements and the hard-hitting truths that it wishes to divulge. The tone of most of the first act is strangely uplifting and funny, which is maintained through to the start of the second act, when one of the performers enters the stage dressed as Margaret Thatcher and sings as the former Prime Minister.

The individual elements of the play are interesting and well-performed, and all of the cast display an impressive range as they move from character to character bringing to life more people’s stories from this period. However, these parts often work against each other without a clear link to the central narrative, rather appearing more like a slide show of different characters.

Keyboard and drums add a lively accompaniment to the performances on stage. Sadly, the backing music and use of songs is often overdone and is too much of an ‘ever-present’ during the show rather peaking for significant moments, which does make it a little tiring, giving the show an impression of ‘more bark than bite’. Overall, despite its flaws as a production, it remains an interesting and worthwhile history lesson, which deserves to be taught.

50 FIRST DATES: THE MUSICAL

The Other Palace

★★★★★

“The magnetic cast shimmers with soul and skill”

50 FIRST DATES: THE MUSICAL

The Other Palace

Reviewed on 24th September 2025

by Hannah Bothelton

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

50 FIRST DATES

50 FIRST DATES

50 FIRST DATES

AFTER THE ACT

Royal Court

★★

“it remains an interesting and worthwhile history lesson”

AFTER THE ACT

Royal Court

Reviewed on 27th May 2025

by Luke Goscomb

Photography by Alex Brenner

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

AFTER THE ACT

AFTER THE ACT

AFTER THE ACT

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