Review: Charming! The Musical

Charming! The Musical is one of four shows by Grownup Playhouse currently playing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I went to review it at Just The Fancy Room at Just the Tonic at the Caves.

Tom Rolph plays the prince, who simply can’t understand why he’s not being offered a show (or film, or theme park) when all the princesses get these deals. In front of all of us “peasants”, he laments the fact that the princes always seem to be a support character in Disney shows.  Through speech as well as songs, he explains why he’s feeling this way.

Charming! is very much for all ages. The audience when I saw it was made up of some children with their parents, but also groups of adults. It’s the sort of production that will appeal to people who enjoy Disney or musicals, or – best of all – both of those things. But it will also appeal to anyone who simply wants to be entertained for a while by a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

The writing is intelligent with many nods to Disney shows either through wording and also familiarity with the music, but in terms of the music, not in a glaringly obvious way. A couple of times I was trying to place certain melodies and work out which Disney songs they were linking with in my brain. These subtle tonal references will resonate with Disney fans but it would not matter if someone was not able to identify them at all.

Our prince is not alone on stage, as he has support from a genie whose voice initially appears from a lamp. Towards the end of the show the genie does appear in human form, and this adds interest, not that the show is lacking in this way whatsoever.

The prince makes choices and wishes, at one point wishing for a song like the princesses have. The repercussions of this wish are hilarious.

When I was reviewing Charming!, out of nowhere there was the type of storm that makes headlines. The venue was evacuated quite near to the end of the show due to flooding.  I made the decision to go back and see it again later in the week, to catch the ending. I’m pleased to say I enjoyed it just as much the second time – perhaps even more as the songs were already familiar.

Without taking anything away from the genie (Joe Sartin) who appears towards the end of the production and helps lead the prince’s story through to its conclusion, Tom Rolph’s stage presence, hilarious facial expressions, putdowns to everyone else and vocals are absolutely perfect for this show.

I’ve seen a few musicals this summer, but it’s the songs from this one that have stayed in my head. I can't wait to see what Grownup Playhouse create next.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Charming! The Musical is showing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe until 30 August 2026. You can buy a ticket here.

If you would like to see my curtain call photographs from this and other shows, please visit my Instagram.

I was gifted a ticket for this show in exchange for an honest review.