★★★

“It’s a long journey, but a highly entertaining one courtesy of the wonderful vocal performances”

There are two things that strike you about the world premiere of Chilina Kennedy’s (music and lyrics) and Eric Holmes’s (book) new musical, “Wild About You”. The first is the inescapable fact that this is a stylish production, blowing onto our shores from across the pond with the confidence and swagger to head straight for Drury Lane. Picking up half a dozen of the finest voices in musical theatre, the performances alone claim the right to make the West End its first stop.

The second is the title. With the exception of a fairly throwaway number early on in the first act, it is very hard to work out why the writers opted for “Wild About You”. Admittedly it has undergone a couple of name changes since its progression from an album recording to the stage, but they still don’t seem to have labelled this show correctly. Perhaps when the concept is more finely honed, and trimmed a little, they’ll find it. The musical is a bit of a chimera, its personality split down the middle with each side of interval exposing its own idiosyncrasies and influences.

At the centre of the story is Olivia, beautifully played by Rachel Tucker, who inexplicably wakes up in hospital with gaping holes in her memory. Aided by the duty nurse, Shae (a gorgeously camp and comedic performance from Todrick Hall), she embarks on the task of piecing together a messy past as her memories slowly gather shape. The more she tries to find herself, the more she discovers that that is pretty much what she’s been doing all her life. The flaws in her character echo the flaws in her story, and we therefore find it difficult to empathise with the self-obsession that afflicts her. As her tangled love life ricochets between husband Michael (Eric McCormack), artist Thomas (Oliver Tompsett) and on-off lover Jessica (Tori Allen-Martin), our sympathies diminish with each rebound.

The second act becomes a different show entirely following a twist that is as inexplainable as Olivia’s initial amnesia. Her memories are re-traced from the others’ perspectives and her son Billy (Jamie Muscato), now eighteen, turns the story on its head. ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ meets ‘A Matter of Life and Death’ meats ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ meets ‘A Christmas Carol’ meets ‘Before I Go to Sleep’. A touch too quirky for its own good, the matted storylines are eventually smoothed out into its glossy, if a little sentimental, finale.

It’s a long journey, but a highly entertaining one courtesy of the wonderful vocal performances, backed by musical director Nick Barstow’s ten-piece band. Justin Williams’ sleek and stylised set frames the piece with an intimacy that cleverly belies the vast space; mirrored by Nick Winston’s ‘up-close and personal’ staging. Kennedy’s musical score wears it’s influences openly with its fine balance of belters and ballads. The dynamics are occasionally at odds with the narrative, particularly the impressive opening number into which Tucker pours her heart and soul. Maybe it needs to start smaller, allowing itself to grow naturally. Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a grand opening but similarly we wonder where it can go from here.

The show seems to have skipped a few steps in its evolution. Its success now lies in its shrinking and fine tuning before we can really get wild about it.

DEATH NOTE – THE MUSICAL IN CONCERT at the London Palladium

★★★★

“When the ensemble cast sing together the effect is mesmerising”

It is twenty years since “Death Note” stormed into the public consciousness, originally serialised in weekly instalments in Shõnen Jump, Japan’s most popular and iconic Manga magazine. I have to confess that this global phenomenon passed me by, but I humbly accept being in a minority bracket, judging by the crowds dressed in unconcealed enthusiasm at the London Palladium. The story was originally a bit of a risk for its publishers, straying from the tried-and-tested formula of intense action catering to an audience of mainly adolescent males. But it worked, and having been adapted into various media, including a US produced Netflix film, video and card-trading games and various sequels, the musical adaptation is the next obvious step.

Composer Frank Wildhorn shared my ignorance (I prefer innocence) of the Manga world when asked to turn it into a musical, but you’d never think it. Spurred on by his son who urged him to “drop everything and do this – because it will make you cool”, Wildhorn immersed himself in the source material. The end product is a score that redefines the word ‘cool’. A combination of electronica rock with an orchestral strength; it is both triumphant but also a lamentation. Bombastic but never overpowering, it reflects the atmospheric setting with a dark energy. Despite the subtle Japanese influences (perhaps too subtle), the production has the overall feel of an American rock concept album.

The concept of “Death Note” is fantastical, yet serious. High-school prodigy Light Yagami (Joaquin Pedro Valdes) is dismayed by the failures of the justice system. Meanwhile, two ‘Shinigami’ – gods of death from an otherworldly, unspecified dimension – watch over and decide, for fun, to drop the eponymous ‘death note’ into the human world. Light is the one who picks it up, thereby being granted the supernatural power to kill anyone whose name he writes in the pages of the book. Far from being horrified at the prospect, he immediately grasps the opportunity to use it to wipe out anyone he deems immoral. The aim is to create a crime-free society. From this very dubious precedent, what ensues is a cat-and-mouse psychological thriller that explores the quite weighty subject of justice and vigilantism. Light’s self-belief blinds him, and his acolytes, to the supposition that isn’t he just as murderous as his victims? “Death Note” shies away from instructing us which way to think, though the Shakespearian ending gives a couple of nudges.

Being unfamiliar with the ‘Manga’ genre and its iconography and terminology is not necessarily a bar to the intricacies of the plot, although the second act requires you to be slightly more on your toes. The characters are well formed, even if occupying the same two dimensions of the original animation. Billed as a musical in concert, the dialogue is subsequently sparse, with Jack Murphy’s lyrics guiding us through the narrative. Jason Howland’s sumptuous orchestration is given full justice by Musical Director Chris Ma’s sixteen-piece band. It is a sonic binge, yet the vocal performances cut through with a clarity that displays the talent within the cast. When the ensemble cast sing together the effect is mesmerising, and each of the seven lead cast members has their moment to shine. Francis Mayli McCann, as Misa – the rock superstar in awe of Light’s misplaced taste for vengeance, has strength and versatility matched by pretty much everyone else. The richness of Adam Pascal’s Ryuk (the spirit – Shinigami – who sets it all in motion by dropping the death note into the world) is complemented beautifully by Aimie Atkinson’s Rem – the other Shinigami. Atkinson’s and McCann’s duet that opens Act Two is a moment that lingers long after curtain call.

Dean John Wilson, as Light’s nemesis – the enigmatic detective known simply as L, has the richest pickings of the dialogue, conveying some of the humour and dynamism that is lacking in the show. One presumes Ivan Menchell’s book has been cut back for the concert version. The full text would allow for more light and shade, and the implicit humour and pathos would be given a longer rein. There is a noticeable emotional detachment, and consequently there is nobody we are rooting for.

But for pure musical rapture and spectacle, this show is second to none. Every pitch perfect note resonates through the vast auditorium of the Palladium. It is monumental and memorable; but also sold out. I wouldn’t leave it long, though, to book for its transfer to the Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue in September. Although something tells me that “Death Note” is in for a long life.

Tag Archives: Nick Winston

WILD ABOUT YOU

★★★

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

WILD ABOUT YOU at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

★★★

“It’s a long journey, but a highly entertaining one courtesy of the wonderful vocal performances”

WILD ABOUT YOU at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Reviewed on 25th March 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Mark Senior

Previously reviewed at this venue:

HANDEL’S MESSIAH: THE LIVE EXPERIENCE | ★★★ | December 2022

WILD ABOUT YOU

WILD ABOUT YOU

Click here to see our Recommended Shows page

Death Note – The Musical in Concert

★★★★

London Palladium

DEATH NOTE – THE MUSICAL IN CONCERT at the London Palladium

★★★★

“When the ensemble cast sing together the effect is mesmerising”