This epic production with an original London cast tells an inspiring tale of resilience and hope!
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Disclosure: Many thanks to NBC Universal for providing a sample of the product for this review.
Opinions are 100% my own.
Gv spent a good chunk of her earlier years singing track 14 of this soundtrack, so combine that with her current love of musical theater and you can imagine how excited she was to watch this with me:
Based on this classic DreamWorks animated film, the new iteration takes the story of Moses to the stage in a musical spectacle the whole family can enjoy!
Filmed live at the West End's Dominion Theatre in London with a cast and orchestra of 60 performers, this is one of the biggest musicals ever staged.
The storyline follows that of the original, focused on two young men as they journey through the wonders of Ancient Egypt and find themselves suddenly divided by a secret past. One must rule as Pharaoh; the other must rise up and free his true people, but both face a destiny that will change history forever.
Even though we'd enjoyed the music from this movie for years, we only just realized that much of it was created by Stephen Schwartz, who also wrote this musical theater smash as well as this animated film and this fun animated/live action hybrid.
Aside from the fabulous music, we were especially wowed by the astonishing choreography in this show. Turns out, Sean Cheeseman (a featured choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance) is who we can thank for the amazing, creative use of dancers in this production.
That was easily my favorite part of this show -- not only were so many of the numbers real dancing (at one point, I felt it could have been considered a ballet), but these dancers were utilized in all sorts of innovative ways.
Moses being sent down the Nile in his wicker basket -- the dancers were the waves that carried him.
Moses and his "brother" racing chariots through the city -- dancers brought that scene alive!
A scene featuring Moses descending a well in Midian -- the dancers were the well (which we didn't even realize, until they moved off to do something else!)
The burning bush -- dancers formed it!
It was just really, really cool to see all the clever ways those dancers were used!
Trailer
I also really loved the set for this show. Most of the set pieces were giant "blocks" that would be arranged to create a throne, or steps, or even a pyramid! I loved how such a simple piece could be used in such a versatile way!
Another cool part of the set was with the use of curtains. Most of the show used projections for backdrops, but these curtains especially came into play for the parting of the Red Sea, which was another highlight for me.
But despite all these cool aspects of the show, our little household of 3 all had different reviews of it.
G checked out early on, rolling his eyes and just heading to bed and leaving "you two to this silliness."
I had mixed feelings about the entire show as a whole. It had a ton of new songs added and even though those songs were just fine, I felt they were unnecessary and just made the entire show waaaaay too long (It was 2 1/2 hours!)
I also kept wishing that we were seeing the production live, instead of as a movie, because I could tell that the impact of all that creativity would be even better in person.
Gv had the most favorable reaction, she loved it. It makes sense that our little theater nerd would go ga-ga over it, but I was surprised that she enjoyed it as much as she did.
So the Healys ran the gamut with this one. If you're like G and could take musicals or leave them, then this long film might be better passed up for you.
If you're a theater geek like Gv, then you'll surely adore this production and want to watch it over and over.
And if you're somewhere in between like me? Then I say it's definitely worth watching - especially for the amazing choreography and set design.
Buy or rent The Prince of Egypt here starting December 5th and check out the official website for more information!
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So, where do you fall on the musical theater scale? I'd love to hear! Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.
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