Dark of the Moon’s clashing score undermines its Charing Cross Theatre premiere

Dark of the Moon | Charing Cross Theatre until 8th August 2026

The Curse of Charing Cross strikes again — Dark of the Moon Casts a Spell It Can’t Sustain

There’s something I’ve come to think of as the “Curse of Charing Cross.” This is the third musical I’ve seen at that theatre where, as the interval arrived, a portion of the audience made a determined dash for the exit, presumably heading for the sanctuary of Charing Cross Station. Each time, I’ve been torn between joining them and shouting “Cowards!” after them. Dark of the Moon had me wavering.

The premise is intriguing: John, a young witch boy, falls in love with Barbara Allen, a human girl from an Appalachian small town. A deal is struck with dark forces: if Barbara remains faithful for a year, John can become fully human, and they can be together. It’s part love story, part folk horror, and part meditation on prejudice and belonging. The original play dates back to the 1940s and has a fascinating historical footnote: in 1943, it was in the running to be produced by the New York Theatre Guild alongside a new musical they were considering. That other musical was Away We Go! The Guild chose the musical, which then had its title changed and became Oklahoma! The play had successful runs at the time in both New York and London but has waited eighty years for its debut as a musical.

The show has a Stranger Things connection, which is probably why it’s landed in London for its world premiere. The original play features prominently in Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the West End prequel production, and British audiences who’ve seen that show will recognise the name. Someone, clearly, had the idea: if they’re doing a bit of the play in Stranger Things, why not musicalise the whole thing? And they have. The production has duly answered the question of why perhaps they shouldn’t have.

The score is one of its more unusual elements. The humans sing country and bluegrass, rooted in that Appalachian earth, warm and familiar. The witches sing rock, which makes them feel otherworldly and dangerous. It’s a clever idea on paper, but the execution is what I’d call bonkers and bipolar: the tonal lurching never quite settles, and the score carries its own internal contradictions through the entire evening.

The saddest thing, as I found with A Mirrored Monet at the same venue, is that genuinely talented people are on this stage. There’s great singing, real commitment, and some striking performances. Glenn Adamson, known to West End audiences as Strat from Bat Out of Hell, brings the rock credentials and physical presence the role demands. Lauren Jones is a strong Barbara Allen. The lighting is very good, but the material, the material, oh dear.

John, incidentally, agrees to this supernatural deal on Barbara’s behalf without actually asking her whether she’s comfortable with the arrangement. The townsfolk, meanwhile, take until the interval to realize he’s a witch, despite the fact that, up until that point, he can push his hands out and people fall over. The tragic ending, when it comes, will surprise precisely nobody.

Dark of the Moon has a compelling premise, some talented performers, and genuinely striking staging, but the bonkers, bipolar score and a story that never quite finds its footing let the whole thing down. A frustrating near-miss.

More Charing Cross Theatre coverage to come from EyeOnLondon as the venue’s run of new musicals continues.

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