After much anticipation, Disney’s Hercules has arrived on London’s West End and we loved this musical adaptation so much. Set in Greece, ‘Hercules’ is inspired by the animated film.
‘Hercules’ is played by Luke Brady with the perfect physique for a Greek demi-God, who has never missed leg day. He truly owns the stage when he belts out ‘Go the Distance’ and the fierce and empowering Meg is played with no nonsense by Mae Ann Jorolan, marking her West End debut, reprising her role from the Hamburg production. Hades (Stephen Carlile) makes his presence known filling us with plenty of cheeky wit.
‘Hercules’ is funny and fierce plus ticks all the boxes if you’re looking for a family-friendly mood-lifter.
Adapted by the Young Vic’s former artistic director, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Robert Horn, the script works well showing a good mix of the modern world and ancient Greek mythology. There are plenty of innuendos and of course, great songs and choreography (Tanisha Scott), too. Standout songs include ‘Zero to Hero’ sung by the wonderful muses hits all the right notes and is still stuck in my head. We’re looking forward to when the cast recording drops that’s for sure – so many feel-good, Gospel-like anthems.
How does it compare to the animated version of the Underworld, you might ask? Well, there are a few additional aspects not featured in the 1997 classic such as Phil working at a restaurant, and Hera being featured in a statue when originally, it was only Hercules’ father Zeus.
Huge shout out to the muses Sharlene Hector, Kamilla Fernandes was on instead of Malinda Parris; and Kimmy Edwards was on instead of Candace Fubert on the press preview performance we attended. They were just as fabulous as their animated counterparts, but with more pizazz, more sass and my goodness, those costumes and hairstyles are simply FIRE with plenty of sparkle and metallics and oh can they sing (saaaaang)! They pretty much stole the show with their perfect comedic timing, too.
It’s Disney after all, so the stage design did not disappoint. We loved the trap system where cast members would slowly descent and the revolving columns added depth and movement to keep the set vibrant. Lighting was particularly effective and magical creating an atmospheric reimagining with no expenses spared on this big budget production.
The curtain call is EVERYTHING, with the audience jumping to their fit to give the gods, gladiators, minions and muses their flowers – we left on such a high that we’re looking forward to seeing this again and again. Bravo, everyone! We are obsessed with this ‘electrifying’ new musical which can clearly ‘go the distance’ – be sure to save your pennies for the irresistible merch, too.
NEED TO KNOW: Disney’s Hercules plays at Theatre Royal Drury Lane until March 2026 | See listing | Disney’s Hercules cast announcement
