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Figaro: An Original Musical Review

Reviewed by Amelia
Ticket was gifted in return for an honest review 

Much like getting a piece of coal for Christmas wrapped in solid gold, Figaro: An Original Musical is all style with no substance. It’s got a whopping all-star cast and is performed to the highest of standards, but that’s just not enough to pull the audience away from a hollow plot. Created by Ashley Jana and Will Nunziata, this is a show that has a story and score with the potential to be interesting but falls flat right at the first hurdle.

Jon Robyns and Cayleigh Capaldi. Photo by Fahad Alinzi.


After a prologue showing us exactly what happens at the end of the show, we meet Sienna, (Cayleigh Capaldi) as she longs to be anywhere but her father’s farm. We come to learn that she feels imprisoned by him and wants to sing, like she remembers her mother doing. Her father (Daniel Brocklebank) seems tightly wound in the beginning and does not want to let her go. In a peculiarly staged scene, Sienna is transported away from her home and finds herself in the company of two orphans (Cian Eagle-Service and Sophia Goodman) who entice her with an audition for the great and mysterious Figaro’s travelling show. The beginning of act one is rushed considering we have so many songs to come that could’ve been cut in favour of a more fleshed out plot. 

Capaldi has a beautiful voice that floats through the score by Ashley Jana and gives a compelling performance of Sienna with the material she’s been given. Her relationships seem empty throughout the piece and some of her emotions don’t necessarily fall within the character we learn to know. Her naivety proves to be her downfall in the beginning but there’s not enough work around how this changes to warrant her decisions towards the end. Her 11 o’clock number, ‘I’m On Fire’ was the showstopper of the night for sure, but it took a lot of not so great numbers to get there.

Sophia Goodman, Ava Brennan and Cian Service-Eagle. Photo by Fahad Alinizi.

Perhaps the MVPs of the evening, 
Cian Eagle-Service and Sophia Goodman were putting everything they had into their performances and leaving no crumbs. It evident that they have a long career ahead of them; starring in Oliver and Matilda as we speak. Both their voices melted together exquisitely, and their harmonies were just to die for. Providing light relief in the enigmatic plot, I looked forward to hearing them sing each time they came on stage, which is a testament to what stars they are. I wish they could’ve been given some sort of ending, as we’re never told what happens to them, and after spending the whole time rooting for them the most, this was disappointing. 

Our introduction to Figaro (Jon Robyns) is not unlike Hugh Jackman’s in The Greatest Showman. He stands at the top of the stairs with a brilliant spotlight behind him, inviting us all into the magic and mysteryRobyns is charming in this role, and it is obvious why he is able to manipulate everyone around him. His vocals, as per usual, are stellar but I can’t help feeling like most of his songs sounded the exact same. 
There are 36 songs on the soundtrack, and because Figaro and Sienna’s dad are the only male parts, it feels like we’re listening to Figaro sing the same thing over and over again. If there’s to be future life to this production, the score needs reworking so that the big and epic moments don’t feel like déjà vu. Robyns’ relationships with all the characters are built on lies and deceit, and this is played very well by him. I think the character has potential to be a Phantom, or a Duke, but his time on stage should be concise and necessary so we don’t get too much of him too soon. 

Rounding out the leading cast is Aimee Atkinson as Lucia. Lucia is an interesting character whose vulnerabilities become unmasked as we discover her tumultuous relationship with Figaro. She sings like a powerhouse through her limited numbers, although her solo performance for the show in Act 1 seemed a little out of place in terms of the pop-opera fusionscore. I wonder if she could’ve been utilised more, especially with her interactions with Sienna. She also spends a whole song telling Sienna’s dad not to look at the pendulum watch, which is literally the first thing he does, so there’s that. 
Ava Brennan and Daniel Brocklebank play Gia and Antonio (Sienna’s dad) respectfully. Brennan has a lot more to do than Brocklebank and provides comedic relief throughout. Despite some lovely vocals, her songs felt monotonous and low considering her amazing range. Her character was not fleshed out enough for us to really care, they threw in some backstory about 20 minutes before the end in an attempt to sympathise with her. However, there’s no need as she is not involved with the ending at all, and therefore knowing those things about her so late in the game is pointless. Brocklebank is assured in his performance, but despite 36 songs, he’s mostly just shouting Sienna’s name between some scenes and offloading a whole lot of exposition to Lucia so that the audience is kept in the loop. He does have a lovely voice, and I hope it can be utilised for what it’s worth in the future. 

For a two-day production, the set design by Justin Williams was brilliant and worked really well to carry the story alongThe two tiers offered precise locations that may go a miss in a concert production and created a visual divide between the characters. I thought Alex Musgrave’s lighting was excellent; especially the spotlight at the stop of stairs used for Figaro’s entrances. The costuming was on the better side for what I’ve seen of these sort of concert productions and has the potential to be extravagant if the production went on to have a bigger life. There was some choreography, mostly during the scenes that take place at the travelling show, but these would have had more impact with an ensemble to back up the leads. 

Cayleigh Capaldi and Jon Robyns. Photo by Fahad Alinzi.

Unfortunately, this was where the stage felt enormous and not even gifted performers like these could fill it. I have to wonder the thought process of continuously putting on these 1/2 day productions in such vast theatres like the London Palladium or Theatre Royal Drury Lane. I think this show especially would’ve benefitted from a smaller setting, so that the piece itself appeared grander and wasn’t swallowed whole by the stature of the location. 

Figaro: An Original Musical has elements of outstanding scattered throughout, and with the right revision and work to make the story more concise and consistent, I think it could become what it’s aiming to be.

⭐️⭐️

You can find out more about Figaro: An Original Musical by visiting https://www.figaromusical.com/

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