White Rose The Musical - Review

Marylebone Theatre, London

**

Music by Natalie Brice

Lyrics and book by Brian Belding

Directed by Will Nunziata

The cast of White Rose

White Rose is a musical with its heart in the right place but sadly, not much else.

Based upon the real life group of Munich-based student activists who in the 1940s took a stand against Hitler’s regime, the show lacks the humbling genius of the brave young Germans who were its inspiration.

Other musicals have brilliantly tackled the ghastliness of the Third Reich, with Cabaret, The Sound of Music and The Producers (to name but three) all drawing on differing combinations of wit, irony and pathos to describe that darkest period of Europe's 20th-century history. White Rose however barely gets beyond repetitive, shallow, expositional numbers (which annoyingly, are not even listed in the programme), mostly set to jarringly forgettable rock rhythms. The impressively gifted and accomplished cast representing the best of young British musical theatre talent, are wasted on these mediocre melodies.

The show ends with the noble students singing “We will not be silenced” . If only…

Runs until 13th April

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Figaro: An Original Musical - Review

London Palladium, London

**

Music,lyrics, co-book and co-created by Ashley Jana

Directed, co-book and co-created by Will Nunziata

Jon Robyns and Cayleigh Capaldi

Much like an expensively wrapped trinket, Figaro is a show that has been lavishly cast and is beautifully sung. Unfortunately however, the words that are sung are trite and shallow, leading to an evening of wondering how on earth the likes of the gifted Jon Robyns ever signed up for this.

Robyns plays the titular villain, a Svengali-like man whose character never progresses beyond a cliched fusion of the Phantom of the Opera melded with Gypsy’s Mr Goldstone. Channelling his inner Phantom, Robyns/Figaro leads country-girl Sienna (a name repeated so often in an early number in the show that one could be mistaken for thinking they were at an Ultravox gig) to fall for his charms, and everything goes downhill from there. Equally hampered by the show’s ridiculous plot, Sienna struggles to establish herself as a credible character - her one redeeming feature however is that she is played by the sensational Cayleigh Capaldi whose voice has to be amongst the best in town.

Young Cian Eagle-Service (taking a night off from being a brilliant Oliver just down the road) partners the similarly youthful Sophia Goodman in a kiddy double-act that could almost drown in its own sugary sweetness. That being said, both Eagle-Service and Goodman are simply exquisite in their singing and in their acting through song. These kids are truly talented stars of the future.

Also on stage in supporting roles are Aimie Atkinson, Ava Brennan and Daniel Brocklebank, all adding a twist of shallow soapiness to the evening’s melodramatics but equally, all of them displaying powerful, flawless vocals.

Ashley Jana’s instantly forgettable songs (the show’s musical numbers are not even listed in the programme - always an ominous sign) lurch from ballad to anthem and back again, all underscored with an overemphatic and heavily amplified bass line.

A great deal of money and effort has clearly been spent on mounting the show on London's prestigious Palladium stage - if only similar energy had been devoted to its writing. Rarely have such awful songs been sung so amazingly.

Runs until 4th February

Photo credit: Fahad Alinizi