Madagascar the Musical: New Wimbledon Theatre
First Half of Madagsacar a Muddled Affair
When it first came out on the big screen 13 years ago, Madagascar was a colourful affair that promised fun without any huge depth. On a boiling night in Wimbledon Theatre, this new musical production doesn't outstay its welcome and really picks up after slow beginnings.
African Night Takes Time to Warm Up
Novak Djokovic may have left SW19 with the Wimbledon trophy but there was something even more wooden about the first half of the evening's entertainment. For a start, there was no start. It was 15 minutes late in a boiling auditorium. This perhaps added to the sense that the first thirtysomething minutes before the interval left something to be desired.
When your three-year-old film critic has turned into a teenager and is critiquing the holes in the plot (remember, there was a paper thin plot in the original movie version) then it does dawn that something is missing. Whatever cartoon chemistry existed in animation between a zebra, lion, giraffe and hippo, it entirely lacked on stage in the first half. The grizzly grandma at Grand Central Station had more energy than the youthful cast put together.
That's not to say that Matt Terry, he of X-Factor fame, doesn't have a great voice. He does. Everything else he offered was just a little bit clunky, including the matey relationship with Marty, played with a real zest by Antoine Murray-Straughan. That seemed like a real open goal missed given that the World Cup has just come and gone...
Second Half of Madagascar a Lemur Love-in
After a team talk, the show changed gear for the better. This is due in no small part to the entrance of Jo Parsons shuffling around on his knees as lord of the lemurs Julien. It is quite uncanny how the adult brain can engage with that tone, given it was an almost repeat of the 2005 original in delivery. The audience, previously supine, came to life in a big way.
Another special mention must go to Jamie-Lee Morgan playing the illness-obsessed Melman, skilfully controlling the long neck and subtleties of the deadpan giraffe. That didn't go unnoticed next to the more in your face hippo Gloria, again, well constructed by Timmika Ramsey.
Special mention must go to Tom Rogers's design and Fabian Aloise's rainbow choreography as well as the actors themselves. Terry and company should be congratulated for keeping up the tempo in furry animal coats in front of mums and dads in flip flops and summery gear.
The saving grace was that the number of the beast(s) was just short enough to work its magic. Switch your mind off and Madagascar is the theatre beach party you were looking for in 30 degree heat. That is not meant to be a bad recommendation.
