(seen at the preview performance on 17th June 2025)
Usual disclaimer both regular theatremonkey readers will know: the monkey has never been interested in mythology. Second disclaimer, it has never seen the Disney animated feature “Hercules.”
So, aside from knowing “Go The Distance” from various musical theatre concerts, it didn’t have a clue what it was going to see... and was very pleasantly surprised.
The “Greek Temple” proscenium surround is the first sign this is getting the full Disney Theatrical treatment; confirmed once the curtain rises and throughout the show. Dane Laffrey’s moving columns set rises at times to spectacular, particularly when combined with George Reeve’s video backgrounds, Greg Barnes and Sky Switzer’s costumes and James Oritz’s puppets.
To say any more about how they are used would be a spoiler, but the monkey would note that one sequence SPOILER a fight with Hydra near the end of act one SPOILER ENDS is genuinely intense and may really terrify younger attendees. For the rest of us, it is an impressive piece of theatre.
If, like the monkey, you don’t know the story, the good news is that it is told clearly (Adam Fisher’s sound design occasionally muddy, sadly, during this preview) and has enough twists to keep even a cynical adult interested.
Robert Horn builds on his “Shucked” script success by employing the same steady flow of delicious mis-direction one-liners here. Kwame Kewi-Armah keeps him on track, so that the combination of Horn’s comedic and Kewi-Armah’s text construction gifts produce something always involving and amusing; a stunning throwaway remark about the strength of a single mother drawing applause.
Menken and Zippel perhaps do not serve up their finest score, and director Casey Nicholaw rather throws away the “big number” moments. Neither “Go The Distance” nor “I Won’t Say (I’m In Love)” stop the show as they might – in fact, both Hercules (Luke Brady) and Meg (Mae Ann Jorolan) look slightly lonely centre-stage delivering them.
Both roles are slightly under-written, but Brady and Jorolan have timing and chemistry to keep us watching and cheering them all the way.
A team of five muses keeps us updated on the plot. Our hostesses for the night, these ladies swing.
Best of all, Trevor Dion Nicholas makes another triumphant return to the Disney stage as Hercules’s exasperated trainer Phil. Another smaller than expected role (come to think of it, this show is all small moving parts), his frustration and wisdom make him the Miyagi of Ancient Greece.
Stephen Carlile makes the most of his Disney villain character Hades, unwilling acolytes Bob and Charles (Craig Gallivan and Lee Zarrett) amusing sidekicks in the same tradition.
With an ensemble busily filling in a variety of other roles, the crazy-paving characters seldom let the pace lag.
Only the patchy choreography seems to act as a brake. Big dance numbers are in place because this is a musical, not really contributing to moving the story forward – and “I’m Back” at the start of the second act needs Nicholaw and Tanisha Scott’s attention to rebuild something which during previews was at best out-of-time, mostly disappointingly un-coordinated and untidy, sometimes simply messy.
Still, this has an infectious dose of pep to spread. Genuinely a show for those aged 10 to 100, it works on multiple levels. An hilarious flow of jokes for those who don’t buy into mythology (monkey raises a paw), good exposition of the gods and their goings-on for those who do.
Plenty of visuals creating huge West End scenes, more than justifying ticket prices and satisfying our lust for excitement.
Strong performances and decent tunes, with the main number always hummable. A happy ending with a little panto feel to flavour it.
Worth going some distance to see.
