WhatsOnStage had exclusive access to rehearsals for the European premiere of the Death Note musical.
The winner of Best Musical at the Korea Musical Awards, Death Note features a score by Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll and Hyde, Dracula and Bonnie and Clyde) with lyrics by Jack Murphy and a book by Ivan Menchell.
Nick Winston directs and choreographs the piece, which is produced by Carter Dixon McGill Productions, Indie Theatrical and HoriPro., with Pinnacle Productions, Greg A DeLuca and Wild Yak Productions as associate producers.
Based on the best-selling Japanese manga series of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata / Shueisha, Death Note follows the story of Light Yagami, a dissatisfied high school student in Tokyo who discovers a discarded notebook owned by Ryuk, a god of death. Light realises that he can kill anyone by writing their names in the notebook, leading him to take justice into his own hands by targeting wanted criminals. However, his actions catch the attention of the enigmatic detective known only as ‘L,’ who starts tracking him down.