Death Note Musical Earns Praise at London Barbican
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- Death Note: The Musical is staging at London's Barbican, drawing audiences in elaborate cosplay that reflects the source material's 2003 Japanese manga origins.
- Adapters Frank Wildhorn (music), Jack Murphy (lyrics), and Ivan Menchell (book) condensed the manga's convoluted plot into a three-principal story centered on Light, L, and Misa.
- Xander Pang as Light, Colin Ryan as L, and Stephanie Zaharis as Misa deliver "grade-A gusto" performances, with Telly Leung as the apple-munching Ryuk and Grace Mouat as the goth-bride lookalike Rem providing "top-notch support."
- The Barbican run is the musical's second London appearance, following a 2023 stint at the Palladium and Lyric.
- Production elements include forced-perspective sets, flashy back projections, sliding stage components, and an "excellent throughout" supporting dance company that anchors a floodlit opening scene.
- The reviewer characterizes the show as a "smart, metaphysical whodunnit" with a power-ballad score that strips the original manga's teen-boy trappings.
Why it matters: The Barbican run gives theater producers a signal that manga-to-stage adaptations can sustain extended runs beyond niche venues, as Death Note returns to London after a brief 2023 debut. The musical succeeds by trading convoluted manga plotlines for a metaphysical whodunnit anchored by a power-ballad score that cranks up the emotional intensity.
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