00:06Hi, how are you? My name is Telly Leong. I play Ryuk, who is a Shinigami, a spirit of death,
00:14in Death Note, the musical, which is playing at the Barbican this summer. It is a dream come true
00:20for me to be on this stage. I am a big musical theater fan. Knowing that I'm on the same
00:25stage
00:25that Les Mis started at is huge for me. And also as an American, I love that I'm in London
00:30performing. This is where I call work every day. It's not bad for the office, right? But this is my
00:36view every night. So this is the first part of our backstage tour, and we are right now stage right
00:47of the Barbican. The first stop on our tour is actually the prop table. So when actors go on
00:52stage, this is a table that's been carefully labeled with all of our props, all the things
00:56that we need to pick up before we go on stage that are part of our play. This is one
00:59of my favorite
00:59props actually in this show. It's on stage for about like three seconds, but it's fake sushi,
01:04which I think it's hysterical. Also, Pocari Sweat. For any of my friends who've been to Japan,
01:09to Tokyo, this is like their version of like an electrolyte drink of like Gatorade. But Pocari Sweat,
01:15because our show takes place in Tokyo, these may look like their backstage snacks, but they're not.
01:20But actually, these vegan Colin the Caterpillars are actually a prop in our show because one of
01:25our actors has to eat them on stage. Of course, the most important prop in our entire show,
01:30the Death Notes. Now, there are several versions of the Death Notes. There are many Death Notes
01:35that are sort of hidden all over the set. There's also spare Death Notes that are all over the place.
01:40As you know, it's by far the most important prop in our show. It's the title of our show.
01:43These are the quills, the Shinigamis, the spirits of death, the characters that I play. We all write
01:48the names in the Death Note with our colored quills. And they're color coordinated for each
01:54of the Shinigamis. I get a red one. Grace, who plays Rem, she gets a white one. And Chloe,
02:00who plays Jerasu, gets an orange quill. These were a late addition to our props during previews.
02:06As you know, you know, the preview process, a musical is ever-changing and ever-evolving.
02:10We had about a week of previews where we would come in and rehearse the show every day at around
02:14one o'clock. We would put in changes, new lines, new jokes. Sometimes we would cut lines or cut
02:21numbers or rearrange numbers or change choreography. And then we would put it in that
02:25very night into the show. And we would test it in front of an audience. And sometimes what happens
02:30is the creative team watches it that night and they go, we love that, keep it. And then sometimes
02:34they go, we hate it, cut it, go back to the old version. But for all of us during previews,
02:37our brains are swimming in changes at all times. We open the show tomorrow, which means there's
02:42no more changes. And we get to freeze the show, which is very exciting because that's the version
02:47that we'll be doing for the next four weeks at the barbecue. Here is one of our major set pieces
02:52that sort of defines Light's room. Light is the human that I follow around during Death Note,
02:58the musical played by the wonderful Xander Pang. This desk you'll see goes on and off the stage all the
03:03time. A little theater trick. Some of these props are nailed down so that they don't they don't fly
03:08off this desk because this desk is actually attached to this track on the stage. Now these all of these
03:16furniture pieces, what happens is our automation crew and our automation team, they will what they
03:21what they call knife a piece of furniture into the track that attaches it so that this desk magically
03:29flies on stage at whatever speed we like and you don't see anybody moving the scenery on. So that's
03:34a little bit part of the theater magic. Come on back. Let's go upstage now. This is a gigantic theater.
03:38We have lots of wing space. Now watch your step. We're going to walk on stage. We're actually on the
03:43stage right now. So there is the Barbican Theater and the house. You'll also see on the ground because
03:49it's very dark backstage, there's arrows that sort of tell us where to go. This is by far one of
03:53the biggest
03:54back stages I've ever been to. It's massive. And so it's it's a maze back here. I would say I
03:59probably
04:00got lost a ton when I would exit the stage. I actually had no idea where to go next sometimes.
04:03So thank god for these arrows. You'll see what this says QC chair. QC stands for quick change. Our
04:10very hard working ensemble, they play a myriad of characters all through the show. They have quick
04:17changes sometimes that are as quick as like eight seconds, nine seconds, and they're back on stage as
04:22another character. During the show, their clothes are strategically laid out in a way where they can
04:27sort of strip their clothes and jump into the next outfit very quickly. Here are bits and pieces of
04:32Suichiro's office. Suichiro is Light Yagami's father, who's the chief of police, played by the amazing
04:38Paolo Montalban. I remember the first time I worked with Paolo, I was so starstruck. And now this is our
04:43third time working together. And we keep joking that like every 10 years or so, we're going to do a
04:47show
04:47together. That's that's me and Paolo. I also love that our pop department and our scenic department
04:52you know, they really have made everything so detailed down to like the pictures. This picture
04:57is a picture that nobody in the audience gets to see, but only the actors on stage have and they
05:02have a picture here that's like a point of reference. That's something that Paolo can use
05:05as an actor. Let's keep going this way. And you'll see our amazing crew and stage management team is
05:11getting ready and setting up for our rehearsals today and for our last preview performance tonight
05:16before we open tomorrow. And you'll see there are giant scenic pieces that sort of have to like get
05:21moved around and set up. And just just to give you an idea here, just a few of the things
05:25that you'll see eventually in the show. Misa Misa, our female leading lady, she is a pop star
05:30and we've given her sort of like a Lady Gaga at the piano moment. That is another giant scenic element
05:36that we've used. That's the Shinigami walkway that's able to go all the way up and be hidden above
05:42the stage and then it can actually touch down and even touch the stage. Because in our show,
05:46the gods from the Shinigami realm actually come down to earth and start messing with the humans.
05:52Now we are stage left. The first part of stage left I want to show you is actually this. This
05:56is
05:56where team sound lives. And as you can see, each one of our microphones is being carefully looked at
06:03for their levels. I mean, right now you see the lines are flat because there's no microphones being
06:07used. But during the show, this is where our amazing team sound is listening to us on the headphones,
06:12making sure that our microphones are working correctly. This is Light Yagami's bed. Oftentimes,
06:16because Ryuk is hanging out with Light, you'll see me often squatting on this bed and hanging out
06:21with him on this bed and chilling and bothering him and poking him and being an absolute nuisance.
06:26This is my dressing room. So come on in. I am in dressing room E3. The other night,
06:30legendary director John Kerr, who was the co-director of Les Miserables, which started here at the
06:36Barbican. I asked John, I said, am I in Patti LuPone's dressing room? Because I think I am.
06:41I think it would have been Valjean, Javert, then Patti as Fantine in the third dressing room.
06:46And John looked around the dressing room. He's like, yeah, I think this was Patti LuPone's
06:48dressing room. I feel Patti LuPone's vibes and the good energy here. Actually, the first day I came
06:53into this dressing room, on Broadway, we have a tradition. Anybody that's in a dressing room
06:56will take a Sharpie and will sign under the desks. I will sign our name and say what show we're
07:01in.
07:01The first thing I did, I came in this room. I was like, is Patti's name under the desk? I
07:04guess that's not
07:04really a tradition here at the Barbican. So they're much more proper here. They're not going to sign their names
07:08under
07:08the desk. But maybe I'll leave my initials somewhere, somewhere around for the next person
07:12to find. Now, this is the, this is the dressing room floor with all of our principal actors there.
07:17Come on, let's see if we can find my friend Grace Moat, who is my Shinigami sister.
07:22Can we, can we come in and visit? Is it decent? All right, go visit Grace. Come on, let's go.
07:25So Grace, I want to know, do you have any pre-show rituals?
07:28Kind of changes on every job. I went through a phase, and I haven't done it on this job,
07:32but I'm going to share it anyway, of like singing my hardest moment before the show.
07:36Like when I was in Mean Girls, I used to sing the end of sexy, but every single day. And
07:40then my
07:40friend Tom Zando played Damien. He was like, Grace, why don't just one day, you just don't do that.
07:44And I was like, but it's my pre-show ritual. And I didn't do it. And it's the best I've
07:48ever sung it.
07:49So I've stopped doing that one now. Do you have a favorite moment of the show?
07:51I do. I honestly think it's our entrance. Basically, our first entrance, we sing a song,
07:57they're only human. And so we're looking down on the audience from up above. And the reaction
08:04when we come on that stage is just the most wholesome, exciting thing. You can see people
08:09going, there's Rem. Oh my gosh, Ryuk. But like clocking us and just like getting this,
08:14their first time ever seeing these characters, whether they love the anime or the manga or the
08:21Netflix series or anything in real life, breathing the same air in the same room. Like that is just
08:26something that is so cool. So I love seeing everyone's reaction. And I also love the song.
08:30I think it's such a cool intro number for us. My favorite moment in the show is actually a moment
08:34I'm not in. It's a moment that Grace is in. It's a song that begins act two called Half a
08:39Life.
08:39It's actually a new song that was written just for this production. But it's one of those moments to me,
08:44when you see the show, you'll understand why, where like the actors and the music and the lyrics and the
08:50choreography and the staging and the lights, like we change locations several times. We change,
08:56like we stop time several times. We slow time several times. And it's one of those things where
09:00you go, oh, that's only possible in the theater. It's been so inspiring to watch how like every
09:06department from lights to music to movement have just come together, sound like and collaborated.
09:12So, so well, it takes a village. Okay. Hi. Now we are at the stage left quick change booth. Come
09:19in with me. Come on. Now this, again, like I said, our ensemble works so hard that once they leave
09:26their dressing rooms on level F and they come down to the stage at level B at the Barbican,
09:31they have no time to go back to their rooms. So all of their costumes actually live on these racks.
09:37So these are all the different looks that they'll be going through when they are students or they are
09:42citizens of Tokyo or maybe they're FBI agents. There's a lot of trench coats here for FBI agents.
09:47These are some of my favorite costumes in the show. These sparkly ones that are for Misa Misa
09:51and her backup dancers. We go to the Budokan where Misa Misa is in the middle of a giant concert
09:57performance. There's an amazing J-pop number that is choreographed by our incredible choreographer,
10:03Fabian. It is awesome. I mean, you're going to feel like you're actually at like a pop concert.
10:09The crew has like all of the tour cities for the Misa Misa tour. This is probably a teeny tiny
10:14detail
10:14that we may or may not see, but it's important. Our props team and our amazing costume team, like
10:20every detail was like thought about, you know, let's see if we can find some more. Oh, this is actually
10:25Misa Misa's costume that she wears when she does her big number. I'm ready. Beautiful. Our costume designer,
10:30Sachiko is incredible. She has blended the worlds of traditional Japanese clothing as well as like
10:39modern Tokyo chic clothing. And my favorite costumes are actually the costumes at the very
10:44end of the show. I don't want to ruin it for you, but it's costumes that are ensemble wares.
10:49They are all cream white and they are so chic and they're so beautiful. And it's like the last thing
10:55that the audience gets to see, these fantastic costumes that only appear for the last like three
10:59minutes of the show. And for the curtain call, I'm actually so jealous that the ensemble gets to
11:02wear those gorgeous white costumes. And if you look carefully, they're all white cream white,
11:07which is actually the color that is traditionally worn in Japanese funerals. If you didn't know,
11:11in the West, we were black in the East, they were white. But if you look really carefully at the
11:15cuts
11:16of all of them, there's a cream white like business suit, but there's also a cream white traditional
11:22kimono kimono as well. And all of that living on that stage. It's a perfect analogy and a perfect
11:29like metaphor for our show is very Western in nature, but takes place in Tokyo. And the blending
11:35of that, I think Sachiko did an amazing job. Oh, hi, hi, Matt. And there's Madeline who's following me
11:39around. But these are, you know, this tends to be a very busy area once the show gets going.
11:46It's very quiet now, but it won't stay that way for very long. Okay. Well, that's the tour. I want
11:50to thank
11:50everybody at The Standard for joining me on this wonderful backstage tour of what it's like to be
11:56at the Barbican working on Death Note the musical. It's epic. It is a giant, splashy, epic musical
12:02with amazing tunes. You got to come. Thank you so much for having me,
12:06and I will see you at the Barbican this summer.
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