Theatre Reviews

WHITE ROSE THE MUSICAL
Marylebone Theatre
27th Feb to 13th April 2025

“White Rose: The Musical is based upon the inspiring true story of a small group of university students in Munich, Germany, who secretly met to write, print and distribute leaflets exposing Hitler’s lies and Nazi deception. Their courage in the face of tyranny would ultimately lead to them paying the supreme sacrifice.

Sophie Scholl arrives in Munich to join her brother, Hans, and study at university. Inspired by a rebellious professor, Sophie and Hans form a small group of students to resist Nazi rule and doctrine. In passionate and articulate leaflets – printed in secret – the White Rose resistance group provides instructions for passive resistance and, ultimately, sabotage. Sophie is passionate, impulsive and bold… dangerous traits in Hitler’s Germany….”

Review by Richard Lambert, 2 Stars

WHITE ROSE is the true tale of a resistance group in Munich who published articles to educate and inform their fellow German citizens about the true nature of Nazi governance. It’s a crucial important story that should be told.

This is the first musical staged in the wonderful Marylebone Theatre, a venue that’s gone from strength to strength with productions such as THE WHITE FACTORY which deservedly hooverd up awards. THE WHITE FACTORY was another Nazi story, they’ve also programmed WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK and their opening production set in Russia, DMITRY. Coming up is FAYGELE a story about a young man who’s life changed at his Bar Mitzvah celebration. There does seem to be a theme which would be in keeping with the venue being the Rudolf Steiner Centre, an Austrian visionary.

So back to this production. It has been performed Off-Broadway but this is the UK Premiere. The thing with musicals is that the “book” needs to be written as a script along with lyrics that are sung. It all has to tie-in seamlessly with characters that have the hugely demanding skills to tie it all together and portray the book. Unfortunately, here, the cast look lovely but don’t manage the character gravitas of their situation. There’s a clean-cut drama school musical theatre image about them. Adorable but very “mamma mia”. The singing needs to be “legit” nailing the notes, especially in the harmonies, you can’t “slide” into a note like you’re performing a contemporary solo. The script is pedestrian and the pace of the show very under-whelming and slow. There was also a complete absence of choreography – just a lot of chair movements.

So having said all that, what are the positives? The Set evokes an image of poverty and barriers. The band are good. The scene changes landed in sync with the play-off music. The highlight of the evening was the lighting. Alex Musgrave has chosen styles that change from reality to a cabaret lighting for the musical numbers. This was the most dynamic aspect of the production and there are many beautiful looks created in the performance space.

In conclusion, a very important story that doesn’t quite match its potential.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner