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| Rumi: The Musical | |
|---|---|
| Music | Dana Al Fardan, Nadim Naaman |
| Lyrics | Dana Al Fardan, Nadim Naaman |
| Book | Nadim Naaman |
| Setting | 13th-century Konya, Turkey |
| Premiere | 23 November 2021: London Coliseum, London |
Rumi: The Musical is a musical with music and lyrics by Dana Al Fardan and Nadim Naaman and a book by Naaman.[1] The show is based on a story by Evren Sharma and follows the relationship 13th century poet Rumi and his mentor Shams Tabrizi.[2][3] The show premiered on 23 and 24 November 2021 as a semi-staged concert at the London Coliseum.[3]
The 2021 London Coliseum production was directed by Bronagh Lagan and choreographed by Anjali Mehra.[2] Music was provided by a 29-piece orchestra.[4]
In December 2022 the show was staged as part of the 2022 D'reesha Performing Arts Festival in Qatar.[5] This version was cut down to a one hour long concert.[6]
Despite his loving family in Konya, Rumi yearns to find a spiritual companion ("Find My Guide"). He meets Shams Tabrizi, but their relationship incites jealousy with some of Rumi's followers ("Mad Man"). Meanwhile, Rumi's stepdaughter Kimya has fallen in love with his son, Aladdin, and the two wait for the right time to inform their parents ("When").[7]
Rumi ultimately arranges a marriage between Shams and Kimya, leading Kimya to commit suicide.[8]
In June 2021 a concept album for the show was released.[9] By November 2021 the album had received over 100,000 streams on Spotify.[1] The show's lyrics are partially derived from Rumi's poetry.[10][11]
| Concept Album[9] | 2021 London Coliseum[3] | 2022 Qatar[5] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rumi | Nadim Naaman | ||
| Shams Tabrizi | Ramin Karimloo | ||
| Kimya | Casey Al-Shaqsy | ||
| Kara | Soophia Foroughi | ||
| Sultan Valed | Sharif Afifi | Yazdan Qafouri | |
| Aladdin | Ahmed Hamad[12] | ||
| Husam | Irvine Iqbal | Johan Munir | |
| Sayyed | Alim Jayda | Benjamin Armstrong[12] | |
Broadway World gave the show a positive review, noting that although there were some pacing issues in the first act, the cast was very strong.[1] Theatre Weekly also noted pacing issues, but praised the show's "powerful score".[13]
The New Arab noted how Rumi's poetry had been interwoven with the show's music, but felt that the secondary characters and their relationships were largely underdeveloped, and that some of the acting felt static.[7] TRT World also criticized the show for underdevelopment of its female characters, for basing the work on a story rather than sticking closer to historical accounts, and for a "confusing" plot.[8]