The original film was one of the best animated movies ever made by a western studio, so I was excited to watch this recording of the long-time-coming stage adaptation. There is certainly a great deal of fan service achieved by upholding the same style, structure, and goosebump inducing music that made the 90s picture so amazing. As far as its modern innovations, however, this adaptation can frankly be skipped. Dozens of songs were added, and none of them landed like the original soundtrack. Also accompanying the new (and old) music were extremely on-the-nose dance numbers, mind you, performed by amazing dancers, but they were still an ill fit. This story didn't need dance at all, let alone a heavy incorporation of it. It seemed like the producers tried too hard to "show-tune" up a classic that was never meant to embrace that style to begin with.
The script didn't help matters, with the addition of transitional scenes that were unneeded and expository, plus a refusal to cut other scenes that probably should have been. Action packed chariot races, hieroglyphs coming to life, among other sequences are fun ideas to explore in animation, but trying to imply them onstage only makes the final product much more campy. One couldn't exactly cut elements like the burning bush, parted sea, or the plagues when telling a story about Moses, but those are also reasons why the story is so hard to bring into a theatrical space. Mixing a Bible tale with stage effects gives a sensation of a novelty show from Branson, Missouri rather than anything from the West End.
I did not much like the cast as a whole. The vocals were overall impressive, with perhaps the exception of Christine Allado as Tzipporah, who seemed intent on passing as a pop star. I particularly enjoyed the leading man, Luke Brady, who brought to the table a stunning voice along with very competent acting. Unfortunately, I think that's where it ends. This is the price that is paid when deciding to film a musical, as the acting style seldomly works in closeups. The most notable "weak links" are Tanisha Spring as Nefertari, one of those aforementioned unneeded additions. Her stereotypical snobby demeanor was eye-roll inducing whenever she took the stage, necessary for the character, but not for the show. There was also the problem of Adam Pearce as the High Priest. His performance was over-the-top, yet serious, extra infuriating considering he replaced the original's comedic relief. Why is that? Well, the show needed him to be the token bass, part of the larger problem with modern musical theatre, an obsession with belting tenors above all else. This poor casting choice additionally altered one of the better songs of the original. They should have added more deep voices to the ensemble, but not at the expense of "Playing with the Big Boys."
This character is also a large part of objectively the worst element of the show, the ending. Ramses had a confusing babyface turn at the conclusion, hugging Moses and letting him escape. This allowed the High Priest to very briefly become the main antagonist, mind controlling the Egyptian army before all of them were swept away by the Red Sea. It's one of the worst creative liberties I have ever seen. The Prince of Egypt is not Star Wars!
There were ways this show could have been great, as was evidenced by my excitement to initially see it. Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, they missed the mark by a wide margin.
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