Wednesday, 10 October 2018

Madagascar the Musical Theatre Review


The brand new stage adaptation of Madagascar has just arrived at the Bristol Hippodrome and we were given free tickets in order to write this review. This high energy musical  theatre version of the popular animated motion picture stars X Factor winner Matt Terry, who is making his stage acting debut in this production. On the day we attended, however, Matt was expertly understudied by Brandon Gale due to illness. This production was brought to life by Selladoor, the company behind James and the Giant Peach and Hook, who produced the Olivier Award-winning Rotterdam.


From the very beginning, this production was colourful, fun and perfect for children. The characters had a lot of personality and the costumes were creative, with elements of realism, whilst also allowing the actors talents to shine through. There were a high number of endearing and imaginative songs and the children in the audience were transfixed by Fabian Aloise's choreography throughout the many dance routines. The plot wasn't particularly complicated or advanced and the peppering of songs and dances throughout meant it was really easy to keep the focus of the youngsters in the audience. This would be a great first show to take a little one to, as it is also a little shorter than the average production too, so it didn't finish as late as they sometimes do. 


The story follows a group of zoo animals who, dreaming of pastures new, escape their cage homes and travel through the streets of New York, ending up, eventually, in the wilds of Madagascar. There, they meet a tribe of Lemurs, led by the hilariously voiced King Julien, who had the whole audience in hysterics with his antics and comic delivery. Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo were also really funny, as their huge characters commanded the stage. I felt the penguins could have had a bigger role, but I am especially fond of penguins and maybe they are saving them for a sequel. There were so many great performances in this show that it's hard not to mention everybody, but I do think Brandon Gale, who filled the enormous paws of Alex the Lion brilliantly in his role as understudy for Matt Terry, did a fantastic job and we wouldn't have been any the wiser that he was the understudy if we hadn't been told. If you are considering taking a young child on a first trip to the theatre, I would highly recommend making this the show they see, it's got just enough pizzazz, without being too long or too loud for a very young audience. The show is at the Bristol Hippodrome until 13th October, before the tour continues its run. in cities all over the UK until June next year. Tickets are available from ATG Tickets 


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7 comments

  1. Oh wow this looks awesome! I wonder if they will be coming to a theatre next us as it looks like a fab production.

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  2. This sounds like a fantastic production! My two love the film so I would love to take them along to see this as I really think they would enjoy it! Being a little shorter would be great for my 4 year old too!

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  3. It sounds like a brilliant show. My song loved the films so I'm sure he'd thoroughly enjoy the show too!

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  4. What a lovely review. Looks like it was a great show.

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  5. I loved the movie so I definitely know I would love in it theatre, hope to see it in my local theatre

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  6. I didn't realise this was on in Bristol. I'll have to see if it's still on over half term. It looks very colourful

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  7. It is such a great show isn't it - just made us want to get up and dance

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