AD | tickets gifted in exchange of an honest review
Figaro: An Original Musical, What can I say? The potential for this musical unfortunately hasn't yet been reached. Despite the show having an amazing cast with the songs beautifully sung, it feels like the material on the other hand unfortunately falls flat.
Figaro follows Sienna who dreams to sing, but is imprisoned on her fathers farm, but when two orphans come into her life, Sienna gets thrown into a world of a travelling performer, and meets Figaro, who will make her dreams come true, but with a price.
Jon Robyns, who plays the villain, Figaro, gave an almost humourous portrayal, with a mix and blend of the Phantom of the Opera, The Greatest Showman and Moulin Rouge, which with Robyns vocals sounds great vocals, but the songs and script lacked with not really having any real character development, which provided Robyns performance to be somewhat forgettable,
The lead, country-girl Sienna, is played by Cayleigh Capaldi, and despite the shows weak storyline, Capaldi's incredible voice is one of the evening's redeeming features. Unfortunately, Sienna's character doesn't have much depth, making it hard the performance to fully shine.
I do have to mention Cian Eagle-Service and Sophia Goodman, who delivered a charming performance and their performances had a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Matilda style. For me, personally, this felt slightly out of character for what I felt is meant to be quite a haunting story. However, their vocal and acting performances are exquisite, showing that they are stars to watch in the future.
The supporting cast, including Aimee Atkinson, Ava Brennan, and Daniel Brocklebank, all bring a certain level of melodrama to the show. While their vocals are undeniably strong, but the overall tone of the production feels more like a mix up than a musical.
Ashley Jana and Will Nunziata's book felt shallow, with having cliched dialogue and songs containing basic lyrics that didn't fulfil the scale of the show or achieve the expectation. The book by Jana and Nunziata, and also music by Jana doesn’t offer much to remember. The show’s numbers failed to leave a lasting impression, shifting from ballads to anthems, with a heavy and distracting bass line. Although the material doesn't hit in the right places, and isn't there right now, what does hit is the collective performances / vocals of the cast throughout the show.
Figaro: An Original Musical has had a significant amount of money and effort which has clearly been put into staging this production at London’s iconic Palladium, but the writing doesn't hit the expectation of the show. Figaro: An Original Musical showcases incredible vocal talent, but the songs and story simply aren’t up to the same standard.
★★
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