Podcast Summary

Podcast: MickeyJoTheatre
Host: Mickey Jo
Episode: 50 First Dates The Musical (The Other Palace Theatre, London) - ★★★★ REVIEW
Release Date: October 1, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Mickey Jo delivers a comprehensive review of the new stage musical adaptation of "50 First Dates," recently premiered at The Other Palace in London. Based on the 2004 film starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore, the musical explores romance, memory, and sincerity. Mickey Jo discusses the show's unique approach, divergence from the original film, performances, music, and how well it functions as a new addition to the musical theatre canon, awarding it four stars and probing both its charms and its areas for growth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Premise and Adaptation Choices

[01:39–05:30]

• Plot Recap: The story focuses on Henry, who falls for Lucy, a woman with anterograde amnesia, meaning her memory resets every day. The challenge: how can someone court a person who never remembers the previous day?
• Nature as a Rom-Com Musical: Mickey Jo recognizes audience fatigue with film-to-musical adaptations, but argues, “Because of the extraordinary capacity that the story has for romance... I think this actually deserves to be a musical.” (04:43)
• Change of Setting: The stage musical moves the action from Hawaii to Key Largo, Florida. This avoids issues with Hawaiian tourism, opens casting, yet keeps the tropical vibes and ukulele culture.
• Henry’s Character Update: Henry, originally a marine biologist, is now a travel blogger who spends “one perfect day” in each city—a clever parallel to Lucy’s amnesia.

2. Tone and Structural Decisions

[05:30–13:50]

• Sincere Rather than Zany: The musical is lighter on the “oddball” comedy of the film, “moving the needle a little bit more towards the charming and the feel good and the romantic.” (09:42)
• Shift in Stakes: Mickey Jo feels that Henry’s emotional transformation is too sudden and the tension dissipates mid-show: “there’s just no source of tension whatsoever and everything is either going to work out happily or not.” (12:22)
• Community Support: Unlike the film, the community roots for Henry, singing “I shouldn’t like him, but I like him.”
• Handling Lucy's Memory: The show dramatizes the moment Lucy discovers her memory gap (“visceral emotional breakdown”), which prompts the honest system of diary and video reminders—yet Mickey Jo feels these emotional depths are not sufficiently revisited afterwards.
• Musical Highlights: A standout scene involves Ukulele Sue, played with warmth, singing about “what happens when Lucy has a bad day,” underlying the bittersweet mix of care and sorrow.

3. Pacing, Narrative Suggestions, and Set Design

[13:50–20:44]

• Structural Issues: The musical’s one-act format creates “a quality of slightness,” leaving some emotional potential unmined. “I think this wants to have an interval and there’s a lot of obvious places where you could put one.” (21:18)
• Missed Opportunities: Mickey Jo suggests raising the stakes (e.g., having Henry be further away during the musical’s final climaxes for added urgency) and exploring messier, more raw emotions—calling for a possible two-act structure in future.
• Effective Visual Motifs: The use of real-life couples’ “first date” photos in the set design parallels Lucy’s later paintings of Henry, a “callback to that slideshow, to that collage of all of these different images of love as his face, painted a dozen different ways, is plastered across the set as well, which is absolutely the defining emotional moment.” (16:39)

4. The Score and Musical Style

[20:44–24:23]

• Familiar Yet Serviceable: The score (David Rossmer & Steve Rosenberg) is “very familiar contemporary musical theatre,” sometimes pastiche, but “entirely decent.”
• Comic Relief: Chad St. Louis’s Sandy, a Disney-obsessed server, offers musical “Easter eggs,” and comic numbers reminiscent of Disney songs, which Mickey Jo enjoys.
• Romantic High Points: The 11 o’clock number, where Lucy explores her feelings through painting, stands out.
• Pacing and Development: Mickey Jo stresses that musical could be “something more substantial”—the brevity leaves emotional beats under-developed.

5. Book, Characterization, and Social Commentary

[24:23–28:30]

• Witty Script: The book is “really lovely,” especially Lucy’s humor:

  “She learned to walk with this stool right here.” When Henry asks, ‘don’t you get bored?’ Lucy retorts, “No, I love walking.” (23:40)

• Female Perspective & Agency: The show improves on the film by avoiding Lucy’s naiveté; she is portrayed as “smart, independent, creative, and deeply caring.” (24:03)
• Constructive Critiques:
  • Wishes for more Bechdel Test-passing scenes, and more representation of dementia or Alzheimer’s through supporting characters for added depth and resonance.
  • Cautions about ableist humor: “I don’t think that we should be using [memory loss] as a punchline. It might even be a little bit ableist.” (27:47)
• Parallel Relationships: Noted potential in paralleling Lucy and Henry’s story with an elderly couple facing similar memory challenges—could motivate character choices and deepen emotional resonance.

6. Performances & Supporting Cast

[28:30–32:55]

• Lead Performances:
  • Georgina Castle (Lucy): “Belting up there at the top of her range, sounding fantastic...it’s as satisfying to watch her fall in love with him as it is to watch her openly reject him.” (29:23)
  • Josh Sinclair (Henry): “Terrific leading man...deeply charismatic…not particularly Adam Sandlerish.” (30:33) His arc could use more nuance but he keeps Henry appealing and complex.
• Standout Supporting Cast:
  • Chad St. Louis (Sandy): “Utterly unique…wonderful, audacious vocal range, but so utterly lovable. Every single moment that Chad St. Louis is on stage is a gift.” (31:38)
  • Natasha O’ Brien (Henry’s agent): “Hysterically funny... She’s a star. I’ve known this for years and I’m not going to stop rooting for her.” (31:07)
  • Other notables include Aisha Nomi Pease, Ricky Rojas, John Marquez, and Charlie Toland.
• Comic Relief and Genuine Warmth: Humor is delivered with heart, particularly in scenes featuring Lucy’s family and the diner staff.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On emotional stakes:

  “We just need the stakes to be that little bit higher.” (13:05)

• Visual Symmetry:

  “...callback to that slideshow, to that collage of all of these different images of love...which is absolutely the defining emotional moment.” (16:39)

• On the score:

  “I was pleasantly surprised that it was entirely decent. It’s very familiar of contemporary musical theatre... It’s all absolutely and entirely a decent enough score.” (20:44)

• Character Praise:

  “It’s as satisfying to watch her fall in love with him as it is to watch her openly reject him on the days that it doesn’t work critically.” (29:23)

• Community response:

  “There’s a lyric they sing during his repetitive courtship... ‘I shouldn’t like him, but I like him.’” (09:52)

• Constructive criticism:

  “I wish there were one other character with dementia or Alzheimer’s so that you could also explore that version of it.” (27:07) “…I think she deserves a song. Either that or I just want to hear it. She’s a star.” (31:14)

Timestamps of Key Segments

• Plot & adaptation intro: 01:39–05:30
• Tone, character & structure: 05:30–13:50
• Production/staging critique: 13:50–20:44
• Discussion of score and musical style: 20:44–24:23
• Thoughts on the book and representation: 24:23–28:30
• Lead & supporting cast discussion: 28:30–32:55
• Final thoughts: 32:55–33:40

Conclusion

Mickey Jo warmly recommends "50 First Dates: The Musical" as “lovely date night” material, applauding its sincere, feel-good tone, winning performances, and visual touches. However, he advocates for greater emotional depth, more honest engagement with memory loss, and a possible expansion into a two-act format to fulfill its potential.

“Like a great first date, it could bloom into something more meaningful, more long-lasting and really deeply special and emotionally connecting. And I hope that it does.” (32:14)

For fans of the film, musical theatre, or new adaptations, this podcast provides an engaging, nuanced review rich with insight, critique, and theatre-buff passion.