'Hercules' review — Muses steal the show in Disney's latest screen-to-stage adaptation

Read our review of Hercules, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by David Zippel, and a book by Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robert Horn, now in performances at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

It’s a Herculean effort to put on a new show in the West End, and arguably the stakes are even higher for the screen-to-stage adaptation of Hercules, as it follows in the footsteps of Disney musical Frozen at Theatre Royal Drury Lane.

While the sets and effects here are not as striking (though there is once again a bridge traversing the length of the stage, this time in set designer Dane Laffrey’s stalactite-encrusted Underworld), Casey Nicholaw’s production packs in big tunes, gorgeous costumes, and plenty of groan-worthy laughs.

Based on the much-loved 1997 film, starring Danny DeVito, James Woods, and Susan Egan, Hercules’ stage journey began at the open-air Delacorte Theatre in New York, before a revised production in New Jersey in 2023 and a German-language premiere in Hamburg last year. Now in the West End, Nicholaw’s production tracks closely to the original film, following the coming-of-age story of a young demigod, who is snatched from Mount Olympus as a baby and raised by his adoptive mother Despina, before learning the truth of his parentage and embarking on a quest to return home.

Luke Brady is a picture-perfect fit for the title role, which is playfully amplified by costume designers Gregg Barnes and Sky Switser, who dress him in a tiny toga, with a see-through vest and, later, solid gold armour, to show off his rippling abs. Over the course of two hours, Brady’s Hercules undergoes a transformation: from a puppyish young man, keen for acceptance within his community and unable to control his body as he stumbles his way through “Today’s Gonna be My Day”, smashing pots, hurling rocks into the wings, and knocking over houses; to a self-assured, sensitive hero, ready to fight for those he loves. Brady shows off his powerful vocals in the rousing solo numbers “Go the Distance” and “To Be Human” and athletically tackles the tightly choreographed number “One Last Hope” with ceaseless energy.

The real scene stealers, however, are the five Muses, played by Sharlene Hector, Candace Furbert, Brianna Ogunbawo, Robyn Rose-Li and, on the night of this review, Kamilla Fernandes. They are our guides through Hercules’ journey and perfectly translate Alan Menken’s catchy gospel score to the stage, with rich, killer vocals. Their frequent costume changes are a true celebration of style, with highlights being a lightning-fast quick change in the opening number and flamenco-style, mirrored dresses in “A Muse Bouche”, which shine beautifully under Jeff Croiter’s honeyed lights.

Disney was thought to be ahead of its time with the creation of strong female lead Meg, and Mae Ann Jorolan (who also performed the role in the Hamburg production) honours this. Channelling the femme fatale of 1950s Hollywood, Jorolan is sultry and glamorous but a little too aloof, and it becomes hard to connect with the building chemistry between Meg and Hercules.

The show’s writers Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robert Horn have had a lot of fun tweaking the book, and anyone who was a fan of Shucked — the country-and-western musical about a town’s dying corn crop, recently seen at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre — will be happy to know that plenty of Horn’s cringeworthy dad jokes are also packed into Hercules. One-liners such as “He’s so strong he could be a single mother” and “Ugly? Yes, but only on the inside” are largely delivered by Stephen Carlile’s pantomimic, petulant Hades, who hams up his villain even more than in the film (and brilliantly contrasts with Joel Benjamin’s dry delivery as his brother Zeus). Craig Gallivan and Lee Zarrett are a great bumbling double act as Hades’ underlings Bob and Charles.

Frozen was resident at Drury Lane for three years, and only time will tell whether Hercules can measure up to its success. But there's no doubt this feel-good family show will delight Drury Lane's youngest audience members.

Book Hercules tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Luke Brady in Hercules. (Photo by Matt Crockett). Inset images by Johan Persson