★★★½

“entertaining, occasionally dazzling, yet frustratingly uneven”

Disney’s Hercules launches onto the West End stage in splashy, scattershot style that embraces camp and colour, but can’t quite decide who it’s playing to. With a book by Kwame Kwei-Armah, recently departed Artistic Director of the Young Vic, and Robert Horn, expectations were high for the stage adaptation of Disney’s 1997 animated film. However, perhaps through limited fault of Kwei-Armah, who it seems merely adapted the book from a 2019 Off-Broadway version by Kristoffer Diaz, we get something that leans more towards panto – jokes often too juvenile for adults, yet strangely pitched above younger children.

Tonally, it’s a mixed bag throughout. Some of the new songs fail to land, despite being written by the original duo of Alan Menken (Music) and David Zippel (Lyrics). Hercules’ introductory number Today’s Gonna Be My Day, feels more like a filler from Dick Whittington than a compelling character launch, particularly in the staging, with a plethora of dancers filling the market, ducking and diving to avoid Herc’s slapstick clumsiness. Yet redemption comes swiftly with Go the Distance, delivered by Luke Brady with gravitas and control, even if the new vocal arrangement takes a little adjusting to for die-hard fans.

The costumes and puppetry are visually dazzling – though the latter is perhaps less effectual than Disney’s longest running theatrical hit The Lion King. The gods shimmer in outrageous gold, Hades’ cape swishes with villainous flair, and the muses – a consistent highlight – sparkle in their many gorgeous gowns with elegance and verve. Wig and hair designer Mia M Neal deserves special mention: her sculptural braids-turned-hats are a feat of fabulous imagination. The muse’s gospel numbers, harmonically tight and delivered with electric charm by Sharlene Hector, Brianna Ogunbawo, Malinda Parris and Robyn Rose-Li, are the show’s undisputed high points.

At its best, the set is magnetic – keeping you guessing with how seemingly magical effects are delivered. To represent the souls trapped in the underworld for eternity, gauze drapes swirl heavenward, then collapse back down, creating a hypnotic rhythm that’s almost balletic. Meanwhile, the rest of Hades’ underworld has a steampunk vibe, complete with minions and an inexplicable tap number (Getting Even) that adds nothing but confusion.

Despite the tonal inconsistencies, the cast commits entirely. Mae Ann Jorolan’s Megara is a standout – smoky-voiced, sardonic, and emotionally resonant. Her interpretation of I Won’t Say (I’m in Love) with the muses is every bit as affecting as fans would hope. And in one of the more successful additions, Forget About It, a flirtatious first encounter between Meg and Herc, brings welcome depth to their dynamic, balancing her independence against his oblivious infatuation.

Ultimately, Hercules the Musical is entertaining, occasionally dazzling, yet frustratingly uneven. Casey Nicholaw’s direction keeps the show visually fluid, if not always tonally consistent. It’s at its best when it is faithful to the original film and lets the muses lead the charge. If the creative team can tone down some of the more broad humour, there’s a sharper, smarter version of this show waiting to be revealed.

SHUCKED

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★★★

“The fun factor is dolloped on as thick as melted butter on crispy corn on the cob”

You can imagine exactly whereabouts in the United States Cob County (the fictional location for the musical comedy “Shucked”) would lie. Somewhere on the border of Arkansas and Oklahoma, where the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye, and the town-folk, dressed like raggedy scarecrows, can’t see beyond the wall of maize that shields the outside world. ‘People don’t leave Cob County’, we are told. Well, hey, if I found myself there, I’d never want to leave either judging by the sheer joy even just two hours in their company can give.

Regents Park Open Air Theatre is the perfect backdrop for this real gem of a musical. A score of catchy tunes; a Prairie-sized dose of charm and compassion; a wagonload of amazeballs song and dance and the corniest jokes you dare to imagine, all roll into town, via Broadway, to give us a night we’re going to remember for quite some time. Robert Horn’s book openly celebrates its own richly flavoured cheesiness by packing it full of puns and punchlines, while Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally’s country-tinged music and lyrics keeps the smile firmly on our faces with their mix of foot-tapping, bluesy reels and soul-stirring ballads. This formula really shouldn’t work. The story is preposterous, the final message unbelievably schmaltzy and some of the jokes as old as the American Outback; yet we are ‘shucked’ into loving it (a hasty qualification needed here – some of the one-liners are, in fact, surprisingly audacious and shockingly risqué, and would mercifully go over the heads of the younger members of the audience).

We are introduced to the Midwestern community by way of Storyteller One and Storyteller Two; Monique Ashe-Palmer and Steven Webb respectively – a joyous pair whose comic timing and flair keep the narrative in check with a rancher’s whip-cracking skill. At the heart of the story is Maizy (Sophie McShera) whose wedding vows to Beau (Ben Joyce) are interrupted by the corn crop suddenly and mysteriously dying. An unsolved mystery – which, in fact, is just a mystery – Webb tells us. Maizy dares to venture beyond the county limits in order to find a solution to the crop failure. She winds up in Tampa, an exaggerated, greeting-card-type metropolis where she meets grifter Gordy (Matthew Seadon-Young), a corn doctor (of course). Gordy is in debt to some not-so-gangsterish gangsters, and he sees in Maizy an opportunity to do some good ole shucking and shake off his creditors. Maizy, on the rebound from breaking off with Beau, is lovestruck, and the two of them head back to Cob County. What follows is a messy mix of misdirected romance, deception, and a full-on, heart-on-sleeve parable about the strength of community, family and belonging, and the triumph of good over bad.

To put it simply, the cast is outstanding. McShera’s Maizy has a real sense of the comedy but layers it with a steely tenderness that refuses to suffer fools. And a voice to match. Joyce’s literal-minded Beau is a delight, seeing the world in black and white but colouring it in with splashes of charisma and slapstick empathy. And a voice to match. His side kick and brother, Peanut – played by the terrific Keith Ramsay – has the burden of the corny jokes but he carries them all with an ease, delivering them with a deadpan hilarity. Meanwhile, Maizy’s cousin, the whisky-brewing, sassy Lulu is a tour de force of a performance in the hands of Georgina Onuorah. And a voice to match (have I said that?). In fact, Onuorah’s voice soars above all else. Seadon-Young is slick as oil as the slippery Gordy wishing he was better at being bad, though his performance couldn’t be better if he tried. Director Jack O’Brien brings out the best in all of them, including the ensemble – highlighting Sarah O’Gleby’s inventive choreography which occasionally verges on the acrobatic – and some perilous use of barrels and planks.

The music worms its way into our ears and takes root. At once familiar in its mix of pop, musical theatre, country and some serious balladeering; but unique enough to sound fresh and lyrically holding its own against the onslaught of wordplay in the book. From the rousing opening number ‘Corn’, through the obligatory ballads (mostly given to McShera); Seadon-Young’s bluesy ‘Bad’ and Onuorah’s showstopping ‘Independently Owned’, the numbers are a delight. This isn’t high art, but the spirit (and the corn) is sky high. An elephant’s eye wouldn’t come close. The fun factor is dolloped on as thick as melted butter on crispy corn on the cob. If it’s possible, this musical is tastier even. Sweeter, cheesier and packed with joy. One taste and you’ll be wanting to go back for more.

HERCULES

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

★★★½

“entertaining, occasionally dazzling, yet frustratingly uneven”

HERCULES

Theatre Royal Drury Lane

Reviewed on 25th June 2025

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Johan Persson © Disney

Previously reviewed at this venue:

HERCULES

HERCULES

HERCULES

SHUCKED

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

★★★★★

“The fun factor is dolloped on as thick as melted butter on crispy corn on the cob”

SHUCKED

Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre

Reviewed on 20th May 2025

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Pamela Raith

Previously reviewed at this venue:

SHUCKED

SHUCKED

SHUCKED

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