Review: FIGARO: AN ORIGINAL MUSICAL, London Palladium

Starting life as a concept album during the Covid pandemic, Ashley Jana and Will Nunziata's (White Rose) pop opera Figaro: An Original Musical makes its grand debut in concert format on the Palladium stage. But did it manage to win over audiences or has its spotlight dimmed just as quickly as it was lit?

The story follows Sienna who dreams of escaping her life on a farm and becoming a singer. Whisked away by two orphans to a travelling show led by the mysterious Figaro, Sienna goes on a journey of self-discovery filled with dark twists and turns as she's forced to pay the price of her desire for fame.

Despite the potential found within the material to tell the story of a woman who learns the cost of fame while gaining agency after being gaslit by a man who promises her the world, the result ends up feeling confused, muddled and even unfinished. Jana and Nunziata's exposition-heavy book rushes through relationship development and drops plot revelations that at best mean nothing, or at worst, are forgotten by the end. With a focus on telling rather than showing, it's difficult to get emotionally invested as moments of high intensity and horror resulted in laughter from the audience.

Jana's score is among Figaro's strongest aspects, performed by the ever-phenomenal London Musical Theatre Orchestra. Carrying an edge of The Greatest Showman and Moulin Rouge, they range from symphonic (if repetitive) ballads like "No More" and "I'm On Fire" to dance-heavy electropop. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the lyrics possessing clunky rhymes with a propensity to over explain at the expense of character growth.

Justin Williams’s lavish semi-staged set with two stories of a wooden stage and brick wall dressing room with drapes contrasts SIenna's provincial farm life and the backstage drama her travels take her, complemented by Alex Musgrave's bold lighting. It's a shame the songs have no movement as Joanna Goodwin's movement direction leaves them feeling slow and with low energy.

Besides the score, the cast is the saving grace for Figaro in spite of their characters' underbaked personalities. Reprising her role from the concept album, Cayleigh Capaldi (Titanique) has all the makings of a leading lady as Sienna, possessing a stunning operatic voice that radiates across the Palladium. While an ever-charismatic performer and vocalist, Jon Robyns feels miscast as the titular Figaro, coming across as less of a seductive mysterio whose controlling behaviour creeps in over time and more like a walking red flag you want Sienna to escape from immediately.

Ava Brennan (Hamilton) shines as maternal and snarky costume designer Gia while Aimie Atkinson is a larger-than -ife presence as Figaro's scorned lover Lucia. While not onstage for long, Daniel Brocklebank (Coronation Street) leaves an impression as Sienna's father Antonio.

The strongest performances in this concert however come from child performers Cian Eagle-Service (Oliver!) and Sophia Goodman as Gianni and Amelia. An utterly charming double act, they make me wish their characters had a show of their own as they wish for Sienna to be their mother figure after being abandoned as infants.

It's a shame that Figaro: An Original Musical’s debut is a disappointing one because there's much potential to find in its intriguing concept and gorgeous score. However, more work in the writing room needs to be done if it wants to become a fully staged production.

There's only so much its starry cast and visuals can do, but I wonder whether thrusting it semi-staged into one of the West End's biggest houses was the best decision à la Sienna's dangerously quick ascent to fame. 

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