Review: World's Greatest Lover - a new musical at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025

Name: World's Greatest Lover - a new musical
Brand: Broadway International Group
Rating: 3 (1 reviews)

Lisa in the theatre
Aug 7
4 min read

Updated: Aug 8

New pop musical World's Greatest Lover has its world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. Renowned theatre producers Broadway International Group bring literature's most legendary lovers to the Edinburgh stage direct from New York.

World's Greatest Lover ★★★☆☆

review: 5 August 2025 | Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Festival Fringe

World's Greatest Lover is a brand new original musical from acclaimed US producer Broadway International Group.

Imagine if SIX were about five wannabe lover-boys and that is essentially, World's Greatest Lover. Rather than the six wives of Henry VIII battling it out over who was treated the worst by the King, here the five greatest lovers in literary history are invited to take part in a concert to save love. Yes that is the entire plot. They even joke about it at one point!

Casanova, Romeo, Cyrano de Bergerac, the Marquis de Sade and Saint Valentine are the boys in question. When they realise that love is dying, they flirt, fight and sign songs until they rescue love. Or something. Honestly the plot is wafer-thin bonkers. It's merely a vehicle to have a boy-band pop concert-esque musical.

As well as having a similar construct to Six the musical, World's Greatest Lover does borrow heavily from Back to the Future; the romantics gradually disappearing from reality much like Marty McFly and his siblings when he messes with his timeline.

The highlight of World's Greatest Lover is Joshua Bergasse's energetic, cheesy, boy-band choreography.

The five-strong company are very well rehearsed, never putting a foot wrong as they sing, dance and gyrate through some complex K-pop-esque moves. It's mighty impressive! Backed by a great live band, the songs are pop and rock-led with mostly fun, if corny lyrics about the boys romantic pasts and seduction techniques.

Towards the end I couldn't help but be carried away with the clap-along, arm-waving, whip-the-crowd-into-a-frenzy boyband ambiance of it all. This is a very well executed production with a really hard working and talented cast who know what this show is and relish in the over-the-top cheesiness of it all. Everyone seems to be having a great time.

But the issues lie with the thin plot and the choice of central characters. This is not a reflection on the talent of the actors who all played their parts admirably, but there were a few red flags for me: World's greatest lover? Wasn't Romeo a teenager? Ew!; And the Marquis de Sade? - he was imprisoned for sex crimes and exploiting vulnerable women! Just no.

A personal preference, but the humour was also not my cup of tea. However this is a show that will divide audiences: for every cringey line or corny pun I rolled my eyes at, there were audience members whooping, cheering and shouting 'Wow!' (this actually happened.)

As a brand new original musical, World's Greatest Lover comes to Edinburgh Fringe full of energy and upbeat ambition. It really does apsire to be Six for boys, and the concept of taking famous men from history and making a musical theatre pop band around them is not a bad idea. (Even if I do question the inclusion of one or two of them.) The book could do with some work if it hopes to expand to a full-length production, but with slick production values and an enthusiastic cast, if the fun-filled atmosphere at the show I was at is any measure, World's Greatest Lover will be a crowd-pleasing hit at the Edinburgh Fringe. ★★★☆☆

World's Greatest Lover plays at Edinburgh Fringe until 24th August. Find full listings plus cast and creative details below.

MORE: Find more Edinburgh Fringe news and reviews on Lisa in the Theatre here

Director and choreographer Joshua Bergasse said:

"I’m so excited to bring WORLD'S GREATEST LOVER to the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s such a fun and funny show with great songs, energetic dances and hysterical characters. I can’t wait for the audiences at the fringe to see what we’ve been cooking up."

Writers Julien Salvia and Ludovic-Alexandre Vidal said:

“We're thrilled to bring WORLD’S GREATEST LOVER to Edinburgh this summer! It's a high-energy, feel-good show we can't wait to share with the Fringe audience!"

Producers Marc Routh and Simone Genatt said:

“Edinburgh is a global platform where we have an opportunity to engage and entertain audiences from all over the world and we are excited to premiere and introduce WORLD’S GREATEST LOVER at the Edinburgh Fringe.”