Independent Arts News Reporting World Premiere of FIGARO: An Original Musical
Reported on Monday, April 20, 2024
Pictured Above: Show Art for FIGARO, premiering at the London Palladium. Photo Credit: Contributed.
The New Musical Figaro: An Original Musical will have its World Premiere with two special performances at the London Palladium in February, 2025
NEWSROOM POST: NEW YORK, NEW YORK
New York, NY – From a Tony Award® and GRAMMY Award winning producing team, Ashley Jana and Will Nunziata’s Figaro: An Original Musical will receive its world premiere at the iconic London Palladium with two fully staged concert performances on Monday 3 February & Tuesday 4 February 2025.
Figaro: An Original Musical is brought to the stage by a stellar creative team that includes singer/songwriter, Ashley Jana, who has over 60 million streams of her music online, and award-winning director and writer Will Nunziata, whose production of White Rose: The Musical just finished an acclaimed run off-Broadway. Van Dean is a Tony Award® and GRAMMY Award winning producer of 15 Broadway musicals and plays including Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club and Jagged Little Pill plus is a co-producer of the forthcoming film musical Kiss of the Spider Woman starring Jennifer Lopez. Michael Lamon is a Tony Award® nominated producer with credits including Merrily We Roll Along, A Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, and SMASH (2025).
Set in mid-1800s Italy, Figaro: An Original Musical is the hauntingly beautiful tale of Sienna, a young woman who dreams of singing but feels imprisoned by her life on her father’s farm. When a chance encounter with two young orphans thrusts her into the life of a traveling performer, she meets the handsome Figaro, who promises to make all her dreams come true – but there is always a price to fame. Part love story, part mystery, Sienna’s journey to discover herself and live the life she always wanted is fraught with twists and turns until it culminates in a moment that will change the course of her life forever.
Will Nunziata said: “I met Ashley during the height of the pandemic over social media after listening to some of her music. Ashley’s unique storytelling ability combined with her thrilling melodies and lyrics left me floored. After hundreds of Zooms over three years, it has resulted in a finished book and score we are both really proud of. I cannot wait for the world to hear and see this musical for the first time on the West End at the world-famous London Palladium with a stellar cast of superstars to be announced soon! I know it’s just the beginning for this show!”
Ashley Jana added: “The day Will Nunziata came into my life, my dream of writing a musical began to come true! Will is an incredibly gifted writer, and he is also the best collaborator/director that anyone could ever ask for. Never have I enjoyed the creative journey more and I am so excited for the world to hear and see our show in London on the West End!”
Tickets for Figaro: An Original Musical In Concert at the London Palladium are on priority sale from 10am and general sale from 12pm today HERE.
ASHLEY JANA is a singer/songwriter, producer, and engineer whose music has independently garnered over 60 million streams. Her original music has been featured on HBO, NBC, Showtime, Lifetime, Bravo, Vice, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, CNN, TLC, TNT, Oxygen, and more. 20 of her original songs have been featured on the hit show “Dance Moms”, with her song “Feels So Good”, co-produced with Grammy winner Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins landing on the hit show “Empire”. She also wrote the topline melody of “Jelly Jelly” for K-pop sensation TWICE, the topline melody of “Scelgo Ancora Te” for Italian superstar Giorgia, and most recently, the song “Trouble” for America’s Got Talent Allstar, Daneliya Tuleshova. Ashley works out of her home studio, where she provides a wide range of online music production services, and she recently completed production for the world premiere album version of her new musical, co-written with Will Nunziata, Figaro: An Original Musical. For more about Ashley Jana, please visit www.ashleyjana.com
WILL NUNZIATA is a NYC-based award-winning director, writer, and creator of theatre, concert, television, and film. Film: The Old Guitarist (Writer, Director). Awards: London Movie Awards (Best Short Film, Best Director), New York Movie Awards (Best First Time Director of a Short), Paris Film Awards (Best First Time Director of a Short), among others. Screenplay: Lillith (Winner of Best Original Screenplay, 2023 Hollywood Blood Horror Festival and Winner of Best Horror Screenplay, 2024 New York Screenplay Competition). Theatre: Figaro: An Original Musical (Director, Co-Book Writer – West End 2025), White Rose: The Musical (Director – Off-Broadway), An Entirely Ordinary Town: A New Musical (Director), Faygele: A New Play (Director), By The End Of Tonight (Director), Little Black Book: A New Musical (Co-Creator). Miss Peggy Lee (Director, Writer, Co-Conceiver) starring Tony Award winner Cady Huffman. Award: Broadway World Best Director. Concerts: Will has written and directed shows for Tony Award winner Lillias White, Platinum recording artist Jackie Evancho, Soul Train Award winner Nicole Henry, and Grammy Award nominee Clint Holmes, to name a few. For twenty years Will performed professionally, singing across the country and around the world with his twin brother, singer-songwriter Anthony Nunziata, culminating in co-headlining Carnegie Hall with the NY Pops Symphony Orchestra. Will is a proud graduate of Boston College and a member of the Stage Directors & Choreographers Union. For more, please visit www.WillNunziata.com and @willnunzofficial on Instagram.
VAN DEAN is a Tony Award® and GRAMMY award winning producer of 15 Broadway musicals and plays (including Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club, Jagged Little Pill, Anastasia, How To Dance in Ohio, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess, Big Fish, Catch Me If You Can, Evita, The Best Man, The Velocity of Autumn), 300+ musical theater-related recordings (including Matilda, The Color Purple, Gutenberg (Broadway), Anastasia, How To Dance in Ohio, My Fair Lady, If The Fates Allow: Hadestown Holiday Album, Caroline, or Change, Assassins, The Lightning Thief), as well as numerous Broadway/National Tours, Off-Broadway musicals, concert events, 4 West End productions (Bonnie & Clyde, Your Lie in April, Blippi and Master Class).
Van is a co-producer on the forthcoming film musical of “Kiss of the Spider Woman” starring Jennifer Lopez and written and directed by Academy Award winner Bill Condon. Dean is also a co-producer of the feature film documentary “Midsummer in Newtown” which premiered as a Spotlight selection at Tribeca Film Festival. He also has several other film and television musicals in pre-production.
Van is President and Founder of Center Stage Records and also co-founded Broadway Records. His philanthropic work includes being a producer of “Broadway For Orlando: What The World Needs Now is Love”, Broadway United’s “We Are The World”, “Broadway Kids Against Bullying: I Have a Voice”, “From Broadway With Love” benefit concerts for Sandy Hook, Orlando (Emmy Award winner for sound design) and Parkland as well his work with NewArts in Sandy Hook/Newtown, CT and serving on the Board of The Oscar Hammerstein II Museum and Education Center.
MICHAEL LAMON is a Tony Award® nominated producer, Purple Heart recipient, and former Presidential Management Fellow. Broadway credits as a producer include Merrily We Roll Along, A Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, and SMASH (2025). West End credits as an investor include Dr. Semmelweis, Ocean at the End of the Lane, The Crucible, and A Strange Loop. Concert: A Little Night Music with Cynthia Erivo at Lincoln Center (June 2024) and Figaro: An Original Musical at The London Palladium (Lead Producer | Feb 2025).
With over 25 years of diverse vocal and instrumental music experience, Michael has performed all the way from Carnegie Hall to The Warped Tour to Al Anbar, Iraq. Michael is also the Executive Director and Founder of The Apollo Fund, an arts non-profit in NYC.
Michael resides in NYC with his wife (Julia), and two children (Livia and Titus). He holds a Master of Public Administration in International Economic Policy from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Music from Concordia College, MN.
CARTER DIXON MCGILL PRODUCTIONS are an Olivier nominated production and general management company with offices in London and Glasgow. Co-founded by John-Webb Carter, Jamie Chapman Dixon & Stephen McGill, they have over 30 years of experience within the entertainment industry. Recent productions include: Your Lie in April the Musical (Harold Pinter Theatre), Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour (Harold Pinter Theatre), Your Lie in April the Musical in Concert (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Pippin 50th Anniversary Concert (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) Wild About You (Theatre Royal Drury Lane), Death Note the Musical (London Palladium & Lyric Theatre), Death Note Original cast Album, Blippi: the Wonderful World Tour and Treason the Musical (UK Tour).
Previous productions include; Blippi the Musical (Apollo Theatre & Lyric Theatre); Chess (Drury Lane Theatre); Kinky Boots (Drury Lane Theatre); Treason (Drury Lane Theatre), Wonderville: Magic &; Illusion (Palace Theatre, London); Death Drop (Criterion Theatre, Garrick Theatre & UK Tour); Icon: The Kpop Musical (Workshop); Operation Crucible (Sheffield Crucible); Tomorrow Morning (Feature Film); The Pyjama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre, London); Fame (UK/International Tour & West End); the Art of Banksy (Exhibition); Madagascar (UK/International Tour); Spamalot (UK, Dubai & South Korea); Hair 50th Anniversary Production (UK Tour & Cologne); The Steamie (SSE Hydro in Glasgow); The 39 Steps (Windsor Theatre Royal); Operation Crucible (59E59 Theater, New York); Tonight at the London Coliseum (London Coliseum); Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense (UK Tour); Lottys War (UK Tour); American Idiot (UK Tour & West End); Crucible (UK Tour); Judy! (Arts Theatre); Footloose (UK Tour); Flashdance (UK Tour); Of Mice & Men(UK Tour); Treason the Musical In Concert (Cadogan Hall); Little Shop of Horrors (UK Tour); The Crucible (UK Tour); Dark Sublime (Trafalgar Studios); The Last of the De Mullins (Jermyn Street Theatre); Facing East: In Concert (Lyric Theatre); The Tailor Made Man (Arts Theatre); An Incident at the Border (Trafalgar Studios) and Pippin (Southwark Playhouse).
