Death Note in concert - London Palladium / Lyric Theatre

[solangelafitte]

I had to do that when I booked Six through them a few months ago. Believe it's a hold over from when things were up in the air with covid cancellations. They had the tickets emailed to me within a minute or two of confirming anyway.

[kz]

Thanks solangelafitte. I've checked in and the tickets came through almost instantly. I just hadn't come across it before but was sure someone on here would know!

[kz]

Just back from seeing this tonight. It's far from perfect but we had a great night. I didn't know the source material at all and there was a lot of plot to fit into the reasonably short running time. As such, there was really no real exploration or explanation, the show just flew from one key event to the next. There were moments where you really just had to accept that someone had figured something out/fallen in love without any kind of build up. Oh and then suddenly we're playing tennis... However, as a show, it owns this and didn't take itself seriously at all so it got away with it.

Some really lovely performances, from the two male leads in particular. I also really enjoyed George Maguire's Ryik (I could see him as Beetlejuice potentially). The score was great too and one I'll probably listen to more over the next few weeks.

As others have said, this really didn't feel like a concert and was fully staged and choreographed. They seemed to have sorted the sound for the change of venue (at least from where I was sitting). Lots of fans in the audience and a strong reception at the end.

[theatre22]

I saw the matinee today and enjoyed it. There were some sound issues though. It was difficult to hear the group numbers and for some solo songs there were quite often issues with the mics - mainly not being on when the singing started.

[kz]

theatre22 Oh, that's interesting. I wonder if there were any changes between shows or if it was maybe where I was sitting. I was pretty much beside the sound desk and there was quite a lot of radio activity to and from it (very slightly distracting) so could still be a work in progress. I did clock one missed mic cue and one lighting moment. The group numbers definitely focused on amplifying the solo lines. So maybe not completely sorted, as I'd said before, but a huge amount better than I'd anticipated based on reports from the Palladium. I hope it continues to improve for the shows this weekend.

[darreno]

Caught this on Thursday evening and really enjoyed it. Completely unfamiliar with the source material other than a basic notion of what happened somewhere in my brain.

Agree with everyone above that this is much closer to fully staged than a concert performance.

Audience were, as you'd expect, young and enthusiastic for it, which really helps any show.

Have never seen Dean John-Wilson before but he was excellent. I feel he did as much as he possibly could with a character that probably works much better with time to develop that isn't available in a musical like this. Aimie Atkinson is just an incredible voice, perfect every time, a real professional.

Shout out to Patrick Munday who is in absolutely everything I go to see, truly committed performer and starting to be a mark of quality for any production.

Finally, Rachel Clare Chan was outstanding in a small part that needed to be played well to tie up some aspects of the story.

Overall I really enjoyed it and would see it again, especially if they did a fully staged short run. If even just to see how much more staged it could get! Some small sound problems but worth a mention by way of balance that the lighting in this was excellent.

[nick91]

I was looking forward to seeing this show since I'd been listening to the album for quite some time and I must say it is really good. The music is on top (in my opinion best Wildhorn's piece), the staging is perfect for a concert version and the cast is brilliant. If Joaquin Pedro Valdes, George Maguire and Aimee Atkinson are 10/10, then Dean John-Wilson must be 12/10. I've never seen him before but OMG this guy is a freaking genius. Every note, every word, every move, every facial expression brought to perfection. Even if every other aspect of the show was terrible, he would make it absolutely worth watching. The only trouble with this show is that it's too short for what should be included. A lot is happening in the story and there needs to be much more space for the characters to develop and for the audience to understand their feelings and motives. I hope it gets better in a fully staged version (hopefully there will be more dialogues and spaces to understand why is something happening and why are the characters behaving the way they are).

[Matt]

The producers are looking to do another run this year/early next year in London.

[westendboy]

Jun 28, 2024 20:12:10 GMT Matt said:

The producers are looking to do another run this year/early next year in London.

Any idea if it will be another concert, or a full-scale production?

[blamerobots]

The concert was already pretty staged. It'll probably be an expanded version of that set.

Also yes, the predominant rumour for the past year was that the reason the cast recording release has been delayed was because they had a proper London run planned.