Saving Mozart at The Other Palace

Last Updated on August 6, 2025

An ambitious musical about creativity with a very talented cast

3.0 out of 5.0 stars

Much has been dramatised about Wolfgang’s rivalry with Salieri. Saving Mozart, a new musical with a limited run at The Other Palace Theatre, refreshingly focuses on Mozart’s relationships closer to home, starting with him as a child. Like many men who gained notoriety for their talents, he was initially inspired by a woman, or rather a girl to be accurate: his sister Nannerl, the original musical prodigy in the Mozart family. While Nannerl and Wolfgang’s father, Leopold, pushed his children to achieve musical success, Leopold’s determination to conform to societal norms meant that he ultimately stopped his daughter from becoming a professional musician. As he put it, for a woman to do so in those times (the 1700s) was akin to her “being a whore”. This creates a tension between Nannerl and Wolfgang, who leaves home, that drives the plot. 

Saving Mozart, whose book, music and lyrics is all by Charli Eglinton, is admirably ambitious in its aims: to champion the two women – his sister and wife – who were integral in Mozart finding his musical style and ‘voice’; to bring a modernity to the music by embedding Mozart’s own within new, original compositions, and combine narratives about Mozart’s early life and family members with his passage to success. Eglinton is undoubtedly talented and is likely to be a huge success herself in the future, but ‘Saving Mozart’ is currently not fully developed. Hamilton and Six are obvious influences (Hamilton arguably too much so, to the point where one narrative device is copied directly in a way that takes you out of the action of Saving Mozart as you clock the comparison). However, unlike these other shows, ‘Saving Mozart’ is too earnest, with its lyrics lacking the necessary wit and subtext to achieve what the production is trying to do.  Nannerl’s narrative is not balanced correctly against Wolfgang’s, with hers being sidelined. Breadth is prioritised over depth, resulting in a confusing mix of styles in the staging and inconsistency in the direction.

The six chorus members of Saving Mozart are great but somewhat superfluous; their character parts could easily have been multi-rolled by all the other actors apart from the two playing Mozart and Nannerl. The choreography by Taylor Walker blends traditional waltzing with contemporary dance, but the constant movement on a relatively small stage was distracting and looked amateurish. The musical numbers that worked best were when there were no more than three actors on stage or when there was some stillness; this allowed the emotional heart of the characters to be showcased and for the audience to connect deeper with them. Standout songs are “He’s Only A Child”, an emotional ballet by Mozart’s mother about how breaking down a child’s spirit doesn’t build them up, performed wonderfully by Gloria Onitiri, and a great, poppy and flirty duet “You Just Don’t Know It Yet”, between Wolfgang Mozart and his prospective wife Constanze. 

It is the talent of the experienced cast that is Saving Mozart’s biggest strength. Jack Chambers is charming as Wolfgang Mozart, with a mellifluous voice, mixing vulnerability with drive and child-like enthusiasm with adult realism. Chambers is on stage for most of the production, and his powerful performance carries the show, bringing an appropriately understated authority and a necessary consistency in the quality of his portrayal. 

Aimie Atkinson, who in 2019 was nominated at the 2019 Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role as Catherine Parr in SIX, plays Nannerl. Atkinson is an outstanding performer, but the material doesn’t allow her to fully realise the narrative arc and emotional range that she does her best to demonstrate with what she has.  In the first act, the sass and ‘Six’-like cadence that Atkinson brings sometimes jars against Chambers’s more classic voice. However, this could have been turned into a strength had Nannerl been allowed to showcase her bitterness, resentment and grief for having to give up her ambitions. Instead, all her songs in Act 2, where she is forced to live a constrained, domestic life looking after her ailing father, focus on her feelings for and about her brother and father. This is the main frustration of the show, that the feminist angle it implicitly purports to bring is not fully realised.  

Act 2 starts with an immediate increase in energy from Act 1, which is welcome. The staging, with the use of smoke, more colour in the costumes and lighting, becomes more exciting. The introduction of the excellent Erin Caldwell as Constanze, Mozart’s wife and the increased stage time for Jordan Luke Gage, as Salieri, is very welcome; they both bring a sexy gravitas, tension and modernity that works. Both these characters inspire Mozart, albeit in different ways, and we see him begin to find his voice, to decide to “write music for the people” and be on the road to personal, if necessarily professional, success. However, the recurring motif of Mozart’s melancholy about leaving and disappointing his sister and father undermines the narrative’s momentum. 

The character of Salieri is underwritten, which means that the actor Jordan Luke Gage, who brings a great swagger to the role, is underutilised. Regardless, though, it’s fantastic to be able to watch the very talented Gage: a natural and experienced musical theatre star who has immense stage presence. 

The climax – if not the actual ending – of the show is a poignant musical scene with no singing in which Mozart’s glory, artistic creativity and emotional achievement are captured beautifully by the direction and Chamber’s acting. 

Come for the performances and to support a fledgling musical that undoubtedly has promise (albeit requiring refinement), leave having learnt about the female Mozart legend whose own promise was not allowed to be realised. 

Saving Mozart is on until 30th August at The Other Palace Theatre

The Other Palace Theatre
12 Palace Street
London, SW1E 5JA

All images by Danny Kaan

Looking for something different? We also recommend Evita, currently showing at the London Palladium