Olivier Award-winner George Maguire will be one of five new additions to the cast of the English language premiere of Manga musical Death Note: The Musical when the concert presentation transfers to the Lyric Theatre.
Maguire (Sunny Afternoon, Harold Pinter Theatre, The Wicker Husband, Watermill Theatre) will step into the role of the mythical god of death Ryuk, with Jessica Lee (Miss Saigon, Sheffield Crucible, Evita, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) taking over as model Misa, and Carl Man (& Juliet, Wicked, West End) joining the cast as Alternate L. Boaz Chad and Patrick Munday will join the ensemble when the production follows its three sold-out performances at the London Palladium by transferring to the Lyric Theatre to play six extra shows in September.
Presented by Carter Dixon McGill Productions, Indie Theatrical, HoriPro Inc, and Pinnacle Productions in association with Greg A. DeLuca, Sharon Azrieli and Wild Yak Productions, the concert-style production was initially due to play two performances at the Palladium on 21 and 22 August. After selling out the two shows in under eight hours a matinee show on 22 August was added. The third Palladium show sold out within five hours. The additional performances at the Lyric Theatre will run from 7-11 September.
The Lyric Theatre newcomers will join the majority of the cast from the Palladium performances – Aimie Atkinson, Rachel Clare Chan, Christian Ray Marbella, Dean John-Wilson, Joaquin Pedro Valdes and an ensemble featuring Charlotte Coggin, Jade Copas, Eu Jin Hwang, Yojiro Ichikawa, Deena Kapadia, David Kar-Hing Lee, Jasmine Leung, Jojo Meredith, Marcel Li-Ping and Janine Somcio.
Directed and choreographed by Nick Winston, the creative team for the production also includes associate director and choreographer Alex Sarmiento, costume designer Kimie Nakano, musical supervisor Katy Richardson, musical director Chris Ma, orchestrator Jason Howland, designer Justin Williams, lighting designer Ben Cracknell and sound designer Ben Harrison, with casting by Harry Blumenau and artwork by Rebecca Pitt Creative.
Based on the best-selling Manga series of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, the award-winning musical has a score by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, Bonnie & Clyde) with lyrics by Jack Murphy and a book by Ivan Menchell.
Death Note: The Musical premiered in 2015 in Tokyo, the setting for the original story of a high school student who discovers a notebook owned by Ryuk, the mythical God of Death and uses it to take justice into his own hands. A critically acclaimed 2022 Korean production was nominated for 10 Korea Musical Awards, winning four.
Commenting on the musical’s London debut, Wildhorn said: “Death Note: The Musical has been the most unique, strange, edgy and wonderful musical journey for me. It’s been a dream of mine to bring this show from Asia to the West End of London, and here we are!”
Angela Thomas
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