Review: ONE DAY: THE MUSICAL, Royal Lyceum Edinburgh

The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh is staging the world premiere of One Day: The Musical, based on the novel by David Nicholls. The book for the stage production is by David Greig and music and lyrics are from Abner and Amanda Ramirez. 

For this production, the Lyceum has been transformed to put the stage in the round and a raked seating area features in the normal backstage area. Onstage seating is available and this layout gives a wonderful intimate setting for the musical.

Starting off at Edinburgh University, Dexter (Jamie Muscato) and Emma (Sharon Rose) meet on the day of their graduation. It’s St. Swithin's Day, a day which folklore claims determines the weather for the next forty days. Emma wonders if it can also predict what will happen for the next forty years and a tradition is born, wherever they are in the world, Emma and Dexter will try and get together on that date.

The casting for this show is bang on, Jamie Muscato will really test your patience as the sweet young boy turned arrogant young man who later redeems himself. He’s always charming enough that you can never really hate him, even when he is deeply unpleasant. Sharon Rose is perfect as sweet Em, a woman who wants to be a teacher and change the world. It’s not a typical love story and it’s a real feat from these two performers how quickly you become gripped by their relationship.

This page-to-stage adaptation is a real triumph as it succeeds in telling the story which spans two decades in a way that film and television hasn’t quite managed. 

As a musical, it works really well, and there is a wealth of talent onstage throughout the ensemble. Although they’ve had a preview period, to have things as tight and as polished as they do for opening night is outstanding. 

One Day is a musical that will fill you with joy and break your heart and it’s wonderful to see this story take place in the city that is the soul of the novel. 

Get Broadway News on WhatsApp

Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.