Monday 3 June 2013

King Kong

Last week I saw a preview of King King - the musical. I was so privileged to go and see a world premiering musical three weeks before opening night, and even more so to be sitting in the fourth row, but what was a greater privilege was to be witness to such an incredible piece of art.

King Kong is the second largest musical ever produced, and whether that's budget or man-hours or physical size, I don't know, but it's certainly one of the greatest.

It can't compete with classics like Phantom of the Opera or Wicked in terms of it's music. It was obvious from the get-go that this was a story first, with music written around it.

It might not have been the best musically, but it ticks every other box in my opinion. I could go on for hours about the lighting alone, or the sound design, the costumes, the multimedia, the set, the 1.1 tonne gorilla puppet that roared so loud it shook the theatre like a clap of thunder!

It reminded me a little of Life of Pi. It's not a particularly great story, but my goodness you could just sit and stare at the special effects for days on end.

This musical could quite easily revolutionise the industry with its contemporary music, mind blowing lighting array, state-of-the-art sound design, an LED screen covering the entire back wall, or the fact that they had a 1.1 tonne gorilla marionette jump from one building to another!


To create a puppet of that magnitude is one thing, but to have its face move with such emotion that the audience becomes emotionally invested in his fate is extraordinary.

I'm not going to give away any other details, but I strongly recommend seeing it, regardless of whether or not you're a fan of musicals.

This musical is simply stunning, even without the giant gorilla. Every single element of this production is beautiful, and mind-blowing in its size and scale. They've gone all out on every detail, and it shows.

It is the Mona Lisa of musicals.

No comments:

Post a Comment