Madagascar the Musical at The Blackpool Winter Gardens Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by H Chan
This evening, my family (husband, myself and three children aged 15, 12 and 8) and I were invited to see Madagascar the Musical in the lovely Winter Gardens Opera House in Blackpool. We travelled over, spent a couple of hours by the sea and then headed over to the venue, which is really easy to find and very accessible by car and public transport. The staff we interacted with were really helpful and friendly, a credit to the Opera House.
We were sat on row Q, seats 12-20 which were right in the middle of the stalls. Even numbered seats are in the middle, and odd on the outside, I really should look up the story behind this as it did confuse me when we arrived and I checked my ticket numbers. I do recommend these seats, we had a perfect view of everything happening on stage.
The show follows the film relatively closely, beginning with Marty the Zebra’s dream to head out into the wild, leading him and his friends on a crazy adventure which ends on the Island of Madagascar. If you’ve seen the movie, then it is hard to imagine other voices given to the characters, but these guys absolutely nailed it this evening.
The costumes and puppets were incredible, as were the sets, hats off to all of those involved. How the actors managed to dance so well in their suits is beyond me, it must have been so hot on stage, but they didn’t miss a step nor a note. The entire audience laughed as we saw the penguins puppets, and the lemurs. They were very clever.
Jarnéia Richard-Noel’s voice is incredible. We loved her as Gloria the hippo, and I thought I recognised her voice, so when I got home I looked it up. Turns out we’d seen her playing Catherine of Aragon in the musical Six a few years ago. Absolutely beautiful actress.
Marty the Zebra was played by Francisco Gomes. He was so full of energy, he captivated the audience from the start and was paired perfectly with Joseph Hewlett who played Alex. I was very impressed with their shared musical numbers.
The children loved Melman!! As he appeared on the stage their faces lit up. His costume was very very clever, and Joshua Oakes-Rogers was perfect for the role. He had us giggling away.
Although the first half was very good, it I felt it lacked the pacing of the second half and the interval seemed to highlight this. This wasn’t due to the actors but more the storyline whilst setting the scene. Whilst the pacing was good for me, some of the little ones lost the storyline a little until the animals were on the ship. The show definitely picked up in the second half and the star of the show for us was, of course, King Julien, played by CBBC’s Karim Zeroual. He had everyone *moving it* with him and the cast. This role was so perfect for him and he smashed it. The penguins were also excellent, it wouldn’t be Madagascar without them.
They had us all up dancing at the end, a fantastic end to a fantastic show. One of my very favourite parts of the show, had to be right at the end when the cast shared hugs and genuine smiles. They looked so happy and proud of themselves, and so they should.
I highly recommend this show for families and anyone who loves the movies. It is lots of fun, packed with high energy dancing and singing. It is great for children of all ages, and there is something for everyone. It is a great introduction to musical theatre.
As a family, we gave this musical 5/5 stars.
Madagascar is showing at the Blackpool Winter Gardens Opera House until Feb 24th, with one showing on the Friday 25th and two showings Saturday 24th. Tickets are priced from £21, which I feel is a very reasonable price for what you’re getting from the experience.
You can find tickets to the show here https://store.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk/webshop/webticket/eventlist?production=255 and the trailer here https://www.wintergardensblackpool.co.uk/events/madagascar-the-musical/
Rating: 5/5