Your Lie in April - The Musical, which will receive a West End concert staging this coming spring, has found its complete cast. Written by Grammy, Tony, and Emmy nominated composer Frank Wildhorn, the show is the second musical manga adaptation of Wildhorn's to receive a concert staging in London, after Death Note the Musical.
Based the multi-million-selling Your Lie in April manga by Naoshi Arakawa, the musical will play the Theatre Royal Drury Lane April 8 and 9.
First published by Kodansha, the work is a romantic tearjerker centering on young piano prodigy Kōsei Arima and his inability to play following his mother’s death. When Arima forms an unexpected friendship with violinist Kaori Miyazono, she slowly inspires him to perform again. The manga was previously adapted into a 22-part anime television series and a live-action film.
The West End concerts will star Zheng Xi Yong (Spring Awakening) as Arima and Rumi Sutton (Hex) as Miyazono. They will be joined by Rachel Clare Chan (Death Note the Musical), Joanna Ampil (Miss Saigon) and Dean John-Wilson (Death Note the Musical).
The ensemble will include Eu Jin Hwang, Julie Yammanee, Jade Albertsen, Lauren Chia, Hannah Yun Chamberlain, Imogen Rose Hart, Yuki Abe, Chris Fung, Ernest Stroud, JoJo Meredith, Michael Lin, Samuel How, and Jason Yang-Westland.
Said Wildhorn in a previous statement, “I watched the anime of Your Lie in April, and when I was done crying, I raced to the piano and wrote it in one fit of inspiration. It’s a love letter to the healing power of music, a coming-of-age story with truly universal themes of family, friendship, loss, first love and the bridge between childhood and becoming a young adult. I’m thrilled for West End audiences to hear the English language debut.”
The creative team will feature much of the same creative team as Death Note, including Wildhorn, director and choreographer Nick Winston, and designer Justin Williams. They will be joined by book writer Riko Sakaguchi, English language book writer Rinne B. Groff, lyricists Carly Robyn Green and Tracy Miller, music arranger and orchestrator Jason Howland, music supervisor Katy Richardson, music director Christopher Poon, casting director Harry Blumenau, and producers Carter Dixon McGill Productions and Indie Theatrical.
For more information, visit YourLieInApril.co.uk.
