White Rose | Album Review

The album of the powerful new musical White Rose by Natalie Brice and Brian Belding tells the heart-breaking story of the university students of the White Rose movement that operated between 1942-43. Led by Sophie and Hans Scholl, the White Rose published and distributed pamphlets to publicly denounce the Nazi regime and to inspire resistance. The musical debuted Off Broadway in January this year, and the album records the performances of this original cast, evoking a sense of immediacy and aliveness. The story of struggle and defiance is portrayed through a mixture of Musical Theatre and rock sound worlds.

The team has a gift for integrated musical sequences: ‘Munich’ and ‘Blind Eye/My Calling’ both successfully navigate the path of storytelling through music, fusing dialogue and sensitive underscore which evolves naturally to evoke each moment of the story. In ‘Munich’, the high stakes are hinted at right from the beginning, and there is a sense of restless urgency in the music from the off. ‘I Don’t Care’, the second song of the album, introduces the musical language of rock; a contrast to the opening number and presumably as a metaphorically appropriate sound world to convey the theme of resistance.

Rock returns at times throughout the show, such as in ‘The Sheep Chose a Wolf’ when Hans admits his former involvement with the Hitler Youth, and in ‘Pride and Shame’, a key moment in the movement’s resistance. The rock style encapsulates the energy of the White Rose to inspire others. It also conveys the life blood running through the small movement and their desire to fight for truth.

However, there are also many emotive ballads, including ‘Truth’, ‘Run Away’, ‘Stars’ and ‘Fatherhood’, through to ‘Who Cares?,’ which is the highpoint of emotional yearning as the two arrested siblings await their fate. These ballads highlight the beautiful orchestrations by Charlie Rosen, making the most of the colour and shade of the show’s chamber orchestra. Instrumental choices are deliberately and skilfully made in the score, delineating rock and more classical Musical Theatre numbers dramatically.

The final song ‘We Will Not Be Silent’ carries an important and powerful message for today’s audience. As in ‘Pride and Shame,’ quotes from the White Rose’s pamphlets are woven into the text, with the courageous figures from the past singing into our present through a powerful ballad, which kindles in the listener the motivation to find their own way to resist evil and oppression.

This article originally appeared in the June / July 2024 issue of Musicals magazine. Never miss an issue – subscribe today 

Cast Jo Ellen Pellman, Mike Cefalo, Kennedy Kanagawa et al

Orchestrations Charlie Rosen Producers Charlie Rosen, Michael Croiter, Will Nunziata

Executive producers Van Dean, Jeff Lauriantis Music direction Sheela

Ramesh Yellow Sound Label

RELEASED 3 MAY 2024