Review: Bliss the musical | Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026 - Pop-tastic potential

With backing from major producers Susan Edelstein, ATG and Gavin Kalin Bliss the musical opens at Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August, promising "the biggest new musical at this year's Edinburgh Fringe." Bliss plays at Pleasance Courtyard Grand until 31 August. Read my review below.

Bliss. Photo: Marc Brenner

Bliss the musical ★★★☆☆

Review: 15 August 2026 | Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Pleasance Courtyard

Self-titled "biggest new musical at this year's Fringe", Bliss the musical certainly outdoes many other offers at the festival in terms of size. Where many acts play pub basements and lecture halls, Bliss has its premiere in the largest performance space at the Pleasance Courtyard - The Grand, which seats 750. It also comes with a company of seventeen performers! I always say you won't find an ensemble of dancers in a fringe musical theatre show - well, here you do. And they're one of the highlights of this bubbly new pop princess musical theatre show.

The opening notes of Bliss the musical are clearly inspired by SIX. But rather than 6 queens, here we have four princesses, locked in a tower by their father, the king, who wants to keep them safe. But these princesses are well-read, intelligent and long to escape to see the stars and a comet in the sky outside.

Opening song "Inside These Castle Walls" begins very much like "Get Down" from SIX. But once the song moves into the chorus, "Papa, won't you let me out of here", it moves into its own territory and soars. It's an upbeat banger of a way to start a new musical and does a great job of introducing our four girls and their predicament.

Over the next 80 minutes, we follow the princesses - an incredibly talented foursome, each with individual charms and powerhouse vocals: Akshara Gunda, Alexandra Emmerson-Kirby, Miriam Nyarko and Matilda Shapland - as they venture outside into a world filled with perfect princesses, a sparkly prince (Jordan Calloway) and a fairy godfather (the wonderful Tom Bennett).

Bliss, Princess Chorus. Photo: Marc Brenner

Susan Edelstein Productions, ATG Productions and Gavin Kalin Productions have clearly invested in Bliss, which arrives at The Fringe with a well-prepared cast, gorgeous costumes (Paloma Young) and a captivating lighting design (Jai Morjaria) in place of any real set. But for a fringe show, expected to be in and out of the venue in rapid time, it looks impressive.

The prince's entrance song, with the dazzling Jordan Calloway decked out in a mesmerising mirror ball suit and backed by an ensemble of energetic Jokers (dancers), is staged like a high-octane boyband concert and very effective too. It's certainly way beyond the production values I'd normally expect to see for a brand new show at The Fringe.

The casting for Bliss at the Edinburgh Fringe is universally excellent

The book, music and lyrics for Bliss are by Emma Lively and Tyler Beattie. The plot is predictable - it is a fairy tale after all - but there are some wonderfully creative ideas on that stage. However, Bliss does lose focus in the later part as it rushes to tie up the threads of all four princesses. More disappointingly, Bliss tells us rather than shows us some of the storyline. For example, we hear about what happened at the Prince's Ball. Show us, please! I expect this will all be resolved when Bliss is inevitably expanded into a full two-act show somewhere down the line.

The fairytale-inspired book is delivered by a sensational cast with mighty impressive vocals. Everyone on the stage is incredibly talented. But the casting of Tom Bennett as villain Gillmermore is a touch of genius. He's light of foot and full of charisma as he prances around the stage in a pink sparkly cape, singing "poof" as he embodies the deliciously sinister baddie. And - he can absolutely nail a showtune.

Bliss needs more of the kind of darker, sassy edge that Glimmermore provides. At the moment it veers on being just a little too sugary sweet.

Tom Bennett as Glimmermore in Bliss. Photo: Marc Brenner

Love your audience

Although there's lots to love about Bliss at the Fringe, and I think the show will be particularly appealing to younger audiences, one of the main detractors in its Edinburgh presentation is the static direction. The company frustratingly plays to the centre of the central bank of seats only.

The Pleasance Grand has a wide stage floor with one central block of seats, and two more blocks of seats on either side of that. Yet not once, in the first hour of the show, did any of the lead cast look anywhere but straight down the centre line.

Fringe venues have unreserved seating: everyone pays the same ticket price, yet those sitting in the side sections were barely afforded a glance. The cast need to be directed to play to the full audience; it would open the show up more and make the audience feel appreciated.

The exception to this criticism is Tom Bennett, who takes immense glee in playing his delightful villain to the full house - and, to some extent, Jordan Calloway, whose boyband prince almost works the room when he's looking for his perfect princess.

These are issues that are easily fixed, and while the book needs a little more work, Bliss the musical is full of interesting ideas and promising characters begging for more time, depth and development. While not quite bliss yet, it is good fun with a great pop-tatstic foundation of songs to build on. Tons of potential. ★★★☆☆

• Bliss is at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, at Pleasance Courtyard (Grand) until Monday 31st August 2026

  
  

• Find the full cast list / cast announcement for Bliss the musical at Edinburgh Fringe here

  
  

• Find all my Edinburgh Fringe coverage here: https://www.lisainthetheatre.com/edinburgh-fringe

  
  

Jordan Calloway as Prince Devin in Bliss. Photo: Marc Brenner