Hercules the Musical is a stage adaptation of the famous Disney film, Hercules. It’s a good show, but not the best Disney adaptation to stage. Here’s my Hercules the Musical theatre review.
Overview and plot synopsis of Hercules the Musical
Hercules the Musical is a stage adaptation of the Disney film, Hercules. The plot of Hercules the Musical on stage roughly follows the plot of the Disney film. So if you’ve seen the film of Hercules, my Hercules the Musical theatre review won’t give many spoilers.
Like the Disney film, the theatre show Hercules the Musical follows the story of Hercules. The stage show is filled with gospel-inspired music, plus the moving and powerful songs from the film, and extra songs as well. It’s a fun show, with a lot of humour.
Hercules the Musical starts with the Muses introducing the world of ancient Greece and the birth of Hercules, the child of Greek Gods Zeus and Hera. However, Zeus’s brother Hades (the God of the Underworld) is resentful of the baby Hercules because of a prophecy that one day, Hercules will overthrow him. Hades tasks his two henchmen with giving Hercules a potion to strip him of his godly powers, so he can be mortal and then killed. However, the henchmen don’t manage to give Hercules the whole potion. So he becomes a mortal man, but retains his God-like strength.
Hercules is brought up by human foster parents. But as he grows us, his super-human strength sets him apart, and he struggles to fit in and find where he belongs. When he discovers his true parentage, he learns that he must do a heroic act that no God has ever done before, to be able to become a God and return to Mount Olympus.
Hercules’ seeks out the trainer Phil, to teach him to channel his strength so he can become a true hero. He starts doing heroic acts, winning popularly among local people. As Hercules’ fame grows, so does Hades’ frustration, prompting the God of the Underworld to escalate his plans to overthrow Zeus and seize control of Olympus.
Hercules meets Meg (Megara), a sharp‑tongued and fiercely independent woman whose past entanglement with Hades complicates everything. Hercules falls in love with Meg, but she is more guarded, with previous heartbreak and the internal turmoil of knowing that she is secretly working for Hades.
The final act brings a battle between Hercules and Hades and his monsters. Hercules risks everything to save Meg, proving himself a hero not through strength but through his determination to save the woman he loves. His immortality is restored, but he chooses to remain on Earth with the woman he loves. The musical closes with a jubilant celebration led by the Muses, affirming that heroism is defined by heart.
What I liked about Hercules the Musical
I enjoyed Hercules the Musical. I didn’t find it amazing – but it was still an enjoyable show.
The songs in Hercules the Musical
The songs ‘Go the Distance’ and ‘Zero to Hero’ were clear stand out moments in the show. ‘I won’t say I’m in love’ was good as well. They were performed really well, with good staging and excellent singing. The Muses were especially good. There were also some extra songs in Hercules the Musical than in the Disney film. Some of these were really nice as well – including a lullaby sung by Hercules’ new foster mother, Phil’s version of ‘Go the Distance’, and Hercules singing ‘To be human’.
There was also a really good new song in Hercules the Musical sung by Meg and Hercules. Meg is having a go at Hercules, about how she doesn’t want to be saved. And then the song cuts to Hercules, singing a love song, before cutting back to Meg’s rant. It’s a really clever and funny juxtaposition of the two characters.
The humour
Hercules the Musical is a funny show. There are lots of jokes, and a lot of humour. A lot of these are quick one-line jokes. It’s almost a pantomime style of humour. I enjoyed it – it maybe felt a little silly at times, but it was all good-hearted humour. There were a few jokes that were maybe questionable in terms of how suitable they would be for children, but overall the style of humour was very family-friendly.
The character of Hades in Hercules the Musical is played very gay/camp. There’s a lot of humour in the character, which means he’s not too scary as a villain.
The set and staging in Hercules the Musical
The staging of Hercules the Musical was ok as well. It definitely could have been better – I’ll say more about that later. But in general is was good. The set with the columns of Greek temples worked well, with the columns moving around and also coming out of the bottom of the stage – sometimes with a character on.
The costumes of the five Muses were excellent. They had a lot of costumes throughout the show, and their performances and costumes were always excellent. And the set for the song ‘I won’t say I’m in love’ was really nice, with a pretty flower garden and the Greek temple columns.
There were also some good scenes where Hercules was fighting monsters, including the Hydra who kept multiplying each time it was killed. And the huge Hades at the end, with the mask and large hands, was good. And there was a clever special effect in Hades’ underworld, where there was a cone of light and the air flow within the cone causing fabric to float around. It’s hard to describe – but it was a good effect in the show.
What I wasn’t so sure about
Overall, I did enjoy Hercules the Musical. But I just had the constant feeling that it was good, but it could be better.
The set and staging of Hercules the Musical – it could have been so much better
The main thing about Hercules the Musical on stage is that the set and stage could have been so much more impressive. It just all felt a bit simple, a bit easy, and a bit un-impressive. It was all perfectly nice, and good fun. But there weren’t any ‘wow’ moments with the staging. When you think about other Disney musicals, such as The Lion King or Frozen, you know that Disney musicals can be amazing spectacles on stage. But Hercules the Musical isn’t anywhere near close to The Lion King or Frozen in terms of the spectacle of the staging.
There were so many moments when Hercules the Musical could have easily had better set and staging. The song ‘Go the Distance’ was nice and performed well, but the set and staging wasn’t particularly impressive. There were some projections at the back, but that was it.
The final scenes, were Hercules is fighting the Hydra and also the huge version of Hades, were also a bit underwhelming. They were perfectly ok fight scenes. But I’ve seen so many shows where scenes like this would have been so much more impressive. The Hydra could have been done like a Chinese Dragon – something like that would have made it a lot more memorable visually.
The costumes were also ok, but again, nothing particularly memorable. And the ‘Underworld’ scenes also weren’t particularly impressive. Apart from the cone of light, these scenes didn’t have loads of set or special effects. They could have done so much more with making the Underworld really impressive.
And some weird moments in the staging
There were also a few weird moments in the staging. There was a costume that was very clearly a T-Rex costume. But they’d made it furry. I couldn’t work out why there was a furry T-Rex in Ancient Greece. It even came on stage a second time – and it didn’t make sense either time.
And then there was a one-eyed green monster, who looked a bit like Mike from Monsters Inc. He was on stage for about 10 seconds – just long enough to Hercules to fight him when Hercules was trying to be a hero. But again, having a one-eyed green monster in Ancient Greece didn’t make much sense.
And then there was a red Minotour, who appeared on stage for 5 seconds, before Hercules came on stage wearing it as a costume – presumably after having just killed it. It’s a shame there were a few of these scenes that just didn’t make sense. WHy have a furry T-Rex in Ancient Greece? Unless they just happened to have a T-Rex costume that they decided they have to use for something?
The whole show just had a slightly low-budget feel to it. It felt like they’d only half-tried with making the costumes, set and staging. It was all ok. But none of it was ‘wow’.
And no Pegasus!
I was also really disappointed that they cut out Pegasus! In the Disney film, Hercules has a really cute flying horse as his sidekick, right from when he was a baby. Pegasus was really cute in the film. But they cut him out completely in the stage show. They also made Phil just a regular human in the stage show. Again, cutting Pegasus completely and making Phil just a regular human felt like they were cutting corners with the staging/costumes. Having a version of Pegasus would have been really nice. I’m sure they could have done something really nice with Pegasus on stage.
Would I recommend Hercules the Musical
Overall, I did enjoy Hercules the Musical. I just didn’t love it. It was an enjoyable show, with nice songs, nice characters, some ok staging, and some ok humour. But it wasn’t a ‘wow’ production. It’s a shame, because with some extra special effects, props and staging, it really could have been great. But instead, it was just a nice show but not amazingly memorable.
Hope you enjoyed my Hercules the Musical theatre review! Check out my other theatre reviews for more shows in the West End, across the UK and the world.
