Review: Madagascar the Musical at the Royal & Derngate
Review by Ally Richmond (Toddle About West Northants)
We were invited along last night to Madagascar the Musical. Based on the Dreamworks animated movie, this musical tells the story of Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo as they escape Central Park Zoo and travel to Madagascar.
Joshua Oakes-Rogers as Melman was the favourite of my four year old, with Joseph Hewlett as Alex the lion taking the top spot for my 5 year old.
All of us enjoyed the songs throughout. The staging and set designs were really well done. The costumes were a bit strange with a very muscly lion and zebra and oddly shaped hippo, but after a while its really not noticeable.
All the singing was strong, Jarneia Richard-Noel as Gloria was particularly good but all were fantastic.
For me personally, King Julien steals the show, Karium Zeroual played the role with such huge presence and had the audience in stitches at a few points. Move it Move it, the iconic track of the Madagascar movie, made the whole audience dance along, complete with dancing lemurs.
The musical focusses on the friendships between the different animals and the songs reflect this, with a really sweet one about being there for each other repeated throughout the show.
C (age 8): My favourite part of the show is when they are all stuck in crates on the cargo ship and are sliding about. It was very funny.
W (age 5): King Julien was hilarious, he did some funny dancing and made me laugh so much.
R (age 4): The penguins were so cheeky, I liked Melman the giraffe dancing.
Overall, it is a brilliantly funny adventure with lots of fun for the whole family.
Tickets still available at here for showings until Sunday 21st July.
Official Photography: Phil Tragen