Well, I was never sufficiently bored to bother keeping a tally of how many ‘first dates’ were actually staged in 50 First Dates: The Musical, in what proved to be something altogether more engaging and heartfelt than what the title literally suggests – that is, given the 100-minute running time, one date every two minutes. The narrative arc, at its core, is straightforward enough. In the beginning, boy meets girl, somewhere in the middle, boy loses girl (and yes, there’s an angry and defensive parent who gets involved – there’s a reason why one of the musical numbers is called ‘Stay Away’), and in the end, boy gets girl. As the old adage puts it, however, the devil is in the detail, and there’s a very good reason why Lucy Whitmore (Georgina Castle) can’t remember the previous day spent with love interest Henry Roth (Josh St. Clair) – she suffers from short-term memory loss. How she developed it is already known to those who have seen the 2004 motion picture, and there are many elements in the story that have carried across into this stage adaptation.
Is there something more than a little bit creepy about a story set in 2025 (there’s a reference to Pope Leo XIV, whose papacy began in May 2025) that has a guy doggedly pursuing a very vulnerable woman despite key figures in the woman’s life warning him not to? Not that there’s much time to dwell on such matters in this briskly paced production, and Henry has powers of persuasion which probably justify his supposedly large social media following. That Lucy has a close-knit community around her means that outsider Henry needs to win over ‘everyone’, and his own lifestyle is put on hold, all for the love of Lucy.
The relatively limited staging poses challenges, as it almost always does in this venue – only occasionally does it prove problematic, such as when a brief outdoor scene is virtually indistinguishable from the indoor setup which remains the same immediately behind it. The tables and chairs in the café where Lucy has her breakfast every day seemed to take up more room than anything else. Run by Ukulele Sue (Aiesha Naomi Pease) – if you want to know why she’s nicknamed ‘Ukulele’, you’ll have to see the show for yourself – every item on the café’s menu contains gluten, presumably somehow including flat whites and espressos. It’s the kind of tongue-in-cheek absurdism that permeates the show, more often than not to good comical effect.
The cast is very strong in this show and were evidently enjoying themselves on stage – if I had to pick a favourite I’d go for Chad Saint Louis’ Sandy, a worker in Sue’s café who also does shifts at a local turtle sanctuary and previously worked in the theme parks of Orlando. His larger-than-life personality brought energy and enthusiasm to proceedings. Both Castle and St. Clair in the leading roles, meanwhile, had strong singing voices, perfectly suited to their roles, and the on-stage chemistry was highly convincing, regardless of what Lucy could or couldn’t remember.
It’s not exactly deep and intense, even if it does tug at the heartstrings rather more than one might expect on first viewing. The idea that someone goes on ’50 first dates’ with someone because they have short-term memory loss called to mind Groundhog Day, but with Henry determined to shake things up and change the routines, much to the chagrin of Lucy’s father Marlin (John Marquez) and brother Doug (Charlie Toland), it was remarkably easy to maintain interest throughout. A fun, lively and enthusiastic production.
Review by Chris Omaweng
He’s falling for her every day—she’s forgetting him every night. When notorious bachelor Henry meets art teacher Lucy, he thinks he’s finally found “the one”. Until the next morning when she wakes up with no memory of their first date…
CAST (in alphabetical order)
Georgia Arron- Sharon / Ensemble
Aizaac Aruna – Miles / Ensemble
Zoë Ann Bown – Miriam / Ensemble
Emily Olive Boyd – Fran / Ensemble
Greg Stylianou Burns – Kevin / Ensemble
Georgina Castle – Lucy Whitmore
Cole Dunn – Swing
Samuelle Durojaiye – Swing
Paul Kemble – Swing
John Marquez – Marlin Whitmore
Natasha O’Brien – Delilah / Ensemble
Aiesha Naomi Pease – Ukulele Sue
David Pendlebury – Sid / Ensemble
Martha Pothen – Cora / Ensemble
Ricky Rojas – Marco
Chad Saint Louis – Sandy
Josh St. Clair – Henry Roth
Samantha Thomas – Swing / Dance Captain
Charlie Toland – Doug Whitmore
CREATIVES
David Rossmer and Steve Rosen – Book, Music and Lyrics
George Wing – Original Screenplay
Casey Nicholaw – Direction and Musical Staging
Fly David – Set and Costume Design
Aideen Malone – Lighting Design
George Reeve – Projection Design
Adam Fisher – Sound Desing
Cynthia De La Rosa – Wigs, Hair and Make-Up Design
Matthew Jackson – Orchestrations and Arrangements
Richard Beadle – Musical Supervision, Arrangements and Vocal Arrangements
50 FIRST DATES: THE MUSICAL
The Other Palace
14 September to 16 November 2025
