Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games at Milton Keynes Theatre Review
Reviewed by Natasha Kolb
Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games premiered in London in September 2014 and is now touring the world. Milton Keynes is lucky enough to be welcoming the show this week until Sunday 9th April 2017.
If you haven’t been to Milton Keynes theatre before, it’s absolutely worth a visit. Situated not far from the motorway and within the towns popular shopping area, it’s easily accessible with its own multi storey car parking. It’s a large, impressive and modern theatre boasting several bars and food kiosks so make the most of it, arrive early and enjoy the atmosphere before your show. It’s the one place I’ve been to lately where many people still make an effort to dress up a little for a night out… the perfect excuse for me… and in turn, making the evening out seem like a real occasion.
Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games is the second show by its creator, director and choreographer, Michael Flatley. He has now handed down the star roles to the next generation of incredible dancers, but don’t worry… he still makes his presence known but I won’t spoil that for you!
The storyline is fairly basic, a classic plot of good versus evil but takes the form within the dreams of the Little Spirit, beautifully portrayed by acrobatic gymnast, Jess Judge. Honestly though, the storyline wasn’t what I went for, I wanted to see that classic scene of a line of perfect performers Irish dancing and Wow… I wasn’t disappointed!
Throughout the entire show, the word spectacular should be applied for that is simply what it was, from the costumes and the set with its many many special effects and of course, the performers… all clearly trained to exceptional and perfect standards. The special effects and modern technology feature throughout the entire show helping to enhance the storyline and adding a definite wow factor to the whole performance.
There was just one thing that nagged at some of us within the audience; some people felt that the taps of the dancer’s footwork were simply enhanced via microphones and of course, they absolutely need to be for an audience in a large theatre with loud music to hear the all important rhythm of the dancers. However, there was another thought, that the tapping sound was actually pre-recorded and the dancers have tirelessly rehearsed to synchronise with the recording. I simply couldn’t make my mind up as to which it was and for me, I decided it didn’t matter. The dancing was impressive throughout and being able to hear the taps made that all the better!
A highlight during both acts were musical performances from Giada Costenaro Cunningham and Nicole Lonergan, two incredible violinists who treated us to breathtaking music at the same time as simple choreography, surely so much harder to achieve than they made it look!
It wouldn’t be right not to focus on the dancers, that is after all what the show and its predecessor are famous for. The Lord, portrayed by the brilliant Mat Smith, showed the ego and charisma similar to those famous performances from Michael Flatley so quite right that it also shone through in Smith’s portrayal. Everything about the dancing was sexy, especially some of the costumes for both the male and female performers! But it was the high-tech costumes of The Dark Lord and his army of Dark Disciples that I was taken with, this again showing where the modern special effects have made this show really rather special.
The show ended, as I will also, with the infamous line of Irish dancers taking me back to 1994, dancing in my kitchen thinking I was part of River Dance… and last night I got to see a real taste of that!
Rating: 4/5
Tickets cost from £42.65 to £48.65 (plus £2.85 transaction fee).
Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games is at Milton Keynes Theatre from 4-9 April 2017, for more information or to book tickets visit www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes or call the box office on 0844 8717652.
Milton Keynes Theatre, 500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes, Bucks, MK9 3NZ
