Madagascar the Musical Theatre Royal Plymouth Review
DISCLOSURE – TICKETS TO SEE THE SHOW WERE GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER AND GUEST FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW
Reviewed by Linda Curtain
What a treat for the youngsters of Plymouth this half-term with the chance to see the opening of the new UK tour of Madagascar The Musical. Being co-produced by Selladoor Worldwide and Theatre Royal Plymouth, seeing this production at the fabulous Theatre Royal Plymouth is certainly something special.
With its central location on Plymouth’s Royal Parade, this theatre has easy parking and good public transport links, making it an ideal venue for such a family-friendly show.
Arriving last evening, the theatre was certainly abuzz with very excited children, all busily buying their souvenirs as they awaited the show.
And what a show it was!!!
From the immediately captivating opening – where a cheeky monkey puppet popped out from the scenery to remind the audience to turn off their phones – to the dynamic, high energy finale, this show was pure entertainment. It was amazing to see the children so enthralled as they watched the adorable characters and joined them on their journey to Madagascar.
Starting out as an animated film in 2005, Madagascar The Musical tells the story of a group of animals in New York’s Central Park who long to escape captivity and experience freedom. Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Gloria the hippo and Melman the giraffe- along with a gang of adorable penguins – manage to break out of the zoo but after disaster befalls them, they become shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar and so the story unfolds.
Using a combination of costumed actors and puppets, the portrayal of these animals was amazing. Alex the lion – played by Joseph Hewlett – was a very strong character commanding the stage and with a great vocal range. Marty the zebra – played by Francisco Gomes had an amazing rapport with Alex throughout with great dance ability. The sassy hippo Gloria – played by Jarneia Richard-Noel – moved and danced so well despite her very large costume and Joshua Oakes-Rogers portrayed Melman the giraffe brilliantly, controlling his extended neck and head with ease to add such character to the animal. Finally King Julien – the ruler of the lemurs in the kingdom of Madagascar played by Karin Zeroual – was certainly a scene-stealer with such personality and expression. The puppet handlers moved the puppets so well that you actually forgot they were puppets as they seemed to come alive on the stage.
The choreography- by Fabian Aloise – was slick throughout. Such energy shown despite such large, heavy costumes. With clever staging and set design plus atmospheric lighting, the transition from Central Park Zoo to the beautiful island of Madagascar was very impressive.
With a medley of catchy tunes throughout, Alex’s renditioning of ‘Steak’ was good as he longed for food but as expected the well loved ‘Move it, Move it’ – led by King Julien was the song that stole the show with the audience joining in as the characters danced and ‘flossed’ to the music.
Such a great show – full of puppetry, humour, music and high energy dance – the ideal show for all the family.
Judging by the reaction of the audience last evening, this is the start of an amazing uk tour for this very talented company.
Rating: 5/5
Tickets cost from £18
Madagascar is at Theatre Royal Plymouth until Saturday 28th October
To book tickets visit TheatreRoyal.com or call the box office on 01752 267222