Making a Murderer: The Musical is a beautifully crafted, tongue in cheek, satirical show that at its beating heart has a message of hope and social justice.
From the opening I was hooked, Emma Norman was fantastic as Betsy the tour guide, we begin with a song that sets the scene and tempo for the whole show. The lyrics are smart and satirical poking fun at the American small town mentality and the discrimination that goes along with that.
The casting is so on point and the ensemble of characters, and their portrayals is phenomenal, this is a talented set of performers!
The show really highlights the incompetence of the police force in regard to the case in beautifully tongue in cheek chorus number.
The set is simple yet sleek and stylish and the use of multiple media types to progress the narrative is modern and innovative as the musical runs alongside clips from the original documentary.
Aside from the wonderful comedy moments and upbeat good natured mocking of true crime fans this show tells a deeply emotional story and with the medium of song has some truly hard hitting moments. In particular the song in memory of the murder victim Theresa Halbach was really quite hauntingly beautiful and harmonized with perfection.
There was a wonderfully diverse range of music from ballads to pithy upbeat chorus numbers and all of them were performed with precision and passion.
The show culminates with a strong message and shines a light on the important work of the innocence of project who work ceaselessly to free innocent people and prevent wrongful convictions.
This is a well made show, with a gifted cast and a strong story. I can only sing the praises of this smart, funny, show with a heart!
Playing until 29th August, further details and tickets can be found HERE.
Reviewer: Kat Clifford
Reviewed: 9th August 2022
North West End UK Rating: ★★★★★