Thursday, July 16

Tag: The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid – The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum
Yorkshire & Humber

The Karate Kid – The Musical – Sheffield Lyceum

The hit 1984 film ‘The Karate Kid’ has marched into the Sheffield Lyceum, now reimagined as an action-packed musical production (from the book written by Robert Mark Kamen and composed by Drew Gasparini). The cast of this musical are ridiculously talented, and it makes for a deeply enjoyable watch. The show follows teenager Daniel Larusso, who moves to Southern California with his single mother Lucille. He finds himself the target of bullying at the hands of the Cobra Kai dojo, particularly Johnny Lawrence, which only derails after he falls for Ali Mills, Lawrence’s ex-girlfriend. After befriending his local maintenance man Mr. Miyagi, who is secretly a martial arts master, Larusso trains under his new sensei’s watchful eye to fight the Cobra Kai at a karate competition. Walking into...
The Karate Kid: The Musical – Festival Theatre
Scotland

The Karate Kid: The Musical – Festival Theatre

Yet another musical version of a successful film from back in the day and though they rarely miss, not all hit. The production values are usually high and this is no exception. A superb set consisting chiefly of brightly coloured Japanese screens propelled around by cast members creates the different sets; the arcade where Daniel meets Freddie Fernadez and first encounters Ali, the Larusso household, Mr Miyagi’s den, the Cobra Kai gym and so on. It’s visually thrilling with some sharp light changes, the choreography, skilfully incorporating elements of the Okinawan martial discipline, exciting and well-executed. Gino Ochello is perfectly competent as Daniel, as is Abigail Amin as Ali but it’s with quiet authority that Adrian Pang steers the ship in an unexpectedly gentle comic manner as Mr...