For the Lack of Laura – Shaw Theatre

I have medals in Irish dancing. My Dún Laoghaire-born father busks in Borough Market with a fiddle, and my youngest sister plays jigs on a penny whistle, so one might say the Emerald Isle is in my blood. This cultural heritage led me like a lilting leprechaun to a musical by Kurt Rosenberg called For the Lack of Laura. It’s billed as, ‘a new Irish fantasy romance musical with Celtic and classic musical theatre-inspired songs. That’s a lot to live up to and a risky mixed grill to say the least.

Thankfully, this project is in highly skilled hands. Over 26 songs, using a 12-person cast and a couple of hours, the show conjures up a charming and often dazzling dose of entertainment. Kurt Rosenberg is a multi-award-winning composer, lyricist, filmmaker, and theatre creative who hails from the USA. He’s been obsessed with Celtic music since he heard Harry’s Game by the Donegal based band, Clannad, which apparently had a profound effect on him.

He’s been writing Scottish/Irish inspired music ever since. For this project, he handed Production duties to Morgan Brothers, who are critically acclaimed creative producers from Galway, Ireland. They specialise in film production, theatre, storytelling and music. The pedigree of these combined talents shines through. There are more than a few bangers in this show, and it never lapses into the kind of musical theatre that irks those who are resistant to the genre.

For the Lack of Laura also features a 16-piece orchestra, playing live on stage. That rare spectacle alone, makes this show worth the ticket. Incidentally, The Overture was recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the iconic Air Studios, London. There’s a whacking great harp getting a plucking throughout the proceedings. In addition, we’re treated to a string section and at one point, the bodhrán, a traditional goatskin Irish drum that pre-dates Christianity. Big nod to the flautist, who sporadically weaved a mystical Irish vibe.

The show feels pitched towards a young adult crowd, judging by the marketing. It’s basically a cheery fairy tale with songs. It’s hard to tell what kids might make of it, but judging by the popularity of Disney musicals, they could go wild for it. The crowd at the rather underused Shaw Theatre were more likely to be worried about the Winter Fuel Allowance than who’s big on Tik Tok, but it seems pensioners need a tune laden time-trip fantasy as much as the kids. Also, when Laura meets a 1920s playwright, he sings about dipping quill into ink. That was definitely a lewd euphemism. Thankfully, the kids of today have no reference points for early 20^th century stationary banter.

This musical odyssey has Laura at its centre, played brilliantly by Jane Patterson, a session singer from Galway who’s done backing vocals for Dua Lipa and Elton John. She’s a star in the making. If Patterson doesn’t become a West End wonder or find her way to Hollywood, it will be a showbiz scandal. Her voice is incredible, and Patterson leads this show with confident aplomb. Her character Laura is a gobby young Irish lass from a twee, but dull village who cuts a cavalier immortality bargain with a malevolent sorceress called Gwendolethe (Mo Lombardo).

With eternal life under her belt, Laura then has the power to travel through time and space to find the man of her dreams. Using a slightly shonky version of a Tardis, she is tempted by a Spanish matador, a French Impressionist painter, a playwright from the American South, a Bolshoi ballet dancer, and an English vicar. 

Lombardo is fabulous as the mystical witch figure and delivers a theatrical villain with an uproarious evil laugh and gorgeous vocals. Laura’s encounters in these distant cultures, with archetypal suitors are a great excuse for the composers and musicians to flex their range. There’s a bluesy jazz number in New Orleans and flamenco flourishes in Madrid. The scenes with Salvador the matador (Keith Hanley) were camp, sexy and hugely entertaining. While the plot is a playful hybrid of ancient myths and Grimm-like fantasies, one could quite easily view the entire premise as an analogy for contemporary online dating. As with Tinder, few of her suitors are as hot and tempting as they first appear. Laura winds up despairing that even with the luxury of eternity, it’s still almost impossible to find a decent man. Exactly like a quest on Grindr.

Thankfully, unlike the digital meat market, souls are searched, lessons are learned and there’s a happy ending in this Irish flight of fancy. It would be rude to reveal who our heroine chooses to spend her life with and why. For the Lack of Laura is great fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The cast are impressively talented and hit the right tone throughout, sometimes underplaying the potentially cartoonish characters and occasionally, hamming it up with a wink. It’s no mean feat to get a new musical off the ground and wheeling a full orchestra onto the stage is neither cheap nor easy, so it deserves to be a hit, because they did it, understood the assignment and served it with enjoyable enthusiasm. As the Irish would say, ‘Go maith!’

For the Lack of Laura is at The Shaw Theatre until 2nd August

The Shaw Theatre | The Shaw Theatre

Reviewer: Stewart Who?

Reviewed: 25th July 2025
North West End UK Rating: