Review: EVERLASTING LILY, Lya Luca (Workshop)

A new musical with book, music and lyrics written by Lya Luca, Everlasting Lily is a fairytale story in the modern world - think Disney crossed with Bridgerton.  A young woman unexpectedly becomes Queen of an entire island and gets tangled up in a web of lies.  Figuring out who she is and how she can escape leads to everyone around her questioning everything they thought they knew.

Still in workshop stages, the performance comes together well.  A talented cast with skilfully written songs, passionate and informative storytelling; the lyrics and music appear stronger than the dialogue, clearly showing the writer’s strengths. 

However, there are humorous elements to the script as well as grief and desperation so whilst upbeat, it does not remove the seriousness of the story.

It would be nice to see a more clear-cut divide between the ‘Royals’ and the ‘servants’; all dialogue is in received pronunciation, which gives the effect that all characters are on the same societal level.

A particular mention goes to the duet ‘All We Need is Now’ performed by Isaiah (Charlie Booker) and Ben (Daniel Walford) - a stand out moment for us.  Sarah Pugh (Princess Rose/Doctor Jennings) also has some lovely comedic moments and stunning vocals.

This piece has a lot of potential and is thoroughly enjoyable to watch. We look forward to seeing a finished performance soon.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Rachel Louise Martin