Death Note the Musical in Concert. The London Palladium 21 August, 2023 and then the Lyric, Shaftesbury Avenue for three more performances.

5*****: William Russell.

Frank Wildhorn’s score for this rock opera based on the Manga comic stories is absolutely enthralling, packed with rousing arias which are belted out – with a little help from the sound designers – but a first rate cast. If Manga is not your world then it is all a little confusing to say the least, although basically it is all about the good guys and the bad guys – nothing that a plot synopsis in the programme would not solve. It has been a huge hit in Korea and Japan and this concert version is essentially a testing of the West End waters. It should plunge in, although maybe with a rather better set – the cast get to perform on some random arrangement of steps and what looks like odds and end collected from the nearest skip. It may be the world of Manga but it could look better and director Nick Winston, even for a concert version, really should have looked at his venue’s sight lines – at least a third of the stage was invisible to a third of the audience depending on which site of the theatre one was placed. Not that this deterred the first night audience which patently consisted on Manga devotees who prepared to cheer anything that moved and apparently bought out all the merchandise by the interval. The show does deserve a future, Ivan Menchell’s book has some interesting things to say about the morals of the Manga world and right and wrong, and the lyrics by Jack Murphy – when they can be made out, and in rock operas words seldom are – prove serviceable. Although in the end it boils down to Wildhorn’s brilliant score the performances of the leads do rise to all the demands made on them particularly Adam Pascal as Ryuk, the owner of the notebook in which if a name is written the person dies, who gets to run round dressed in a black gown with black cock feathers round his neck. If this is the production that wowed them in Korea and Japan one has to wonder at alien tastes but there is no getting away from the evening is one full of really great songs well sung.

Cast

Jessica Lee – Misa

Ligjht – Joaquin Pedro Valdez

Ryuk (Palladium) Adam Pascal

Soichiro – Christian Rey Marbella

L – Dean John Wilson

Ryuk (Lyric) George Maguire

Sayu – Rachel Clare Chan

Alternate L – Carl Man

Rem – Aimie Atkinson

Misa (Palladium) – Frances Mayli McCann.

Ensemble – Felipe BeJarno; Boaz Chad; Jade Copas; Charlotte Coggin; Eu Jin Hwang; Yojiro Ichikawa; Deena Kapada; David Kar-Hing Lee; Nick Len; Jasmine Leung; Marcel Li-Ping; JoJo Meredith; Patrick Munday; Janne Somcio.

Creatives

Director & Choreographer – Nick Winston

Set Designer – Justin Williams

Musical Supoervisor – Katy Richardson

Sound Designer – Ben Harrison

Lighting Designer – Ben Cracknell

Costume Designer – Kimie Nakano

Musical Director – Chris Ma

Production Photograph – Mark Senior.