Gazing Upon The Barbican Monolith.

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Gazing Upon The Barbican Monolith.

The day after we saw Death Note: The Musical at the Barbican, Tem turned to me and asked, 'Do you want to go back and see it from the front row?'

And I did. I really, really did.

We went to yesterday's matinée and had a great time. Going from 'far enough to see all the choreography' to 'close enough to see all the expressions' was such an interesting contrast!

I'd heard that the stage was on the tall side, and I was a little worried that it would obscure what was going on, but it was absolutely fine! We couldn't always see everything that was happening in the shinigami realm, which was on a higher level above the main stage, but, to balance that, having the gods physically high up above us was pretty cool.

(There was a moment I was very worried about the height of the stage. Instead of a curtain, the Barbican has an unsettling shiny black monolith, with a prominent horizontal seam about eight feet up. I was looking up at it, thinking '??? surely the stage cannot be eight feet tall???? I've heard it's tall, but surely it's not so tall that nobody at the front can see anything.' Fortunately not!)

Death Note feels so well suited to the stage. At its heart, it's almost a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy, particularly with the musical's revised ending. I really hope it has a future in London beyond this short run.

In the queue for the loos at the interval, a woman in perhaps her sixties asked me whether it was originally an American production, so I had the opportunity to speak a bit about the odd history of this musical. Although the songs were originally written in English by an American composer, over ten years ago, they were translated into Japanese for the first performances, and this London run is the first time the musical has been performed in full in English.

'It's such an incredible production,' the woman commented. I'm glad to see this musical winning over newcomers to the story!

A couple of fun lines have been added since I last saw the show! The first comes when Soichiro comments to Light that trying to find Kira is taking up a lot of his time. Ryuk gestures to Light: 'He's right here.'

The second addition comes when L suggests that Kira is Soichiro's son. The task force accuse L of having a sick sense of humour. L's response is 'I don't have a sense of humour.'

I found myself liking Gelus a lot this time around! There's something endearing about their fascination with humans. At one point Gelus looked in my and Tem's direction and smiled. We are the best humans and you are correct to enjoy us.

I love Ryuk casually resting his feet in Light's lap. He has zero respect for Light's personal space, and it's incredible.

Very cool to be close enough to see Light's expressions when he falls for the Lind L Tailor trick! Sayu is in Light's room at the time, and she's horrified when Kira kills Tailor on live television. 'Light, I'm scared,' she says, and Light quickly assures her 'It's going to be okay' while remaining focused on the broadcast; the almost automatic way he says it makes me feel he's often reassured Sayu over the years. And then, when he realises he's been outsmarted, Light hits his desk, scaring poor Sayu more.

Colin Ryan remains incredible in the role of L. One thing that struck me, watching from the front row, is that he barely blinks at all; he keeps up that wide-eyed stare at all times. Impressive dedication, but I was worried about him! Sir, don't your eyes hurt?

Light trying to hide amongst the hooded ensemble dancers while L sings 'The Game Begins' is such a fun touch.

The choreography in 'Hurricane' is absolutely rad up close. The FBI agents caught up in the storm, terrified and helpless; Light calm, smug, enjoying his power as he takes them down almost effortlessly. My favourite performance of the show. Light is the worst and I love him.

Soichiro trying to comfort Sayu by hugging her at the end of the first act is very cute.

There's so much intense staring between Light and L during 'Stalemate', and it is great. Surrounded by all these people, but focused solely on each other.

Being so close to the stage really meant we could see Rem having a feelings crisis during 'I'll Only Love You More'! Misa clasps Rem's arm at one point; you can see Rem's internal 'oh no oh no', and the way she keeps looking at her own arm after Misa lets go of it.

It's still outrageous that Misa never kills anyone. How does L reach the conclusion 'the second Kira doesn't need a name to kill' if there isn't someone out there killing people whose names haven't been reported? Why take the 'hey, I'm the second Kira' social media post seriously at all if there haven't been additional murders that don't fit the original Kira's MO?

Maybe Light would suspect there's something real to the 'second Kira' message on account of the shinigami mention, but to L, without any concrete reason to believe that a second Kira exists, I'd expect it to just look like attention-seeking. And, even if Light takes the message seriously, he's not going to reveal anything about himself to Misa if she hasn't been acting in support of Kira. You can't make Misa the perfect innocent; it creates multiple plot holes and is, moreover, less fun.

I love L pulling a gun on Soichiro when he tries to release Misa. The moment you realise that, for all L's detachment, he's still human and still terrified to die. Soichiro's response is great, too: just walking towards L until the gun is pressed against his chest, leading L to lower the gun and avert his gaze in shame.

There's something so haunting about seeing L walking amongst the dead during 'When Love Comes'. He's still alive. And yet he's already dead. Everything has been put in place for his death to happen; it's only a matter of time.

Light is absolutely buzzing during the warehouse scene. He's won. He can reveal himself, get right up close to L, taunt him, press himself against his back, ruffle his hair. There's nothing L can do to him any more; Light is just here to gloat.

(And also to get shot. I love Light going 'shit, my leg hurts' after L's death. Getting shot seemed like such a good idea at the time!)

Being so close to the stage, you could really see L's silent horror in the final scene after he realised it was already over. And the contrast with Light, when he has his own realisation he's about to die a few minutes later. L is quietly terrified, knowing there's nothing he can do; Light begs and pleads and screams, empties the gun into Ryuk, tries to demonstrate his immortality by singing about his power, unable to truly believe he's about to die right up until it ends.

Ryuk's first appearance in the human world is impressively done: the lights in Light's room start to flicker, then go out for just an instant, and when they come back on Ryuk is standing on Light's bed. The first time I watched the show, I couldn't imagine how this was done! Light's bed was too far from the wings for Ryuk's actor to have run in during that brief blackout; how had Ryuk appeared?

Coming back to watch from the front row, one of my main thoughts was that perhaps I'd be able to solve this mystery at last. How does Ryuk appear on Light's bed during that second or two of darkness?

The answer is perhaps the best thing I could have hoped for: turns out Ryuk was already in Light's bed, hiding under the covers. I just caught a glimpse of him starting to emerge as the lights went out.

It's an impressive bit of stage trickery, but I like to believe that 'Ryuk was hiding in Light's bed to screw with him' is also canon. If the blackout hadn't happened, Light would have been very startled to discover Ryuk when he pulled back the covers to go to bed.

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At one point Gelus looked in my and Tem's direction and smiled. We are the best humans and you are correct to enjoy us.

Good taste, that death god!

I love Ryuk casually resting his feet in Light's lap. He has zero respect for Light's personal space, and it's incredible.

Yes!

It's still outrageous that Misa never kills anyone.

Boo! Let women be creepy obsessive murderers!

The answer is perhaps the best thing I could have hoped for: turns out Ryuk was already in Light's bed, hiding under the covers.

Perfect!

There's actually an interesting similarity to the way Ryuk treats Light throughout and the way Light treats L once he knows he's won: touching and taunting, ignoring personal space, radiating amusement. Light's become a god in that final scene, or so he thinks, and L is nothing but entertainment to him now.

We are the best humans and you are correct to enjoy us.

100%

One thing that struck me, watching from the front row, is that he barely blinks at all; he keeps up that wide-eyed stare at all times. Impressive dedication, but I was worried about him! Sir, don't your eyes hurt?

The things people will do for their craft!

You can't make Misa the perfect innocent; it creates multiple plot holes and is, moreover, less fun.

Yeah!

The answer is perhaps the best thing I could have hoped for: turns out Ryuk was already in Light's bed, hiding under the covers. I just caught a glimpse of him starting to emerge as the lights went out.

Neat!

The things people will do for their craft!

He also consistently held such atrocious posture that I a) don't know how he was able to belt out lines with such power and b) was very concerned about how his back and shoulders would feel afterwards. It's very impressive, but don't physically wreck yourself for this musical!

I have been listening to the musical on obssessive repeat over this past week, so this post has some very good timing in regards to catching my full (obsessive) attention! I, too, very much hope that the musical does well enough that it runs again, if only because I really want to see it one day. (When it was first announced, I remember actually trying to see if I could take a few days off from work so I could take a trip just to go see it, but it turns out that whoever scheduled this musical chose the worst six weeks possible for me personally, lol.)

Death Note feels so well suited to the stage. At its heart, it's almost a Greek or Shakespearean tragedy yes yes yes, absolutely, 100%!!!!

I love Ryuk casually resting his feet in Light's lap. He has zero respect for Light's personal space, and it's incredible. This is absolutely perfect. I love this for them.

'Light, I'm scared,' she says, and Light quickly assures her 'It's going to be okay' while remaining focused on the broadcast; the almost automatic way he says it makes me feel he's often reassured Sayu over the years oh, I love this; it’s so perfectly characterized for those two.

Misa clasps Rem's arm at one point; you can see Rem's internal 'oh no oh no', and the way she keeps looking at her own arm after Misa lets go of it. MY SHIPPER HEART IS VERY DEEPLY PLEASED BY THIS

But yeah no, Misa not killing anyone both makes absolutely no sense whatsoever in terms of plot, for all the reasons that you named, and is also just a tragic disservice to her character. She’s soooo deeply fucked up in so many ways, and that’s part of the fascination and charm! (Misa’s my favorite, so I have a lot of feelings about this and her.)

The moment you realise that, for all L's detachment, he's still human and still terrified to die. Soichiro's response is great, too: just walking towards L until the gun is pressed against his chest, leading L to lower the gun and avert his gaze in shame. omg, I love this so much

I love Light going 'shit, my leg hurts' after L's death. Getting shot seemed like such a good idea at the time! I laughed. Suffer the consequences of your choices, Light!

L is quietly terrified, knowing there's nothing he can do; Light begs and pleads and screams, empties the gun into Ryuk, tries to demonstrate his immortality by singing about his power, unable to truly believe he's about to die right up until it ends. Picture me making starry eyes and drawing hearts around all of this, please and thank you. Absolutely perfect.

but I like to believe that 'Ryuk was hiding in Light's bed to screw with him' is also canon I am also choosing to believe in my heart that this is canon. Ryuk absolutely would fuck with him like that!!

I hope you get to see the musical at some point! It's great fun.

Ryuk is so physical and obnoxious with Light, ruffling his hair and tugging on his tie and leaning on his shoulder, and it's delightful. Light hates it.

She’s soooo deeply fucked up in so many ways, and that’s part of the fascination and charm!

Yes! It's important for Misa to be a ruthless, determined mess of a person.

What's the revised ending? And glad to hear there's more Sayu!

I really liked reading all of this. Hope they keep doing weird stuff in the stage productions.

What's the revised ending?

As with the anime/manga, musical Light makes use of Rem to kill L. Specifically, after L imprisons Misa on suspicion of being the second Kira, Light goes 'hey, Rem, we both know L's never going to let Misa go; he knows she's seen his real name and she'll tell Kira if she's released. So, to save Misa, you're going to have to kill L. I've already written out a scenario for his death in my Death Note; all you have to do is add his name.'

The scenario plays out: L invites Light to a warehouse for a showdown and brings a gun with him. Light turns up and goes 'lol, yeah, I'm Kira, and you're only here because it's what I wrote down for your death; you've already lost.'

L shoots him!

And then it turns out that Light wrote that as well! He wanted a leg wound to make it look like he and L fought; his story is going to be that L was Kira.

L tries to struggle against the power of the Death Note, but there's nothing he can do; he ends up shooting himself in the head, just as Light wrote. Light revels in his victory.

And then Ryuk goes 'well, it's boring now that your opponent's dead, isn't it? There's no game; everything's over.' He writes Light's name in his Death Note and shows it to Light.

Light flips out! He clings to Ryuk, he begs to be spared, he lunges for the gun and fires uselessly at Ryuk until the barrel is empty. He starts desperately singing 'Hurricane', his earlier song from the height of his power, in an effort to demonstrate that he's too godlike to die. And then, halfway through a line, he falls down dead next to L's body: human after all, nothing more than a brief entertainment for the gods.

Ryuk returns to the shinigami realm; Light's father finds Light and L's bodies in the warehouse and collapses to his knees. The last image of the musical is Misa flicking unhappily through her Death Note; it's not clear whether she's planning to write her own name or to take up the role of Kira.

Whoa, thanks for the summary! I do like the drama of Light planning out every aspect of L's death in a show of his perfect reasoning skills (and impending chronic leg bullet wound). And also Ryuk - definitely more satisfying for Ryuk to end up killing Light as he first said he would than killing him when he was already dying as in the anime. Thematically I sort of enjoy the predatory god eaten by the bigger predatory god though I'm sure Rem is still rolling in her grave (rolling... in the dust?) about all of this.

I hope Misa finds something good in life!

Light's fatal flaw is he can't stand that he became a murderer just to try out a magic notebook!! Gotta justify it to himself somehow. Becoming a god, that makes sense, yup.

One of my favourite things about Light! It's a shame that the musical didn't include his 'oh, fuck, am I a murderer?? no, no, obviously it was justifiable and in fact it was the right thing to do and in fact I should KEEP doing it' meltdown from the manga.

The Japanese lyricists agreed with you because that's how the Japanese version of Hurricane starts!

(Commenting on DW because LJ no longer loads for me, for some reason.) I've been enjoying all of your posts about the Death Note musical, but I'm especially delighted by the knowledge that L is played by Colin Ryan, best known to me as Alphinaud from FFXIV. I don't know if you're familiar with it, but among other things Alphinaud is sort of your little baby brother, so it's funny to hear that he's also very good at playing a morally ambiguous weirdo.

I've seen a playthrough of the main A Realm Reborn storyline and never got any further, so I've met Alphinaud, who I mainly just remember as being an elf who's kind of a fun little shit, but I don't think he was played by Colin Ryan at the time. Ryan was so good in the role of L, though.

It sounds like a great experience! Ryuk hiding in Light's bed is a great idea lol.

I'm so delighted by Ryuk hiding in Light's bed! I puzzled for so long over how he'd suddenly appeared; I wasn't expecting the explanation to be so hilarious.

Colin Ryan remains incredible in the role of L. One thing that struck me, watching from the front row, is that he barely blinks at all; he keeps up that wide-eyed stare at all times. Impressive dedication, but I was worried about him! Sir, don't your eyes hurt?

MY EYES ARE WATERING JUST READING THIS. No seriously, on my Twitch channel, I have a Channel Points thing that people can use to tell me to blink, because what happens is that I often forget to blink because I'm busy reading dialogue, and then my eyes rebel and start burning and tearing. I can only imagine that he puts eye drops in every time he's backstage!

Don't do this to yourself, Ryan! Only the people in the front rows can even tell! You're a fantastic L, but your eyes are more important than the role, I promise.

Oooh okay... decision made, haha, I'm gonna go and see it!! (Let me know if you wanna go one more time, haha.)

Ha, thank you for the offer! I can't say it's not tempting, but three times in a six-week run really would be excessive. I hope you have a great time!

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Gazing Upon The Barbican Monolith.

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