Review: The Real Kyle McCarren - a new musical | Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2026

The Real Kyle McCarren is a new musical produced by Avalon, the team behind the West End and Broadway musical Operation Mincemeat. Following development in NYC, the show makes its world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it runs at the Pleasance Courtyard through August. Read my review here.

The Real Kyle McCarren ★★★★★

Review: 13 August 2026 | Edinburgh Fringe, Underbelly Bristo Square

With a cast and creative team full of NYC and Broadway actors and musicians, The Real Kyle McCarren launches itself onto the UK stage at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August with a pedigree few other new musical theatre shows can rival. Produced by Avalon, the team behind the musical juggernaut Operation Mincemeat, and co-directed by multi-Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated Lonny Price and Matt Cowart, my expectations were tentatively sky-high.

Created by musician Andy Roninson, who stars as himself, The Real Kyle McCarren is a rock musical / gig-theatre tribute to his friend and bandmate Kyle, who died at 21.

Andy wants us to learn about the real Kyle McCarren, not the sanitised version of him that was so readily aired after his death. For in reality, Kyle could be an A*hole.

Roninson's book is refreshingly candid. Telling the true story of what happened after Kyle died, in the run-up to his funeral, Andy expertly weaves his tale using flashbacks of real-life conversations with Kyle's mom Siobhan (Jaygee Macapugay), his ex-girlfriend Justine (Sarah Coffey), friend Liam (Vincent Jamal Hooper) and others. In a script full of penetrating observations, sharp dialogue and beautifully timed humour, The Real Kyle McCarren is a poignant yet hilarious new musical theatre show.

In the words of Andy Roninson: "It sounds like a bummer, but I promise you it's not."

Kyle McCarren is brought (back) to life in this production by US singer/songwriter Sean McVerry, who nails the young, cocky Kyle with the swaggering ease and electrifying stage presence of a bona fide rock star. His gorgeous, expressive voice fits Roninson's rock'n'roll soundtrack perfectly. Brilliant casting.

Andy Roninson himself is fantastic. Playing into his self-confessed "lonely, little awkward nerd" persona, his honest, self-deprecating humour warms the crowd to him, and we're all quickly on his side. Roninson admits that he's not the best singer, but he does know music - and so it's with contemporary music that he chooses to tell his story.

Roninson's original music for this exciting new musical is outstanding. There's not a mediocre song in the score. And each number is performed by a stellar company of on-stage musicians who accompany the powerful, soaring voices of the impressively talented cast.

"I Need You to Hear This Song" and "Upstate, Wherever" set the scene perfectly. The soul-funk beats of "What a Legend" perfectly fit friend Liam's cool vibes, while "Live Forever" - no, not that one - is the perfect upbeat pop anthem.

But it's ballad "The Last Snow" that hits me hardest. It's the most exquisite concept for a musical theatre scene. Performed here by the incredible Sarah Coffey, I was mesmerised at the time, and I can't stop thinking about it since. I now dream of one day seeing this number fully staged, in a theatre production boasting an NYC backdrop drowning in actual falling snow.

At the moment, The Real Kyle McCarren is an intimate, small-scale musical - perfect for the Edinburgh Fringe. But it's bursting with potential and could easily be scaled up.

Directed by Jim Fagan in Edinburgh, who reunites with Price and Cowart following their collaboration on Sweeney Todd, there's no set or staging to speak of; rather, this new musical relies on the strength of its book, music and talented ensemble to set down its stall at its UK premiere.

Yet building on these, Fagan succeeds in filling the space with brilliant natural movement and drama that completely absorbs for the full 75-minute runtime. Nothing else is needed here to prove that this is the most exciting new musical with - if there's any justice - a bright future ahead of it on both sides of the Atlantic. ★★★★★

• The Real Kyle McCarren is at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, at Pleasance Courtyard (Fourth) until Sunday 30 August 2026

  
  

• The Real Kyle McCarren EP is available now on all major streaming platforms HERE

• Read the full cast and creative team announcement for The Real Kyle McCarren here

  
  

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