Lord of the Dance Review At Aylesbury Waterside Theatre Review

Reviewed by Hilz

A spectacular soul–lifting show!!!  The age-old story of good versus evil was woven into a masterclass of a show at the lovely Aylesbury Waterside Theatre last night.  Firstly the lighting and whole video backdrop were spectacular – I’ve rarely seen anything as good as this anywhere. It added another dimension to the show.

The choreography was absolutely superb – and we found the fight scenes particularly and surprisingly effective. The principal male dancer – Lord of the Dance – was both super talented and super confident. He gave his all as he leapt and jumped and tapped all around the stage.  It was fantastic to see somebody enjoying what they do so much, and wanting to share that gift of dance with everyone in the theatre.  In fact, the whole dance troupe were the same – thoroughly enjoying it and giving their all – which delighted the audience and lifted us to where they were at – a wonderful thing to do.

The principal lady dancer – Saoirse – was excellent as was the Dark Lord.  Whenever the men danced together the rhythm and power of their tapping on the stage built a thrilling all encompassing sound.  For part of the show the men were divided into the ‘goodies’ and the ‘baddies’.  The ‘goodies’ ripped their shirts off and left them off for a fair part of their dancing – some women in the audience obviously appreciated it as there was some happy ‘whooping’ going on (!) but we felt they would have come across better if they had kept their tops on as it made them look more vulnerable than the ‘enemy’.  The ‘baddies’ costumes were really quite impressive. They reminded me a little of ‘Diversity’ with their slightly robotic look – very effective.

Indeed we were very impressed with all the costumes – the girls looked beautiful and floaty when needed and more sensual when needed also – particularly Morrighan the temptress.  Erin the Goddess’s dresses were incredibly beautiful, and she wore a large tiara that was like a diamond crown – perfect.  She was one of the standout performances of the whole show.  When she sang we could feel a peace coming across the room and all her solos were moving – capturing your senses and attention – I could have listened to her all night.

The two lady fiddlers were excellent – perfectly in time beaming with smiles in their sparkly silver dresses, and adding energy with their dancing.  The Irish penny whistle was played incredibly beautifully!  There are some instruments that just take you to a different place – an ethereal place – a magical place not of this world – that lift you – and this is one of them.  The band overall were absolutely fantastic– not a note wrong and full of passion.

During the show there were three or more video pieces dedicated to Michael Flatley himself.  These were excellent and his dancing was incredible.

I am a great fan of Riverdance and have seen it four times. I know nearly every note and love it, therefore I wasn’t sure if I was going to really like Lord of the Dance or not. This was the first time I’ve ever seen it and I really didn’t want to feel I was comparing it to a similar show that I love so well.

However, everything about Lord of the Dance was truly excellent, the cast all gave 100% and I loved every minute of it.
It was just fantastic to be somewhere where all on the stage were full of a joi de vivre that you rarely see nowadays – it truly was soul-lifting and I thoroughly recommend everyone to go and see it.

Rating: 5/5

Tickets cost from £12 plus transaction fee of £3.65
Lord of the Dance is on at Aylesbury Waterside Theatre from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th April
To book tickets visit:
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/25-years-of-lord-of-the-dance/aylesbury-waterside-theatre/calendar/2022-04-23
Or call the box office on 0207 206 1174