I was one of the first people in the world to see the new workshop of the “Game of Thrones” inspired Musical, Tyrell. As an avid “Game of Thrones” fan who is also halfway through the books, I was very excited to see the new musical. What could be better than a “Game of Thrones” Musical when you are a huge fan of both the books and the show and have also been in the musical theatre world since middle school? The actress who played Olenna Tyrell (Alison Fraser) was hilarious. I was very excited to just laugh and laugh at all the puns for “Game of Thrones” superfans like myself. I was thrilled to live for a few hours in Westeros. How special is that? It even starred Kerstin Anderson, who I had just seen last December play Eliza in Broadway’s production of My Fair Lady opposite the ever wonderful Otterbein alum Jordan Donica. The “Game of Thrones” cast were strong performers and the younger leads playing Margaery and Loras Tyrell notable singers--especially Kerstin.
The musical was an odd cross between a farce and heavy material--perhaps taking itself too seriously. I genuinely believe this show would benefit from choosing one direction and running with it, my preference being humor over dark drama. I think a “Game of Thrones” musical could easily work considering the hilarious youtube video: “Coldplay's Game of Thrones: The Musical,” which actually featured many of the actual cast from the hit TV show (many of whom can sing). Take for example Iwan Rheon who plays Ramsey Bolton. He was actually Moritz in Spring Awakening in London.
Obviously, people will come to see a “Game of Thrones” musical--the room was basically sold out for a workshop where the actors used their scripts on stage. The show was put together in five days. Sometimes the actors would mess up a line and say “Bannisters” instead of Lannisters. This is a mistake a “Game of Thrones” fan would never make which led me to conclude that not casting avid “Game of Thrones” fans may have hurt the production as the actors may not have known their characters too well and often played their roles with stereotypical, Medieval pomposity. Ollena, however, was incredibly good at sticking to the original which made the show even that more funny. On a side note, Dixon Place seems like an incredible location to cultivate theatre. It’s a non-profit, black box theatre that rents out its space to deserving projects for free.
