Frank Wildhorn on the future of Death Note, Your Lie In April and more Manga musicals

Exclusive: Yesterday WhatsOnStage sat down with two-time Tony-nominated composer Frank Wildhorn and director-choreographer Nick Winston during rehearsals for the European premiere of Your Lie in April – The Musical.

The pair have previously collaborated on the WhatsOnStage Award-winning musical Bonnie and Clyde and the semi-staged Death Note – The Musical in Concert, which ran at both The London Palladium and the Lyric Theatre in the West End last August and September.

Your Lie in April is also set for a concert staging, to be performed next week on Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 April at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, and we chatted to the duo about the latest manga musical to hit our shores, as well as the future of Death Note and Wildhorn’s third manga offering, Fist of the North Star.

Questioned about the chances of a full-scale production of Death Note in London, Wildhorn boldly stated that he was “100 per cent” sure that we would be welcoming one “very soon” and that a full staging of Your Lie in April would follow “very closely” after that. Furthermore, he also claimed that Death Note is New York-bound.

You can find out more in the video below:

Adapted from Naoshi Arakawa’s widely acclaimed manga, Your Lie in April follows Kōsei Arima, a young piano prodigy grappling with his inability to play following the passing of his mother. His life is changed when he encounters violinist Kaori Miyazono, who encourages him to perform again.

The cast is led by Zheng Xi Yong (Spring Awakening) and Rumi Sutton (Hex) as Kōsei Arima and Kaori Miyazono, alongside Rachel Clare Chan (Death Note), Joanna Ampil (Miss Saigon) and Dean John-Wilson (Death Note).

The company is completed by Eu Jin Hwang, Julie Yammanee, Jade Albertsen, Lauren Chia, Hannah Yun Chamberlain, Imogen Rose Hart, Yuki Abe, Chris Fung, Ernest Stroud, JoJo Meridith, Michael Lin, Samuel How and Jason Wang-Westland.

Have a first listen to the manga musical here:

The show features music by Wildhorn and a book by Riko Sakaguchi. The English-language adaptation is by Rinne B Groff, with lyrics by Carly Robyn Green and Tracy Miller, and music arrangements and orchestrations by Jason Howland.

Also on the creative team are designer Justin Williams, musical supervisor Katy Richardson, musical director Christopher Poon, costume designer Kimie Nakano, casting director Harry Blumenau, and cultural consultant Yojiro Ichikawa.

Your Lie in April is produced by Carter Dixon McGill, Indie Theatrical, Pinnacle Productions, Scott Prisand, Sophie Qi and Cuffe and Taylor in association with Rob Kolson, Liesl Wilke, Mark and Minna Seitelman and Lorraine Lettieri.

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Tickets are on sale below.