Review: Disenchanted! The Hit Musical, Fringe 2026

This musical left me feeling disenchanted.

Disenchanted! The Hit Musical arrives at the Fringe with a promising premise: a collection of familiar fairy-tale princesses challenging the idea that life as a princess is all it’s cracked up to be. At its heart is a message of female empowerment, with these familiar characters questioning the expectations traditionally placed upon them.

On paper, it has plenty of ingredients for an entertaining musical, with recognisable characters, comedy and plenty of opportunity to turn the fairy-tale formula on its head.

Unfortunately, I left feeling that something was missing. While there were moments that clearly worked for parts of the audience, I struggled to find the emotional connection that would have pulled me further into the show.

Story and purpose

The show gives these familiar characters the opportunity to challenge expectations and speak for themselves, creating a strong foundation for a story about female empowerment.

The problem is that I never felt this idea developed into enough of a story. There is very little depth to the characters, and the format feels more like each princess gets her moment to sing a song before moving on to the next, rather than the songs building towards a connected narrative.

In most musicals, you find yourself rooting for a character, wanting them to succeed, fail or overcome whatever obstacle has been put in front of them. Here, I never quite found that connection. The characters have familiar backstories, but I didn’t feel invested enough in their individual journeys to really care about what happened to them.

You can see what Disenchanted! is trying to say, and I appreciated its message of female empowerment, but the storytelling didn’t make me feel emotionally connected to it.

Performances

If there is one thing that absolutely deserves to be highlighted, it is the voices of this cast. From the very first note, I was genuinely in awe. The vocal ability on display is incredible.

The songs themselves were enjoyable, although they didn’t quite have the staying power of some of the other musicals I’ve seen at the Fringe. There were a couple of songs and individual lines that genuinely made me laugh, but I didn’t find myself singing them all the way home in the way I have with other shows.

The cast bring plenty of energy to the production and clearly commit to the material. There is no question that there is talent on stage, particularly vocally; I just felt the material didn’t always give them enough to work with.

Audience connection

I could sense that some of the audience were genuinely enjoying the show, but there was also a noticeable lack of engagement from a significant part of the room.

I think the space itself played a part in this. The setup created a sense of distance between the performers and the audience, which made it harder for the room to feel connected as a whole. Given that the show relies on audience participation and interaction, I couldn’t help but wonder whether it might have worked better in a more intimate, cabaret-style bar setting, where the performers could be closer to the audience and the atmosphere more communal.

This was particularly apparent during the call-and-response moments. The performers made several attempts to get the room involved, but only a relatively small percentage of the audience joined in. When the audience did respond, you could feel the atmosphere lift, but those moments were unfortunately few and far between.

Final thoughts

There is undoubtedly an audience for Disenchanted! and, judging by the reactions around me, there were people who were having a genuinely enjoyable time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them.

The cast’s voices are exceptional, and the message of female empowerment is one I appreciated. However, the lack of depth and connection between the songs made it difficult for me to become invested in the characters or their stories. The songs were enjoyable without quite sticking with me, and while there were moments that made me laugh, there weren’t enough to sustain the show for me.

The audience participation also struggled to land, with the space perhaps making it harder to create the communal atmosphere the production was aiming for. A more intimate, cabaret-style venue may have suited the show better.

There is plenty of talent on stage, but for me, the combination of a disconnected narrative, limited emotional depth and an audience that never fully engaged meant I left impressed by the performers, but ultimately feeling a little disenchanted.