I don’t attend the opera very often but faced with the name ‘Figaro’, even I think of Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville. The world of this show, however, is very far removed from the world of comedic opera, and would probably benefit from having trigger warnings for those who would benefit from them. I also wonder if this musical really ought to be called Sienna: An Original Musical, given that it’s really Sienna’s (Cayleigh Capaldi) story, and it is Sienna that has more stage time, and more lyrics to sing, than anyone else.
As one of those semi-staged concerts, the production values are very good, especially considering one or two-night only concerts in the West End have sometimes resulted in patrons leaving the theatre at the interval because technical aspects of the production were so poor that they couldn’t hear or see anything clearly. Here, a talking point on the way out amongst patrons in your reviewer’s section was a set of stage lights that, whenever fully lit, shone directly into our line of sight, thus largely obliterating seeing anything else going on. One would have thought in a full production, complaints on this matter during previews would ensure the problem would be dealt with. Plenty of other technical aspects worked fine – the sound was sufficiently well balanced, for instance, and never uncomfortably loud.
Being blinded by the lights, mind you, fed into a running theme of Figaro (Jon Robyns) using a swinging pendulum in an admittedly cliched method of hypnotising others, with contrivedly impressive results. His long-term love interest, Lucia (Aimie Atkinson), has hung around him (geddit?) long enough to see through Figaro’s favourite object, which I unoriginally refer to as Swingy McSwingface. Sienna’s father, Antonio (Daniel Brocklebank) is understandably concerned as his daughter had abruptly left the family estate without so much as a note to say where she was going – it wasn’t clear to me exactly when the show is set, but it was before the days of missing persons bureaux, let alone mobile telephony.
Figaro, neither a barber nor a valet but a showman with a travelling company, has a couple of orphans in his troupe, Gianni (Cian Eagle-Service) and Amelia (Sophia Goodman). There’s a self-awareness in the show’s script that extends even to a convincing (if superfluous) explanation as to why the children speak with London accents in a show set in Italy. Eagle-Service is, at the time of writing, sharing the title role in a West End revival of Oliver!, while Goodman has just finished a run sharing the title role in Matilda. In other words, the producers couldn’t have secured more talented child actors for this musical if they tried. They were nothing short of phenomenal.
As it is, the spoken word sections can sometimes be a bit too clunky, or otherwise reveal significant amounts of storyline by telling the audience what has already happened instead of demonstrating events. Show, don’t tell, as some of the other reviewers on this site would put it. As this is a semi-staged concert version of the show, perhaps more dramatization is on the cards for a full production (though elements of toxic masculinity are better off referred to rather than exhibited). It’s an unusual story – this isn’t yet another musical with yet another love triangle, and the plot twists keep the audience engaged. “Follow every rainbow, ‘til you find your dream,” to quote The Sound of Music. This musical does well to make clear that pursuing one’s ambitions is not without sacrifice, danger or risk. But it doesn’t help when at least one song appears to run out of lyrics, leaving Sienna to coo and ‘ooh’ her way to the finish.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Figaro: An Original Musical is the hauntingly beautiful tale of Sienna, a young woman who dreams of singing but feels imprisoned by her life on her father’s farm. When a chance encounter with two young orphans thrusts her into the life of a travelling performer, she meets the handsome Figaro, who promises to make all her dreams come true – but there is always a price to fame.
Part love story, part mystery, Sienna’s journey to discover herself and live the life she always wanted is fraught with twists and turns until it culminates in a moment that will change the course of her life forever.
CAST
Cayleigh Capaldi – Sienna
Jon Robyns – Figaro
Aimie Atkinson – Lucia
Daniel Brocklebank – Antonio
Ava Brennan – Gia
Cian Eagle-Service – Gianni
Sophia Goodman – Amelia
Maggie Solimine – Adoring Fan/Sienna Standby
CREATIVES
Ashley Jana – Co-Bookwriter, Composer, Lyricist, Orchestrator, Music Programmer, Sound Design Content Producer
Will Nunizata – Co-Bookwriter, Co-Creator and Director
Joanna Goodwin – Movement Director
Caitlin Morgan – Musical Director
Justin Williams – Set Designer
Sophia Pardon – Costume Designer
Alex Musgrave – Lighting Designer
Tom Marshall – Sound Designer
FIGARO: AN ORIGNAL MUSICAL
London Palladium
3 and 4 February 2025
I attended last night’s performance, unfortunately the glare from the stage lighting was very uncomfortable throughout the show.
The storyline was weak but the leading lady has the most beautiful singing voice.
It was a fantastic production I loved every minute. The cast were brilliant. I love opera but don’t care much for musicals – but Figaro was exceptional.
Very disappointing.
Not a memorable tune.
Banal lyrics.
Sung very well,though..
I left feeling like I could write a ten thousand word dissertation on all of the things they needed to change to make this show work. It has decent bones and some exceptional talent, but needs LOTS of adjustments.