Frances Mayli McCann (Bonnie in ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ in the West End), Dean John-Wilson (Lun-Tha in ‘The King & I’ in the West End) and Joaquin Pedro Valdes (Ram Sweeney in ‘Heathers’ at The Other Palace) will star in Death Note: The Musical.
Following acclaimed productions in Japan and Korea Death Note: The Musical will get its English language premiere with two star-studded concerts at the London Palladium on 21 & 22 August.
Tickets go onsale at 10am 2 June. Based on the best-selling Japanese manga series of the same name by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, this ground breaking musical (Winner Best Musical, Korea Musical Awards) has a score by Frank Wildhorn (‘Jekyll & Hyde’, 4 years on Broadway, ‘Dracula’, ‘Bonnie & Clyde’) with lyrics by Jack Murphy and book by Ivan Menchell.
It will be directed by Nick Winston and is produced by Carter Dixon McGill Production (‘Chess in Concert’, ‘Kinky Boots in Concert’, ‘Treason the Musical in Concert’) and Indie Theatrical.
Light Yagami, a bright but dissatisfied high school student in Tokyo comes across a discarded notebook owned by Ryuk, a mythological god of death. Discovering he can kill anyone by just writing their names in the supernatural notebook, Light takes justice into his own hands by filling the notebook with names of the nation’s most wanted criminals. But a detective only known as ‘L’ is soon tracking him down..
Frances Mayli McCann will play famous model Misa. Scottish-Chinese born Frances starred as Bonnie in ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ in the West End, following its sell out concert at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, opposite Jeremy Jordan. Olivier nominated for her portrayal of Kayla in ‘Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour’, Frances’ extensive stage credits include Svetlana in ‘Chess’ (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Heather McNamara in ‘Heathers: The Musical’ (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), The Mistress in ‘Evita’ (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), Eponine in ‘Les Misearables’.
Dean John-Wilson will play enigmatic, mysterious, international consulting detective known only as ‘L’. Dean’s West End roles include the title role in the original cast of Disney’s ‘Aladdin’, Lun Tha in ‘The King and I’ and the premiere of ‘From Here To Eternity’. At the National Theatre he was Aquino in ‘Here Lies Love’.
Joaquin Pedro Valdes will play brilliant but bored genius Light. Born in Makati, Philippines, Joaquin covered and played Simba on the recent UK tour of ‘The Lion King’ and was Ram Sweeney in ‘Heathers’ at The Other Palace. His other musicals include the UK and international tours of ‘The King and I’ and ‘Miss Saigon’.
More cast to be announced.