Saving Mozart at The Other Palace: 'musical theatre talents squander their voices on this vapid pop-rock work'

Carla Lopez Corpas and Aimie Atkinson - (Danny Kaan)

Let’s face it, even though musical theatre is full of big swings at unlikely subjects – Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Mis, Hamilton – taking on arguably the greatest composer in history is a bit bloody cheeky. And lo, sundry musical theatre talents squander their voices on this vapid pop-rock work, which foregrounds the roles of Mozart’s sister and wife in a soap-operatic trot through his short life.

Creator Charli Eglinton has a facility for creating inoffensive, vaguely anthemic numbers that sound slightly like other songs, and which very occasionally reference Mozart. But her lyrics are forced and awkward and her dialogue dreadful. “Sod Paris, I was going to Italy!”. “I’ve just written a concerto!” “Have you?” And so on.