“Ayla”: new original musical with West End stars — semi-staged concert on 30 November at The Other Palace

The new original musical “Ayla” will have its one-night semi-staged concert at London’s The Other Palace on 30 November 2026, as BroadwayWorld reports. After several years of development through workshops, readings, concerts and recordings, the project by acclaimed composer and producer Gianluca Cucchiara and Academy Award and BAFTA-winning producer Giovanna Romagnoli takes its first step towards a London audience, accompanied by a four-piece band.

The cast is led by Nathania Ong, known from “Les Misérables”, who will play Ayla. She is joined by Djavan van de Fliert (“Frozen”) as Mohr, singer-songwriter Arlissa, known for the hit “Hard to Love Somebody”, as Sindah, Astrid Harris (“Titaníque”) as Tonah, Glenn Adamson (“Bat Out of Hell”) as Rooh and Jonathan Andrew Hume (“The Lion King”) as Crohm. According to the announcement, the remaining cast will be announced in the coming days.

Set in a future where a dying natural world has divided communities through fear and a struggle for survival, the musical follows a young woman faced with a choice: to accept the world she has inherited or to find the courage to change it. The production’s tagline — “When the world lost its fire, she found her own” — sums up the spirit of the show: a story of courage, leadership and the choice to imagine a future beyond fear and division.

The project follows the release of the concept album, which, according to the producers, is reaching a growing international audience. The music was written by Gianluca Cucchiara, the lyrics by Andrew James Whelan and the book by Clive Frayne, while the adaptation for The Other Palace is the work of Cucchiara and Romagnoli, based on an original concept by Tony Cucchiara. Michael Conley is the dramaturg and Eleesha Drennan directs.