Review: Charming! The Musical

📍 Just The Fancy Room at Just The Tonic At The Caves

🗓️ 20th August 2026

🎟️ PR Invite

Charming! The Musical was the second Grownup Playhouse Productions show I had seen at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe and I had a good time with it.

In this Disney parody musical, Prince Charming is fed up with being ignored. Why do all the princesses get all the love and attention while the princes are forgotten about? Even the villains and sidekicks get more attention. Charming has had enough and is ready for his time in the spotlight. With some help from an unexpected genie, he tries to become the person he’s always wanted to be… the centre of attention.

This show is a lot of fun and is supported by a plot that is structured well and successfully tells the Prince’s story. The message of the show is clear and the pacing overall works well, with our Prince going on an emotional rollercoaster of his own while competing with a genie who is quite difficult to work with.

The role of the Prince is performed by the show’s writer, Tom Rolph, who does a good job of capturing the over-the-top and demanding nature of the character he has created. He performs almost all of this on his own — with some surprise visitors along the way — alongside the use of voiceovers, and does a good job of holding the audience’s attention throughout. I did find myself wanting a little more depth from Charming, though. He is deliberately over-the-top and demanding, but I would have liked to see a little more underneath all of that and get a better sense of who he really is beyond wanting to be the centre of attention.

There are a lot of songs threaded through the production, which add another layer of comedy and storytelling to the performance. Tom’s vocals are strong throughout and this aspect of the performance was really enjoyable.

The staging and use of voiceovers help to make the show feel bigger than a one-person performance. There are some clever uses of the space and fun surprises throughout, but I did find myself wanting to see a little more done with the stage. There’s potential to make the world around Charming feel even bigger, particularly given that so much of the show rests on Tom as the central performer.

This one will definitely appeal to Disney fans, with lots of fun references throughout — and who doesn’t love a princess story… I mean, a Prince story… sorry Charming! The sixty minutes fly by in an upbeat and silly show, with some catchy songs and plenty of laughs.

As someone who is quite the Disney fan myself, I enjoyed Charming! The Musical. It’s a light-hearted way to spend an afternoon, with some fun ideas and a clear message at its heart. With a little more depth to Charming and some further exploration of the staging, I think there’s potential to take this show even further.

Charming! The Musical continues its Edinburgh Fringe run at Just The Tonic at the Caves until 30 August at 16:30.