Death Note musical releases official trailer

Exclusive: Death Note: The Musical has released an official trailer, following its fully staged UK premiere at London’s Barbican Theatre and ahead of its return to the same venue next spring.

Based on the bestselling manga series created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note: The Musical features music by Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award nominee Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Tony nominee Jack Murphy, additional lyrics by Morgan Reilly and a book by Emmy nominee Ivan Menchell.

The story follows Light Yagami, a gifted high school student who discovers a mysterious notebook known as the Death Note, which has the power to kill anyone whose name is written in it. As you can imagine, chaos ensues.

The production received a glowing review from WhatsOnStage earlier this year, being described as “a triumphant, fantastical manga thriller.” It also broke the Barbican record for the highest-grossing single week of a musical, before breaking the record for the highest-grossing single performance of a musical five consecutive times.

You can watch the full trailer below:

The cast at the Barbican was led by Xander Pang as Light Yagami and Colin Ryan as L, alongside Stephanie Zaharis as Misa Amane, Telly Leung as Ryuk, Grace Mouat as Rem, Paolo Montalban as Soichiro Yagami, Chloe Saracco as Jerasu and Elsie Buckley as Sayu.

The ensemble included CJ Benoiton, Louise Liluna Browning, Aoife Haakenson, Samantha Ho, Katie Ka Lay Ho, Olivia Hazel Jones, Matthew Koon, Abel Law, Luchia Moss, Patrick Munday, Richie Paisley, Regine Phua, Nicky Wong Rush and Ernest Stroud. Nicole Carlisle, Renz Cardenas and David Ouch served as swings, with Sian Yeo as swing and dance captain.

The creative team featured director Stephen Whitson and choreographer Fabian Aloise, with Jon Bausor as set designer, Jason Howland as musical supervisor, orchestrator and arranger, Billy Jay Stein/Strange Cranium as music producer, Sachiko Nakahara as costume designer, Jen Schriever as lighting designer, Peter Hylenski as sound designer and Akhila Krishnan as video designer. Illusions were by Paul Kieve, with Campbell Young Associates overseeing wigs, hair and make-up.

Casting was by Natalie Gallacher for Pippa Ailion and Natalie Gallacher Casting, with US casting by the Telsey Office and Craig Burns.

Death Note: The Musical ran at the Barbican Theatre from 30 July to 12 September 2026 and you can watch our opening night highlights below:

Death Note, first published in Japan in 2003, has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into animation, video games, novels, films and television. The musical was originally produced by HoriPro in 2015, with the production subsequently staged in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and London. It has also been presented in concert at The London Palladium and Lyric Theatre in 2023.

Death Note: The Musical is produced in London by Haley Swindal and Timothy Laczynski, Annaleise Loxton, Willette Klausner, Spark Productions, Sophie Qi, Indie Slingshot and Abby Espiritu in association with Ari Benmosché, David S. Stone, The Araca Group, Whitney Kroenke Silverstein, Vibecke Dahle Dellapolla and the Barbican.

The production is scheduled to return to the Barbican Theatre and run from 23 March to 15 May 2027, with tickets on sale now.