Yesterday was Esther and William’s 9th birthday
We seem to have had a bit of an accidental Wild Animal theme this year
On Monday we went to the cinema to see The Lion King
Tuesday we had a wonderful day at Paradise Wildlife Park
And last night we were guests of The Marlowe Theatre
For the opening night of Madagascar The Musical
What lucky little now nine year olds they are!
The Marlowe is our local theatre
And we are so lucky to have such a modern theatre
With such a rich compendium of shows to share each year
We love going to the theatre
And while The West End is wonderful
It is lovely being able to see high quality theatre
Much closer to home
The Marlowe are fantastically family friendly
And we always have a good night when we go
Last night was extra special as the theatre gave Esther and William some super special treats
Including a cake with number 9 candles and their first ever taste of fizzy lemonade!
But the highlight of the night was, of course, the show
This is a musical for movie lovers
For fans of the Madagascar motion picture
For those that know all the songs
The characters and the catchphrases
This is a musical aimed at opening up theatre to a new audience
A production with the purpose of winning people over
From screen to stage
It was perfectly pitched for my newly nine year old twins
Who loved every moment of the performance
While I liked the show a lot
I was not as besotted as my children
The songs were a bit dull
In my humble opinion
And the vocal talent on the stage could have done so much more
Gloria, Hannah Victoria, had a fabulous voice
We all loved Marty played by Posi Morakinyo
His dancing was brilliant and much admired by my little dancers
X Factor winner Matt Terry was slick as Alex
The puppetry in this show was brilliant
Just brilliant!
Melman was very good
The chimpanzeee was much loved by William
And the penguins were just awesome
I loved watching the puppeteers
They were clearly loving what they were doing
And threw themselves into their characters
Acting as much with their faces and bodies as with their puppets
Must be exhilarating but exhausting work
It was such a joy to watch
Skipper’s voice was spot on
You could have been watching the movie
Will Beckerleg also played Maurice and this character was just as superbly done
For me the show was stolen in the second half
By King Julien
Played by Kieran Mortell
High octane energy from start to finish
This Lemur knows how to party
With the movie’s anthem
I Like to Move It Move It
Getting all the audience dancing and singing along
One little girl sitting in one of the boxes
Was up on her feet
Jumping around
And having the time of her life
The grins on my children’s faces during the second half
Are testament to the pure joy brought to the stage by King Julien
Today my children have spent the entire day doing impressions
So much so that Edie is now walking round saying
I am very clever in a King Julien voice!
I loved dancing at the end of the show
When the king invited us to party
I remember dancing to this track during my misspent youth
Far too many years ago
Madagascar the Musical is madcap theatre for all the family
It is fun fast paced and will put a smile on your face
The production company say that their aim is
To encourage the next generation of theatre goers
And that is what Madagascar was all about
Enticing young people into the theatre
Showing them what it is all about
Making them feel happy and part of the action
Ensuring that they want to come back to the theatre
Time and time again
The curtain was not even down on Madagascar the Musical
Before my nine year olds were telling me that they NEED to see it again
William declared that it was better than Joseph which we saw last week
High praise indeed!
Hey Team Madagascar
You are very clever!
Keep up the good work
And break a leg for the rest of the tour!
We LOVE to move it, move it!
Thank you x
We were gifted our tickets to the show in return for our honest review