The Prince of Egypt
- Caitlin Marley
- Apr 3, 2020
- 4 min read
Since today is the day that the London cast of The Prince of Egypt have released their cast recording I thought today was the perfect day to tell you all about going to see it last month. I know what you're thinking, 'why has it taken you so long to write about it?' Well I'm not going to lie, all this virus malarkey got me a bit distracted but now I'm just trying to make the most of this time we have been given.
So where do I start? Well as a Christmas present me, my boyfriend Jacob and his brother and sister, Peter and Jess, were gifted the tickets as a Christmas present from Jacobs parents. We were all very excited and it meant we could stretch Christmas out that little bit longer, and who doesn't enjoy that?
So finally on 7th of March the day came around. We got up at 6am to drive to London (thanks Peter). We parked up on the outskirts of London and get the tube into the city centre. Of course we couldn't go to London and not do some of the attractions so we got off the tube by the Palace and went to give the Queen a quick visit. Unfortunately, she wasn't in so we couldn't go in for tea but it was nice none the less.
Next we popped along to the Lego shop, purely to see the sculptures of greatness that they have erected in the store. I wished I had a little more money in my bank account so I could purchase some Lego goodness but alas I do not so browsing was the extent of my shopping.
We did have some fun with the 'what Lego character are you?' simulator. As you can tell I was extremely happy with mine...
Obviously, since we were so close we had to pop into M'n'M world. Got myself a little M'n'M pick'n'mix for the show and enjoyed all the fun statues and had a good mosey around. We even met the Yellow M'n'M!
The final stop on our way to the theatre was of course, Hamley's toy shop. I love walking around the shop and seeing things in action, the people who work there are always just so happy, I don't know how they do it! They even have some great Lego statues of Star Wars and Harry Potter characters.
Our final stop, the Dominion theatre. I've not been to this theatre before but inside it was absolutely beautiful, ornate staircases and beautiful walls. My first look at the stage had me a little confused, however, I soon realised that the funny shaped platform in the middle of the stage was in the shape of Egypt on a map. It was so clever. As I looked around I realised there was fringing all around the stage which seemed a bit strange but as the show went on their use became clear. They were used to project pictures and scenery onto the stage to create scene changes. My favourite use of the fringing was to create a tree, all the fringing moved into place, shaped like a tree with a tree projected onto it. It is such a simple technique but it was so effective.
If you like physical theatre then this is definitely a show for you. There were used very little props to create a scene, mostly just blocks for buildings but this wasn't really a bad thing. It meant that the dancers were used to connote lots of different things. Firstly they became the water which carried Moses in has basket along the river, then they became chariots, not mention the burning bush. The choreography was extremely clever and it was one of my favourite aspects of the show.
Of course we have to talk about the music. This is one of the best soundtracks I have had the pleasure of seeing live. The way that the score showed what we call 'otherness' was amazing. What I mean by 'otherness' is that it was set in a time/place that we can't really relate to. It seemed like they used a lot of modal scales rather than the major/melodic that is more commonly used in classical music. They also used ornaments quite frequently, making melodic lines much more intricate and melodic. I also have the mention the THICK harmonies which came when the whole company sang together. It gave me goosebumps to hear so many voices in perfect harmony.
In terms of actors I have to be honest the leading ladies stole the show in terms of vocal abilities. That isn't to say that the male roles weren't good, they really did their roles justice, I just feel that the women had much more power and I enjoyed that very much.
This is a definite recommend from me, the whole production just fits and works so perfectly I don’t really have anything to complain about. Don’t be put off if you’re not religious, the story is framed perfectly in way that everyone religious or non-religious would enjoy!
And finally, me being me, I went to stage door after the show and bypassed all the actors. The only picture I want is with the MD!
Well there it is, my thoughts on The Prince of Egypt. I highly recommend listening to the soundtrack, you can find out how here! Let me know what you think!
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