The Prince of Egypt Reviews

MusicalsFamily Shows

Average customer review: 3.0 star rating (2.8 Stars)

Number of reviews: 58

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4.0 star rating Candy from London, England

EPIC PRODUCTION

The production was fantastic, best I have ever seen in a theatre to date. The sea scene was phenomenal. However my only personal issue was the posh English accents. All theatre shows I have seen reflect the countries they are based in by their accents. Even if the put accents are not the best but it still helps with creating a great show. Whilst I understand movies on Moses etc were played by British or American actors or game of thrones featured English actors who all used their English accents to portray their characters, I was rather thrown by prince of Egypt characters having posh English accents as I wasn’t used to it in theatre shows when portraying a country. It seemed to take the joy out of it a bit for me. As london is so diverse and by now we are so used to hearing different accents I think the show would have been far better if they spoke using some version of the accent of the country the storyline of the show is based in.

3.0 star rating Critical J from London, England

THERE CAN BE MIRACLES WHEN YOU BELIEVE - BUT I DON'T (PART1)

It was the first night of the Previews and, to be fair, Director Steven Schwartz personally warned us before curtain-up that “anything could happen”, anything we did not like was a “mistake” and work would be ongoing to improve the show in the coming weeks. That is good to hear because, although excellent in places, there were a large number of “mistakes”. At no point was I moved to tears – and I am a crier. I certainly cried during the film. This is, after all, a deeply moving story, but, save for the spine tingling crescendo of the epic song “Deliver Us” which tops and tails the first Act, I remained disappointingly unmoved. The chorus/swing are fantastic and a strong presence throughout the show, cleverly deployed as living props and scenery including impressive representations of water, sand and fire, as well as dancers in the conventional sense.

3.0 star rating Critical J from London, England

THERE CAN BE MIRACLES WHEN YOU BELIEVE - BUT I DON'T (PART 2)

The choreography is dynamic and well executed, although a little cliché for my taste in one part of the opening number (woman repeatedly stretches and retracts her arms/hands to evoke pleading). The burning bush is particularly effective, but it was far too short for such a pivotal and well-known scene. Like much in this show, this important and transformative moment and its profound effect on Moses, for all its spectacle, lacks emotional depth and falls flat. The “big” numbers - “Deliver Us” and “Heaven’s Eyes” – are, by far and away, the best of the songs (both acoustically moving and visually spectacular), thy are superb. The new songs, “Never in a Million Years”, “Simcha Hagiga” and “By My Side” are welcome additions but others, such as “Footprints in the Sand” (and its reprise) are unnecessary padding which serve no purpose other than ticking a superfluous musical arc cliché box.

3.0 star rating Critical J from London, England

THERE CAN BE MIRACLES WHEN YOU BELIEVE - BUT I DON'T (PART 3)

Although vocally impressive and artistically endearing at times, the overall performances of Luke Brady (Moses) and Liam Tamne (Ramses) are generally underwhelming. By contrast, the supporting cast is – with one notable exception - very good and the characterisation here is better all round. Adam Pearce (Hotep) is well cast and consistently strong. Alexia Khadime (Miriam), Tanisha Spring (Nefartari), Mercedesz Csampai (Yocheved) and Silas Wyatt-Barke (Arran) are all solid. Gary Wilmot (Jethro) is excellent (as usual). The best and most convincing performance, however, is that of Christine Allado (Tzipporah) who displays great vocal talent and is a real joy to watch. The child members of the cast were faultless. Sethi is badly cast. He is supposed to be a powerful and ruthless dictator (let’s not forget he is responsible for mass child murder and the enslavement of a whole race). He is a serious character but Joe Dixon’s portrayal - at times jovial, at times chiding, both in a style distinctly reminiscent of Brain Blessed - is overacted, unconvincing and simply inappropriate. This needs directorial attention. Even post-mortem, the dead Sethi keeps popping up (quite literally in one ridiculous instance (from a cloud of smoke in the middle of the splitting sea!) - as the voice in Ramses’ head. This is unnecessary and, in the sea-splitting appearance, turns the already superficial main dialogue/action into a farce, which fails to do justice to this epic story.

3.0 star rating Crtiical J from London, England

THERE CAN BE MIRACLES WHEN YOU BELIEVE - BUT I DON'T (PART 4)

There are too many pantomime moments. A bit of well-placed comic relief, such as Moses telling Jethro he can’t dance is fine but ultimately this is a serious story of conflict and liberation that demands more gravitas. The scooby-doo-esque “let’s get out of here” following the Moses/shepherd fight at the well is pathetic, as are the contrived set-piece fight scenes (Moses/shepherd at the well and Moses/Ramses in Moses’ chamber following Tzippporah’s flight). The male costumes do not work – they are either anachronistic (Sethi’s epauleted general’s jacket) or simply amateurish (white T shirts with painted gold and jewels). As with much of this show, there needs to be more realism. That may sound strange for a show full of miracles but the audience needs to believe it is real if this show is to actually move people. The plagues scene was a mixed bag. The first and last plagues are portrayed very cleverly and effectively. The lice and boils are also presented well through the High Priest (although they will need to work on whatever substance they use to stick them on with to avoid spoiling the illusion). The falling sparks (hail) were a pleasing touch although I would have liked to have seen more being made of that as part of the cumulative build up within the song rather than as a short final flourish at the end (safety allowances permitting). But what of the rest of the plagues? Not a frog in sight. Where was the darkness? I am not sure what plague the flying ghosts were supposed to represent. The scene needs work to maximise its potential. The set is impressively and effectively deployed. I had high hopes for the splitting of the sea and the visuals came close to satisfying them – but not quite. Ramses’ redemption and reconciliation with Moses in the middle of the sea is unconvincing, partly as a result of the lack of characterisation up to that point and partly because the idea that after all this he now wants to be friends is innately improbable. Besides, the scene is already lost to ridicule as soon as dead Sethi pops up. The drowning of the Egyptians (which – for a troubling few moments I feared would not actually happen) is very well staged and executed, although it could do without the unnecessary and faintly comical whale appearing almost as an afterthought, detracting from an otherwise spectacular moment. Whilst spectacular and impressive in places, this show ultimately fails to move beyond the superficial and to deliver us the realism and depth this story commands.

3.0 star rating from London, England

AMAZING PERFORMANCE, WEIRD ENDING

Prince of Egypt was amazing in the musical sense, the cast was great. The songs and the dancing was phenomenal! What let it down was the plot, this is meant to follow the movie but during the last 20 minutes everything was so different. I didn't feel like I was watching the Prince of Egypt at all. It seemed like the writer's were trying to be politically correct. They decided to make Moses look bad for rescuing his people from Egypt and they downplayed the power of God, labelling it as 'magic' instead. If they had just stuck to the plot of the movie it would have been better. I loved the idea of this being in the theatre but was disappointed by the end of it.

3.0 star rating Hannah Smith from London, England

GOOD NOT GREAT

They took a really artistic and profound film and turned it into more of a comedy, it wasn't elevated at all. The spectacle was great to watch, the music was good as expected, although through some of it like 'deliver us' and the plagues it felt like they were just trying to rush through to make room for some of the new material. They took out the heated rivalry between the brothers so it just felt a bit bland, rameses turned out to be a weak boring villain. There wasn't enough focus on some of the better aspects of the story, they were more concerned it seems with filling in the blanks from the film- didnt think there was much need for this. The pace slowed down for some of the more solemn parts but it just had you clock watching, better interpretation on stage needed. Any part with god speaking to moses was gone in a flash which was disappointing, were they trying to make you forget it was a biblical story? Costumes were the biggest disappointment, really weird for ancient egypt...

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