“Whose daring deeds are great theatre? Hercules!” So sing the Muses, as they close act one of Disney’s Hercules, which opened at London’s Theatre Royal, Drury Lane last week.
The 1997 Disney animation this new show is based on is, of course, already a successful musical film. The hit song Go the Distance was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. The new West End version includes all the film’s familiar musical numbers, notably The Gospel Truth (which is reprised as many as six times) but also I Won’t Say (I’m In Love), Zero to Hero and A Star is Born.
There are plenty of new original songs, too, by the composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel.
