Kings Theatre, Southsea – until 25 August
Reviewed by Nicky Wyatt
4****
What a lovely fun show! Adapted from the DreamWorks motion picture to a new stage musical.
It’s often said that movies to shows is a difficult transition, I have never watched the movie, however all the parents and children around me clearly had as they all knew who was who and what was happening next.
For those that don’t know the story, it’s about a group of animals in New York Zoo. They are used to being fed at a certain time putting on a show at the same time of day and they are bored especially Marty (Antoine Murray-Strachan) who plays the Zebra. It’s his birthday and as all his friends gather around him with a cake, he makes a wish to go to the wild for a trip on the wild side. Now his friends
although a bit bored are used to their routine and are fairly happy where they are, that is until Marty decides tonight’s the night and he escapes. It’s not long before best friend Alex (Matt Perry -X factor winner 2016) the Lion who is the main attraction at the zoo discovers him missing and along with good friends Melman (Jamie Lee -Morgan) the hypochondriac Giraffe and Gloria (Timmika Ramsay) the Hippo with a rear J Lo would be proud of all take off in hot pursuit of their dear friend. This is where the adventure begins.
Throughout the show are some funny quips that had the adults laughing out loud, Melmans gift of a rectal thermometer and talking steaks to name just a couple. Fabulous costumes that must be so hot to wear under theatre lights, brightly coloured sets all make for a wonderful family experience.
Of course things don’t go quite to plan and they are caught and packed in to shipping crates not knowing where they are going, they all blame Marty as he wished for change. Little do they know that their zoo friends the Penguins have also made the trip. The penguins bring extra humour to the show. Reaching their destination Marty is thrilled by what he calls Paradise, Alex is not so impressed
to start with there is no steak! Lions need meat and Marty’s rear end becomes tempting to him, although he does resist. They are of course now on the island of Madagascar!
Every land has it’s ruler and this island is run by King Julian ( Jo Parsons) not only is he king but he also directs this show. As king he knows what he wants and he wants them to stay on his island. He has some brilliant one liners which had the audience roaring at times. The island party including ‘crack a lacking’ and ‘Move it Move’ it’s were full of high energy, crazy dance moves including The
Floss!
Overall I thought this was a fab family show not too long for little ones, a great introduction to theatre for them . My only word of warning is at the start of both acts there are very bright light flashing lights which might cause an issue for some. Other than that it’s a ‘Crack a Lackin’ show