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A Crack-a-lackin’ time from New York to Madagascar and for a limited time only… Peterborough!

Press tickets in exchange for review

If you’re in the mood for an evening filled with laughter, vibrant energy, and pure fun, then Madagascar could be the ticket. This theatrical adaptation of the well-loved animated film is a fantastic show that promises fun for the whole family. With a seamless adaptation from screen to stage, if you’re looking for the real thing of the movie – then this is for you.

Madagascar truly brings the animated magic to life with surface-level good time laugh-out-loud entertainment. The production manages to capture the essence of the original film’s creativity and artistry, jokes and gags, whilst adding its own charm of original music and choreography (albeit forgettable but a great time!).

The energy and fun that radiates from the main cast is infectious, especially Francisco Gomes as Marty who our 2-year-old loved. I also want to mention Joseph Hewlett who was a truly brilliant and animated Alex! She really enjoyed shouting the names of the animals and showed great delight in seeing the costuming which allowed the animals to dance and move freely with impressive choreography.

Madagascar the musical has a great use of puppetry. The show included the penguins, which children will absolutely delight in. Our daughter loved watching them move, Connor Keetley was an incredible Skipper! The puppeteers are blended into the background, and means there is a great opportunity to engage with the puppeteers and the puppets as separate entities.

Gloria and Melman, the hypochondriaffe was brought to life by Jarneia Richard-Noel and Joshua Oakes-Rogers respectively, in a way that was honest to the movie but with the flair of live theatre thrown in. But, I cannot talk about cast members without mentioning the iconic King Julien (Karim Zeroual), who gets the audience dancing with the rendition of “I Like to Move It, Move It’. Karim was born to be a King Julien! The energy and interactions with the audience were brilliant and a real highlight.

The show did start 20 minutes late which meant our toddler missed the second act, but did wake up to dance along for curtain call. She jumped twice at Alex’s lion roar, but there was nothing else in the show that evoked fear or jump-scares outside of a few roars.

The show sets out to be fun, carefree and a celebration of the Dreamworks hit movie. For an escape into relaxed theatre, before all the festivities commence, Madagascar is a brilliant show that is complete surface level entertainment which will bring a night of music, energy and laughter for all the family. It’s crack-a-lackin from New York to Madagascar and for a limited time only… Peterborough!

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New Theatre, Peterborough
8-11 November 2023