This feels like a story that has been told before, even if the marketing for the show insists that it hasn’t: Mozart (Jack Chambers) has a tyrannical father, Leopold (Douglas Hansell), but a substantially more sympathetic mother in Anna Maria (Gloria Onitiri). Daddy wants him to play (and play, and play) the piano until he is note perfect, and even note perfection isn’t good enough – it’s one of those stories. The father figure in the musical MJ demanded perfection from the Jackson Five, and you can have a quick Google (other search engines are available), if you care to, if you want some other examples – there are more from plays than musicals.
It’s a talented cast, for sure, and on press night, the show already appeared to have garnered something of a cult following during previews – I suspect there might well be more ‘cosplay’ amongst the audience if I were to see the show again later in the run. More could, perhaps, be done with the staging here – more or less every scene looks more or less than all the others. In the limited space at The Other Palace, there’s not an awful lot to look at besides the costumes, which are suitably period, even if much of the music is not. The style of the musical numbers needs to be taken with not only a generous dose of salt, but pepper, rosemary and thyme. I wouldn’t say the show is attempting to emulate the likes of Six, and while it may not be channelling the rap style of Hamilton, the closing moments are essentially a reworking of ‘Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story’. We only know this is eighteenth-century Salzburg because we are told so. Otherwise, one might as well be listening to the latest number one on the radio.
The narrative itself is easy enough to follow, and there’s an unsubtle feminist thread that runs through – the men are brutes or otherwise rude and dismissive, and the women, well, are not. That said, Aimie Atkinson’s Nannerl, Mozart’s sister, is justified in her complaint about how she has been treated by their father Leopold, who had resorted to a ‘blame society, innit’ line of defence. But the presence of six ensemble members, wonderful as they were, didn’t ultimately add much to the production beyond enhancing some song and dance numbers, with much of the dialogue taking place in private homes.
The first half felt to me like a bit of a slog, I’m sorry to report, and ended flatly, rather than the usual musical approach of sending the audience out on a high, or at least a cliffhanger. The second half was an improvement, including a sublime moment when Nannerl and Mozart’s wife Constanze (Erin Caldwell) sang in harmony. The production overdoes it with the stage haze on occasion, while Tom Marshall’s sound design ensured a good balance between the band and the cast’s voices. I don’t remember a single tune from the show, besides the all-too-brief extracts of Mozart’s actual compositions. A gripping personal story is made sluggish by political discourse, and the book could do with some tightening in this regard. Even by musical theatre standards, the lyrics can get too repetitive. The cast do well with what they are given. But they could have been given something more cohesive.
Review by Chris Omaweng
Step into the mind of a genius – and meet the extraordinary women who shaped, challenged, and ultimately saved him.
Inspired by Nannerl, the sister who played before he did.
Driven by Leopold, the father who demanded perfection.
Resurrected by Constanze, the wife who refused to let the world forget.
Shunned by society. Fuelled by brilliance.
This is the Mozart you’ve never met – raw, human, electric.
Aimie Atkinson as Nannerl
Jack Chambers as Mozart
Erin Caldwell as Constanze
Jordan Luke Gage as Salieri
Douglas Hansell as Leopold
Gloria Onitiri as Anna Maria / Cecilia
Ebony Roy-Palmer as Ensemble / Dance Captain
Sveva Bartolini as Ensemble / Cover Nannerl
Alfie Simmons as Ensemble / Cover Leopold
Corey Mitchell as Ensemble / Cover Salieri
Harriette Benazir – White as Ensemble
Anu Ogunmefun as Ensemble
Ritesh Manugula as Off Stage Swing / Cover Mozart
Gleanne Purcell Brown as Off Stage Swing / Cover Constanze
Carla Lopez Corpas & Izzie Monk as Little Mozart
Producers: MCG Productions
Writer and Composer: Charli Eglinton
Director: Markus Olzinger
Choreographer: Taylor Walker
Costume Design: Julia Pschedezki
Set Design: Justin Williams
Sound Design: Tom Marshall
Lighting Design: Ben Jacobs
Casting Director: Ben Armstrong
SAVING MOZART
The Other Palace
28 July to 30 August 2025
