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The Guardian
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Hercules review – Disney musical is fun, finely sung but not quite fit for the gods
Four years ago, Disney brought its adaptation of Frozen to this venue with wondrous results. Elsa and Anna drew an audience of zealous young cosplayers. Can Hercules bring in his own sword-and-sandal stans? His zero-to-hero journey was certainly winning in the 1997 animated film, with Gerald Scarfe's sharp-lined designs and James Woods' deliciously wicked Hades. But lightning does not strike twice with this stage version, although it is a sturdy enough Disney vehicle, with strong songs and plenty of splash. There is a briskness to its drama, under the direction of Casey Nicholaw, and a pounding out of the material – Songs! Lights! Action! – that makes it seem like a conveyor-belt musical. The characters are not so much divine as 2D, although the sound and optics are always eye-popping, the swivelling set designs intent on moving heaven and earth. Gregg Barnes and Sky Switser's costumes are heavenly, too, and camp as hell: gold dresses, white Spanx and Hercules in a mesh vest and miniskirt-style toga by the end. Luke Brady is an incredible singer, as Hercules navigates his journey between godliness and humanness with sidekick Phil (Trevor Dion Nicholas). But the title character is rather generic, a Hunkules who is earnest for too long despite shades of Joey from Friends (why not lean in to that?). The cast around Brady is just as strong vocally, but breezy in their dialogue. The animated film's Hades was a fabulous creation, his head permanently licked by flames from his underworld. Here, Stephen Carlile looks and sounds like a pantomime baddie, complete with corny jokes. You want to boo him every time he delivers his lines. The big booming songs – including seven new numbers written by Alan Menken (music) and David Zippel (lyrics) – come to sound samey and a little soupy, such as the new addition, Today's Gonna Be My Day. They are delivered as briskly as the action by an American-accented cast. Go the Distance is a lovely solo by Hercules but you do not feel quite enough emotion from it. The upbeat numbers work better, especially the reprises of Gospel Truth by the five muses, all powerhouse singers. So there is a stolidity to the story, as if an ancient tablet of stone has taken the place of a flesh and blood heart. The first half culminates in an NFL style parade, full of military motifs and twirling batons, all taking us outside the story's ancient world and into unimaginative, bland entertainment, with stock choreography (by Nicholaw and Tanisha Scott). But in the second half Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robert Horn's book gets funnier, Hercules turns goofier and his love story with Meg (Mae Ann Jorolan, cool cat to Brady's golden retriever) grows in chemistry. Not everything rights itself, however. The monsters that Hercules meets are certainly big but seem oddly cuddly as if the production is afraid of frightening its younger audience. Perhaps this musical shows the film's age: this feels like old-school Disney, its hero not quite self-mocking enough (compare him with the brilliantly self-parodying Maui from Moana) and the earnestness heaped heavy. In the programme, Zippel acknowledges the animated Hercules's mix of heart and wit. 'Everything comes with a wink,' he says. You wish for a few more winks here. At Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, until 28 March
Daily Mail
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Hercules theatre review: Musical lacks a punch in new take of Disney classic, writes PATRICK MARMION
Hercules - Theatre Royal, London Hercules is the Greek superhero known for his 12 labours. On a mythological mission to take his place among the Gods, he slays lions, decapitates many-headed serpents and bags Cerberus, the ferocious guard-dog of the underworld. But now he's been reduced from legendary hero to close to zero by a laboured new musical version of his derring-do, based on the 1997 animated Disney film. Opening in the West End amid much fanfare last night, the man of the hour (sadly without his flying-horse Pegasus from the film), is reborn in the hunky shape of Luke Brady. He comes with orthodontic gleam, oiled skin and a voice of molten sugar. Instead of colossal strength, he's admired for his style – his toga is a 'Hermes original' – and amusingly, he gives autographs on tablets using a hammer and chisel. But he's such a placid soul, it's hard to be excited by his quest. Poor guy really needs a booster rocket. But while in the film he had Danny DeVito voicing his half-man, half-goat personal trainer Phil, stage Phil is a grumpy restaurateur running a mid-range taverna called Medusa's. Trevor Dion Nicholas makes a decent fist of the role, but it's all a bit low key, low energy and low stakes. As love interest Meg, Mae Ann Jorolan is a predictably hard-assed surly girly burdened with the limp catchphrase 'stay safe, wonderboy'. Stephen Carlile adds spice as a Vincent Price-like Hades, and makes something of his panto-villain gags – including the groanworthy verdict on baby Hercules: 'So strong he could be a single mother.' Pillars and statuary, shifting about in front of mosaic skyscapes designed by Dane Laffrey, add visual glitter. But the superhero action sequences are lugubriously undercharged, leaving Brady sleepwalking through adventures. Opening in the West End amid much fanfare last night, the man of the hour (sadly without his flying-horse Pegasus from the film), is reborn in the hunky shape of Luke Brady Music and lyrics by Alan Menken and David Zippel are audaciously bland. And with the five gospel-singing muses adding diva-ish decibels, I couldn't make out what they were singing. Brady is almost alone in making his lyrics understood – particularly in a rendition of his misty-eyed anthem, Go The Distance. A tap-dancing number in Hades before the interval attempts to scorch the infernal dance floor, but fizzles, thanks to director Casey Nicholaw's zestless choreography. After that we get a so-so R&B company number, followed by a Motown-style love song, redeploying the muses' decibels in a romantic garden. But all these moments lack the power and pageantry of Disney's other theatrical hit, The Lion King. Simba's underpowered sibling needs to go back to the gym and bulk up.
