I went to see Death Note: The Musical at London's Lyric Theatre in the autumn of 2023, and I had an absolute blast!
I found myself oddly nervous as I waited for the musical to begin, as if Light Yagami was going to walk on stage, look straight at me and expect me to hold a conversation. (This did not happen.)
Technically, this was Death Note: The Musical in Concert; it wasn't quite a full production. But it felt like a pretty full experience; it definitely wasn't just singing! The set design and costuming was cool; the shinigami costumes in particular were fantastic. The lighting was great. The choreography was fairly light for most numbers, but it was still very much present. (To be honest, going too heavy on the choreography might have been dangerous; the cool multi-level set design allowed a single set to represent multiple locations, but it would have made it difficult for actors to move around too fast.)
The dialogue was the aspect that made it clearest that this wasn't the full final musical; it clearly aimed to move from song to song as quickly as possible. But the show still told a complete story and, even if I can envision a version with more fleshed-out segments between songs, the dialogue we did get still clearly paid attention to character. I loved the touches of humour in there, too.
The actors were great, and the singing was universally fantastic, as were the songs themselves. (I'm slightly awed by the fact that L's actor was able to sing while squatting on a chair; it seems like it must be tough!) Rem and Ryuk felt impressively inhuman; I loved the strange way Ryuk moved.
Ryuk is also very entertaining throughout as a mildly annoying presence in Light's life, providing obnoxious commentary and patronising little touches. He ruffles Light's hair at one point, and Light is so put out. It's great.
Joaquin Pedro Valdes, who played Light, was a fan of Death Note before being cast, and I think you can see his fondness for the source material in his performance. Which was great news for me, because Light's my favourite character.
Although the dialogue was fairly minimal, on account of this being a concert performance rather than a fully staged performance, there were some fun lines! Here are a few bits I enjoyed:
Light: I'm going to send L to hell if it's the last thing I do.
Ryuk: Pfft, there's no heaven or hell.
(Light considers this for a moment.)
Light: Well, that's going to disappoint a lot of people.
(And I've only just realised, writing this down, that it is in fact the last thing he does!)
Misa: (spotting Light and realising she can't see his lifespan) I've found him! It's Kira! Ooh, he's cute.
Light: Catch you later.
L, very pointedly: Not if I catch you first.
There was a great little moment for Light and L's dynamic after their intense, furious tennis duet. L held Light's racquet out to him and said, 'I enjoy our time together.' Light stared at him for a long moment before accepting the racquet and saying, grudgingly, '...yeah, me too.'
When L answered Misa's phone, having stolen it so Light couldn't call her to ask for his name, he put on a high-pitched voice and answered in-character as Misa, which was sort of delightful.
There was also one really striking scene without a song to go with it: Light killing the FBI agent sent to track Kira down. They obviously had to simplify the original sequence a lot for time and comprehensibility reasons, but they manage to convey the scene in a way that was very vivid and slightly harrowing.
There were a handful of sound issues - at some points microphones would take a moment to kick in - and there are a couple of tweaks I'd personally have made to the ending, but I loved every moment of the Death Note musical. It's a shame it was on for such a short run, but I'd absolutely come back if they ever brought a full-scale production to London!
'The moment Light came on stage and started singing, I looked over at you, and you were smiling so fondly,' the friend I was with commented. 'It was like we were watching a school play and your child had just come on.'
A couple of months later, said friend and I played Kingdom Hearts together. 'Light,' Ansem gasped as the light from Kingdom Hearts poured over him, apparently halfway between agony and ecstasy. 'He's like you when we watched Death Note: The Musical,' my friend commented, murdering me more efficiently than the Death Note ever could.