Your Lie in April. Music by Frank Wildhorn. Book by Rinne B Groff. Lyrics by Carly Robyn Green & Tracey Miller. Based on the Manga by Naoshi Arakana. The Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton Street, London SW1Y to 21 September 2024.

3✩✩✩ Review: William Russell.

“For Manga and high school musical fans.”

This lush musical by Frank Wildhorn opened to a veritable milky way of four and five star reviews a couple of weeks back. I missed the press night because of a cold so when the chance to see the first Sunday night COS performance was staged – fans of Manga comics are invited to come dressed as their favourite characters – and although the leads,who got glowing notices, were not performing, I leapt at it. The understudies ,who went on instead, rose to the occasion. This is the second Manga comic Wildhorn has turned into a musical and while it is tuneful enough it is nowhere as good as Death Note, the previous one. It is really just another American high school musical and suffers from an appallingly cramped set which even if there is a lot of orange blossom about just looks tacky in the rather run down auditorium of the Harold Pinter, a theatre desperately in need of a face lift. Kosei, a young pianist suffering some sort of tinkling the ivories block, is asked by fellow schoolmate Kadri, who plays the violin, and is suffering from some malady that is never quite explained, to join her in a performance. His problem seems to be that his mother was very strict when he was a child. Their friends are Ryota, a jock who thinks he is God’s gift to girls, and Tsubaki, who loves Kosei. It is either heart warming and wonderful or just one more trip to a Japanese themed Rydale High. Wildhor has come up with some decent power ballads, the ensemble is drilled to perfection, and apparently Zheng Ki Yong, who plays Kosei, does perform on the grand piano plonked centre stage on a small revolve, although JoJO Meredith apparently just mimes when required. It is one of those if you like this sort of thing shows that you will like and if Manga comics are your thing too that helps. The lyrics are frightful, but maybe it all sounded better in Japanese. Your Lie in April did reduce some strong men and women to tears judging by those star studded reviews it received. Not everyone, however, was reduced to tears and there was at least one two star noticeI did not weep but neither did I sleep.

Cast

Rachel Clare Chan – Tsubaki.

Dean John-Wilson – Ryota.

Lucy Park – Mother.

Christ Fung, Eu Jin Hwang, Gracie Lai, Imogen Law Hing Choy, Daniel Nardone, Ericka Posadas, Ernest Stroud, Ria Tanaka, Kevin Tristan – Ensemble or Covers.

Mairi Ikegami – Kaori.

Jojo Meredith – Kosei.

Timothy Jian Soon, Eion Mcloughney, Theo Oh – Young Kosei.

Creatives

Director & Choreographer - Nick Winston.

Musical Director – Chris Poon.

Set Designer – Justin Williams.

Costume Designer – Kimie Nakano.

Sound Designers – Adam Fisher & Rob Bettle.

Lighting Designer – Rory Beaton.

Video Designer – Dan Light.