It’s funny how frustrated you are about the mythological inaccuracy of the hydra because that’s how I feel about Hades cutting the threads of life. That job belongs to Atropos.
Thanks MickeyJoTheatre...I always appreciate and gain a lot of perspective and insight from your reviews. **I co-designed the costumes for Hercules with Sky Switser (I also designed the Aladdin costumes). I love working on the West End and will be there soon with The Devil Wears Prada coming up next. Thanks for doing what you do with a critics insight and a kind heart.
So happy to hear the show is improving. I was disappointed with the production at Papermill Playhouse. When you were talking about understanding the difficulties of bringing Pegasus to the stage, all I could think was: He has to see Water for Elephants. I hope you see it on your upcoming trip to NY. The puppetry is different from anything I’ve seen on stage before.
The Names Karl and Heinz are not really a Joke. Its more like a Connection because both names are mostly known together as a ?double-name? (if you can call it) Many (now old) Males are called "Karl heinz" and then their surname. It was a often used name. I think they meant to show a connection of these two characters by splitting "Karl Heinz" to "Karl" and "Heinz"
It sounds like we are getting the point where the show is almost West End/Broadway ready. Using the muses to their full potential I feel it the key with them as the storytellers of the tale. I agree with your thoughts on Meg's costume because if it was her choice yes she likely wouldn't be wearing a dress but since she's under Hade's control the dress is the way to go. Depending on how they want to shape the finale without the titans the Gods' costumes do need a bit of flare of color to give them some identity. I'm excited to see how the next few years shape up for this one.
I’m seeing the show in 10 days so I’m only going off what you’ve said and every other clip/review I could find. But with the hydra I kind of expected the big screen to come into play to do some sort of hybrid experience where we end up with many many hydra heads on the screen etc. Could very easily have a physical head killed and multiple pop up on the screen or something. Seems like a very sensible way to bring the hydra to the stage as opposed to just four puppets on their own. Still very excited to see it!
I struggled with premature decapitation for a while, but some medication cleared that right up. I haven't seen any of these productions, but I did see the shortened, one-act style version that was done aboard the Disney cruise ships many years ago. It was called Hercules: The Muse-ical. It was a lot more zany and slapstick with some fourth wall breaking at the beginning. It was presented as a theater ensemble telling the story of Hercules, only one of the muses didn't make it to the ship on time before departure and a guy dressed up in a moose outfit shows up as a replacement. Obviously, the show was designed to really appeal to families with little kids. And I as a Generation X punk rock kind of guy. . . . ate it right up. Yeah. I loved it. But I also recognize the goofy "let's put on a show" energy of a production like that would be hard to translate to a larger stage.
I'm surprised to hear they somehow fucked up the Hydra. I saw it at Papermill, and there they defeated it by Herc using a slingshot to lodge a rock in the main head's throat to suffocate it. I had a chance to talk to one of the puppeteers, and he was mentioning that the mechanism that wouldve allowed the heads to be detached/reattached to the necks wasn't working right, and making it hard to hit the choreography beats. I guess they still had issues, and if that was the case, either find a new way, or just do the rock slide from the film.
I saw the 2019 production at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park & I LOVED it! It was directed by Lear deBessonet, who at that time was the mastermind behind the Public Works productions, and who is now the artistic director of the Encore Series. I think if the pandemic hadn't stopped the world 6 months later, it could've been a hit on Broadway.
Problem is, the Delacorte production heavily relied on a sense of community (especially with the large cast of extras) it would always have been hard to recreate that on a Broadway stage, I believe that's essentially what they tried in NJ. This new version seems to turn back to the movie for its inspiration.
I got to see Bradley Gibson performing a couple songs + Shoba Narayan leading "Forget About It" at Epcot's Disney on Broadway, and it's just such lovely music! I do hope there's continued improvements & a road for this show.
6:40 My man, Roger. 😊 I've never seen the movie or the musical on stage, but I was still interested to watch this video because of Roger's connection. I have heard his song, Cool Day In Hell, which you say has since made way for a new number. He sells it, but the song got a lukewarm reception in reviews of the Public Works show so I understand why they have tried something else instead.
Great video! One thought: In American English, “what’s” can be short for “what is” or “what does” i.e. “What’s he do for a living?” (maybe same in UK? I don’t know) In “What’s a Grecian urn/earn” Zippel is basically doing two homophonic phrases at once. “He can tell you what‘s a Grecian earn” is a stretch but I think its grammar is *technically* sound. Just my two cents, love your work!
If this show can come to Broadway/West End then they can surely bring the spectacular stage version of Hunchback of Notre Dame to Broadway/West End (preferably West End so I can see it properly...)
My complaints about projections is that it makes lighting characters from the front wash out the projections. If you can use them and still have appropriate theatrical lighting, go for it. "Slaying a Hydra at 7, go go dancing at eight" has long been my work/evening wear problem, but the gold mesh top seems like a good solution.
‘Such a bold departure from the original source material!‘ Finally a Disney musical I‘m excited to see! (Dispite the hydra thing and the missing Disney Magic😅) Musical theatre in Germany is not exactly thriving I‘d say. There are some local theatres that really try, but we don‘t have a lot of variety in big en suite shows. It‘s basically just Disney, Webber, and Tanz der Vampire😬 Also: do you have to be a Dshinni alumnus to be cast as Phil?😂
Die dümmste Aussage die ich je gehört habe. Hamburg könne nicht mit London und New York mithalten? Logisch deswegen ist es ja auch nur der Drittgrößte Standort weltweit. Musicals die aber jeden Tag ausverkauft sind, Disney lässt in Hamburg eine Millionproduktion zu, als auch der laufende Wechsel nach verschiedenen Laufzeiten wie in London und New York sprechen ganz klar für Deutschland. Deine Aussage ist absolut unpassend und entspricht schlicht nicht in Ansätzen der Wahrheit. Deutschland ist der zweitgrößte Markt für Musicals und Theater.
Thank you so much for this review! I saw the Paper Mill Playhouse version last March, and, as you said, it was a huge disappointment. The Hydra irked me to no end, both in terms of the departure from the myth and making it a generic monster but also minimizing Hercules' character arc. Sad to hear that they didn't change it. Phil's motivation was also very thin. But what I remember most was that Hercules was played there with comically exaggerated naivete, but then when he finally gets with Meg, Bradley did a completely out-of-character swaggered celebration. I was like, did neither the director nor anyone else see how out of place it was!? And then it dawned on me: the show was so poorly directed that neither the actor nor the director had any sense of which direction they wanted to go.
Well, was offbroadway at La Jolla, and thats the cast recording you can listen to (and bootleg) starring Michael Arden as Quasi, Ciara Renee as Esmerelda and Patrick Page as Frollo. Due to equity rules it wont transfer to Broadway
okay, i've just seen the show last night and truth to be told, i was very disappointed. the actors did a fantastic job with the material they were given. benet monteiro as hercules was the heart and soul of it all. i kinda wished i had my own muses to accompany me on my daily chores :D i liked the staging and most of the costumes, except for the extras at medusa's tavern, because they looked like they could just walk over to the theatre playing mamma mia and dance along "voulez-vous". my biggest gripe though, are karl and heinz. they were absolutely annoying and their jokes were nothing but cringeworthy! i feel like there were definitley boomers in the writing room trying to be funny. the show wasn't as horrible as many people make it out to be, but it's definitely the weakest disney musical, which is absolutely unfortunate, since i love the movie! i had a fine time, i guess, but i'm pretty sure it will be closing soon :/ it's not ready for the uk!
I was really disappointed with the Papermill production, so I'm glad they're improving it. I like the picture you showed of Meg's costume because I didn't like the costume she wore originally. In the Papermill production it seemed like they were trying to hammer in how she was a strong, independent female which... she already WAS a strong female character in the movie. The movie didn't need to hammer it in because that's just how she was. The stage version just felt pandering and preachy about it instead of just letting her BE strong. And it says something that in a story that already has a lot of anachronistic humor the pants looked ridiculously out-of-place with everyone else wearing a chiton or a peplos. I'm also SO glad to hear that they fixed Meg's death scene. That was probably the single worst moment in the version I saw.
Yes Karl & Heinz is a German Pun. It’s like similar to if you had John & Doe but funny like a Karl-Heinz is Kind of a John Doe but implied to be funny yet dumb & clumsy. Also in the German Movie Dub they‘re called Pech & Schwefel, which eludes to a german saying „Zusammen wie Pech und Schwefel“ which translates to „stick together like bad luck & sulfur“ both sulfur & bad luck fitting the underworld but it actually means kinda like „as thick as thieves“…so it has this clever doublemeaning
Will you be reviewing the current touring production of "Jesus Christ Superstar"? Lots of people seem to love it but it really doesn't work for me, despite being one of my favourite musicals :/
I watched the show recently and something is wrong with the story. The musical is too long and the story is too short. That does not fit. When I visited, the balcony was closed and the parquet was only half full. I'm afraid the show won't last long. After the curtain call, the theatre was empty within 7 minutes. As if the show never happened. It was strange and almost ghostly.
Any fixes in the script re: his adopted/foster mom? At Paper Mill, it was mentioned several times that she'd raised a lot of other kids but we never saw them. That was many of the "show don't tell" mistakes that drove me nuts.
It's my favorite Disney movie, so thank Zeus they are improving from their run in NJ last year! But could you maybe elaborate more on your opinion why you find it a positive that the character of Hercules to be (up until now) always be portrayed by a black actor? I am all for colorblind/genderblind casting in theater (and movies) and I certainly do not mind Hercules being played by a black actor on stage, but I do not see a reason why he always should be black. I definitely see the need for the Muses to be portrayed by black actors, but maybe I am missing something crucial here. Anyway, thank you for your review, it is making me consider going to see it in Hamburg!
I went to see one of the previews (though I guess they didn't change too much from what I've heard) and I was... kind of disappointed. The actors were GREAT, but the book... yeah, not so much. Especially the humor felt so out of place at times (Hades got the most cringeworthy lines, especially in the finale), and some greek myths included were just wrong (Hydra). So yeah pretty average all in all.
I just saw the show. The actors were great but the main issue is the book. As a german I can say that the dialogue is just bad. The jokes do not land and tge story is rushed and no Charakter gets a real arc or developement. The show really lives on the groupe Performances and tge muses but I think this will not be enough for the Westend or Broadway for the show to survive
So ein Schwachsinn. Deswegen sagt er als auch das Publikum, dass gelacht wird. Nicht genug für Westens? Deswegen zieht es ja dorthin. Hahahahahha witzig
I think the Disney theatrical people just are NOT invested in Hercules the way they have been in other properties. I'm not sure why -- maybe they don't think it's "Disney" enough? There was a REALLY terrible production mounted for the Disney Cruise Line, some years back; the lack of "investment" in the story was jarring, it was just a sorry and unfunny satire.
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
It’s funny how frustrated you are about the mythological inaccuracy of the hydra because that’s how I feel about Hades cutting the threads of life. That job belongs to Atropos.
Thanks MickeyJoTheatre...I always appreciate and gain a lot of perspective and insight from your reviews. **I co-designed the costumes for Hercules with Sky Switser (I also designed the Aladdin costumes). I love working on the West End and will be there soon with The Devil Wears Prada coming up next. Thanks for doing what you do with a critics insight and a kind heart.
Look at the toga bear in the background!!!! Love it 😀
So happy to hear the show is improving. I was disappointed with the production at Papermill Playhouse.
When you were talking about understanding the difficulties of bringing Pegasus to the stage, all I could think was: He has to see Water for Elephants. I hope you see it on your upcoming trip to NY. The puppetry is different from anything I’ve seen on stage before.
The Names Karl and Heinz are not really a Joke. Its more like a Connection because both names are mostly known together as a ?double-name? (if you can call it) Many (now old) Males are called "Karl heinz" and then their surname. It was a often used name. I think they meant to show a connection of these two characters by splitting "Karl Heinz" to "Karl" and "Heinz"
True! And it‘s also kind of default names, like maybe Jim and John in English
Most positive review I've seen and that's because you didn't understand how bad most of the jokes/puns were.
Ohhhhhhh 😅
@@MickeyJoTheatre to be fair, they are very hit and miss and it fully depends on your sense of humor. Karl and Heinz were genuinely funny though.
It sounds like we are getting the point where the show is almost West End/Broadway ready. Using the muses to their full potential I feel it the key with them as the storytellers of the tale. I agree with your thoughts on Meg's costume because if it was her choice yes she likely wouldn't be wearing a dress but since she's under Hade's control the dress is the way to go. Depending on how they want to shape the finale without the titans the Gods' costumes do need a bit of flare of color to give them some identity. I'm excited to see how the next few years shape up for this one.
Thought I couldn't like your channel any more, then you start making Cambridge Latin Course references 😍
I’m seeing the show in 10 days so I’m only going off what you’ve said and every other clip/review I could find. But with the hydra I kind of expected the big screen to come into play to do some sort of hybrid experience where we end up with many many hydra heads on the screen etc. Could very easily have a physical head killed and multiple pop up on the screen or something. Seems like a very sensible way to bring the hydra to the stage as opposed to just four puppets on their own.
Still very excited to see it!
I struggled with premature decapitation for a while, but some medication cleared that right up. I haven't seen any of these productions, but I did see the shortened, one-act style version that was done aboard the Disney cruise ships many years ago. It was called Hercules: The Muse-ical. It was a lot more zany and slapstick with some fourth wall breaking at the beginning. It was presented as a theater ensemble telling the story of Hercules, only one of the muses didn't make it to the ship on time before departure and a guy dressed up in a moose outfit shows up as a replacement. Obviously, the show was designed to really appeal to families with little kids. And I as a Generation X punk rock kind of guy. . . . ate it right up. Yeah. I loved it. But I also recognize the goofy "let's put on a show" energy of a production like that would be hard to translate to a larger stage.
I'm surprised to hear they somehow fucked up the Hydra. I saw it at Papermill, and there they defeated it by Herc using a slingshot to lodge a rock in the main head's throat to suffocate it. I had a chance to talk to one of the puppeteers, and he was mentioning that the mechanism that wouldve allowed the heads to be detached/reattached to the necks wasn't working right, and making it hard to hit the choreography beats. I guess they still had issues, and if that was the case, either find a new way, or just do the rock slide from the film.
Thanks for your opinion. I always love to hear your thoughts. I'm visiting the Hamburg production in May and am very excited to see it for myself.
Fun fact :
Christopher and James have now at least two roles in comment
Phil in Hercules and Genie in Aladdin
I saw the 2019 production at The Delacorte Theater in Central Park & I LOVED it! It was directed by Lear deBessonet, who at that time was the mastermind behind the Public Works productions, and who is now the artistic director of the Encore Series. I think if the pandemic hadn't stopped the world 6 months later, it could've been a hit on Broadway.
Problem is, the Delacorte production heavily relied on a sense of community (especially with the large cast of extras) it would always have been hard to recreate that on a Broadway stage, I believe that's essentially what they tried in NJ. This new version seems to turn back to the movie for its inspiration.
The Grecian Urn joke was one of my Grandpa's favourites! Along with:
How do you make a Venetian Blind?
Poke him in the eye!
I got to see Bradley Gibson performing a couple songs + Shoba Narayan leading "Forget About It" at Epcot's Disney on Broadway, and it's just such lovely music! I do hope there's continued improvements & a road for this show.
6:40 My man, Roger. 😊 I've never seen the movie or the musical on stage, but I was still interested to watch this video because of Roger's connection. I have heard his song, Cool Day In Hell, which you say has since made way for a new number. He sells it, but the song got a lukewarm reception in reviews of the Public Works show so I understand why they have tried something else instead.
I can’t wait to see this show. Always been one of my top 5 Disney musicals
Great video! One thought: In American English, “what’s” can be short for “what is” or “what does” i.e. “What’s he do for a living?” (maybe same in UK? I don’t know) In “What’s a Grecian urn/earn” Zippel is basically doing two homophonic phrases at once. “He can tell you what‘s a Grecian earn” is a stretch but I think its grammar is *technically* sound. Just my two cents, love your work!
If this show can come to Broadway/West End then they can surely bring the spectacular stage version of Hunchback of Notre Dame to Broadway/West End (preferably West End so I can see it properly...)
if percy jackson could do the magic onstage, then mofking disney can do the magic onstage. STOP. CHANGING. THE STORY
Loved the vlog, and your review .. and the sweatshirt is soooo cool!
Thanks. Sounds like Hercules is making forward progress. Next time is the charm?
Benet is Brazilian..... he is amazing!
Mickey - the long hair is a big yes.
My complaints about projections is that it makes lighting characters from the front wash out the projections. If you can use them and still have appropriate theatrical lighting, go for it. "Slaying a Hydra at 7, go go dancing at eight" has long been my work/evening wear problem, but the gold mesh top seems like a good solution.
Where did you get your pillows from i love them!
I feel like the next step to fix is the Hydra.
Did the music give Yamaha Keyboard like it did in the trailer?
‘Such a bold departure from the original source material!‘
Finally a Disney musical I‘m excited to see! (Dispite the hydra thing and the missing Disney Magic😅) Musical theatre in Germany is not exactly thriving I‘d say. There are some local theatres that really try, but we don‘t have a lot of variety in big en suite shows. It‘s basically just Disney, Webber, and Tanz der Vampire😬
Also: do you have to be a Dshinni alumnus to be cast as Phil?😂
Die dümmste Aussage die ich je gehört habe. Hamburg könne nicht mit London und New York mithalten? Logisch deswegen ist es ja auch nur der Drittgrößte Standort weltweit. Musicals die aber jeden Tag ausverkauft sind, Disney lässt in Hamburg eine Millionproduktion zu, als auch der laufende Wechsel nach verschiedenen Laufzeiten wie in London und New York sprechen ganz klar für Deutschland. Deine Aussage ist absolut unpassend und entspricht schlicht nicht in Ansätzen der Wahrheit. Deutschland ist der zweitgrößte Markt für Musicals und Theater.
@@Hamburg08 die großen en-suits, die ganzjährig laufen sind trotzdem nur Disney und Weber und Tanz der Vampire!😂
I do like the design of hades other productions tend to over do it with the hair and make up but this one looks good
Thank you so much for this review! I saw the Paper Mill Playhouse version last March, and, as you said, it was a huge disappointment. The Hydra irked me to no end, both in terms of the departure from the myth and making it a generic monster but also minimizing Hercules' character arc. Sad to hear that they didn't change it. Phil's motivation was also very thin. But what I remember most was that Hercules was played there with comically exaggerated naivete, but then when he finally gets with Meg, Bradley did a completely out-of-character swaggered celebration. I was like, did neither the director nor anyone else see how out of place it was!? And then it dawned on me: the show was so poorly directed that neither the actor nor the director had any sense of which direction they wanted to go.
Is it possible to buy that sweatshirt on-line?
Should they think Xanadu with Olivia Newton John for Muses?
Whatever happened to Hunchback? Did Disney drop and bury it?
It played in Vienna last year
its a pretty big community/school show in the states but it got dropped professionally as far as broadway goes
Well, was offbroadway at La Jolla, and thats the cast recording you can listen to (and bootleg) starring Michael Arden as Quasi, Ciara Renee as Esmerelda and Patrick Page as Frollo. Due to equity rules it wont transfer to Broadway
It was in Berlin, Stuttgart and Vienna.
I also saw the Delacorte Public Theatre production and I am of the opinion it was better than the Papermill version.
Can you please do frozen next
okay, i've just seen the show last night and truth to be told, i was very disappointed. the actors did a fantastic job with the material they were given. benet monteiro as hercules was the heart and soul of it all. i kinda wished i had my own muses to accompany me on my daily chores :D i liked the staging and most of the costumes, except for the extras at medusa's tavern, because they looked like they could just walk over to the theatre playing mamma mia and dance along "voulez-vous". my biggest gripe though, are karl and heinz. they were absolutely annoying and their jokes were nothing but cringeworthy! i feel like there were definitley boomers in the writing room trying to be funny. the show wasn't as horrible as many people make it out to be, but it's definitely the weakest disney musical, which is absolutely unfortunate, since i love the movie! i had a fine time, i guess, but i'm pretty sure it will be closing soon :/ it's not ready for the uk!
I was really disappointed with the Papermill production, so I'm glad they're improving it.
I like the picture you showed of Meg's costume because I didn't like the costume she wore originally. In the Papermill production it seemed like they were trying to hammer in how she was a strong, independent female which... she already WAS a strong female character in the movie. The movie didn't need to hammer it in because that's just how she was. The stage version just felt pandering and preachy about it instead of just letting her BE strong. And it says something that in a story that already has a lot of anachronistic humor the pants looked ridiculously out-of-place with everyone else wearing a chiton or a peplos.
I'm also SO glad to hear that they fixed Meg's death scene. That was probably the single worst moment in the version I saw.
I know one of the muses! Venolia is a south african like me~!
I do wanna hear zero to hero in German haha
Yes Karl & Heinz is a German Pun. It’s like similar to if you had John & Doe but funny like a Karl-Heinz is Kind of a John Doe but implied to be funny yet dumb & clumsy. Also in the German Movie Dub they‘re called Pech & Schwefel, which eludes to a german saying „Zusammen wie Pech und Schwefel“ which translates to „stick together like bad luck & sulfur“ both sulfur & bad luck fitting the underworld but it actually means kinda like „as thick as thieves“…so it has this clever doublemeaning
Will you be reviewing the current touring production of "Jesus Christ Superstar"? Lots of people seem to love it but it really doesn't work for me, despite being one of my favourite musicals :/
I watched the show recently and something is wrong with the story. The musical is too long and the story is too short. That does not fit. When I visited, the balcony was closed and the parquet was only half full. I'm afraid the show won't last long. After the curtain call, the theatre was empty within 7 minutes. As if the show never happened. It was strange and almost ghostly.
Any fixes in the script re: his adopted/foster mom? At Paper Mill, it was mentioned several times that she'd raised a lot of other kids but we never saw them. That was many of the "show don't tell" mistakes that drove me nuts.
she does mention that she has other foster kids, but they are not seen
Stepford wives? Instead of desperate housewives?
It's my favorite Disney movie, so thank Zeus they are improving from their run in NJ last year! But could you maybe elaborate more on your opinion why you find it a positive that the character of Hercules to be (up until now) always be portrayed by a black actor? I am all for colorblind/genderblind casting in theater (and movies) and I certainly do not mind Hercules being played by a black actor on stage, but I do not see a reason why he always should be black. I definitely see the need for the Muses to be portrayed by black actors, but maybe I am missing something crucial here. Anyway, thank you for your review, it is making me consider going to see it in Hamburg!
I went to see one of the previews (though I guess they didn't change too much from what I've heard) and I was... kind of disappointed. The actors were GREAT, but the book... yeah, not so much. Especially the humor felt so out of place at times (Hades got the most cringeworthy lines, especially in the finale), and some greek myths included were just wrong (Hydra). So yeah pretty average all in all.
I just saw the show. The actors were great but the main issue is the book. As a german I can say that the dialogue is just bad. The jokes do not land and tge story is rushed and no Charakter gets a real arc or developement.
The show really lives on the groupe Performances and tge muses but I think this will not be enough for the Westend or Broadway for the show to survive
So ein Schwachsinn. Deswegen sagt er als auch das Publikum, dass gelacht wird. Nicht genug für Westens? Deswegen zieht es ja dorthin. Hahahahahha witzig
Moral of the story- New Jersey bad /j
I think the Disney theatrical people just are NOT invested in Hercules the way they have been in other properties. I'm not sure why -- maybe they don't think it's "Disney" enough?
There was a REALLY terrible production mounted for the Disney Cruise Line, some years back; the lack of "investment" in the story was jarring, it was just a sorry and unfunny satire.
The Grecian urn/earn joke is as old as time. 🙄
I'm not sure that's correct, as time is actually incredibly old and urns weren't invented at the start of it
@@MickeyJoTheatre🤭🤣