Prince of Egypt - Dominion / Cinema Release

Saw this last week and really enjoyed it, prepare yourself for a jumble of thoughts ahead:

I understand the use of ensemble members as the set and effects is polarising but I found it very innovative. It made things like the basket being brought to Tuya look more like outside forces were involved rather than pure chance. I agree that people rolling in a line on the floor looks goofy though.

The new songs were a bit hit and miss. I liked Tzipporah and Nefertari’s songs, and the one the Hebrews sang the first time Moses told them they were free. The rest were a bit forgettable.

There is very simple staging which is used to great effect. For me the best were the Yocheved reveal in All I Ever Wanted and the death of the firstborns, plus the closing of the Red Sea which other people have mentioned.

The dancing, oh MY the dancing. This must be the bendiest ensemble in the west end!

Now a bit of nitpicking:

The Plagues is my favourite song and sequence of the film and what I was most looking forward to seeing this. I understand it’s difficult to show frogs and such onstage, but I would have liked to see at least a distinction between each plague rather than a mishmash since unless you’re very familiar with the story you wouldn’t even know what plague you were seeing.

Miriam is supposedly a prophet which was only explicitly said at the end. I spent most of the show just thinking she was a bit mental.

It’s a shame that while everyone else got more character development Aaron was cut down to the bare bones and then some.

I’m conflicted about the ending (spoilers for those who specifically haven’t seen this production). Placing the blame on chasing after the fleeing Hebrews solely on Nefertari and Hotep makes Ramses a lot less culpable for his actions (the musical doesn’t really address how many Hebrews suffered in slavery in the time between Seti I’s death and Moses returning, plus how many Egyptians died because of the plagues) so he’s more just a good guy who got steered in the wrong direction. I don’t think after all that you can really have an ending where Moses and Ramses part on good terms. Also, why does a high priest have command over the army?

Cutting Playing With the Big Boys was a huge missed opportunity to show some stage magic, and I didn’t appreciate being blue balled by Hotep singing snippets of it here and there.

Last but not least:

An all round very strong cast. Mercedesz Csampai in her small but impactful role as Yocheved was a particular standout.

In my humble opinion even though the show has its flaws seeing the choreography and the movie songs being performed are well worth the ticket price alone.

Hello all, long time lurker of the site here. I saw this with my girlfriend about two weeks ago, we paid about 50 quid for both of us and sat in the Dress Circle.

I enjoyed the animated film and have fond memories of it but didn’t know what to expect but when I saw the ensemble rolling around on the floor pretending to be a river, I went “Oh it’s that kind of show,”

I liked the staging, I thought the bit where the Hebrews cross the Red Sea was clever and the cast was great. Also with all the projections, I thought they’d clearly saved a bit on costumes given the ensemble weren’t wearing much and at one point the Queen of Egypt came out in a very sparkly low cut dress

I feel like it definitely had story/pacing issues, it seemed like every five minutes we were going into a new song or a reprise and some bits seemed rushed like Moses and Tzipporah’s romance rapidly going from not liking each other to sort of dancing together to oh we’re in love now to getting married all in the span of Act One.

My girlfriend is Jewish herself and she thought that they really were trying to take religion out of it which struck us both as kind of bizarre given it’s based on a story that’s from religious texts. What with the re-centering the narrative on Moses and Rameses being bros and the oh it’s not Rameses fault actually arc. I don’t remember Moses actually mentioning God at all in favour of blabbing on about Destiny etc.

On a side note, a friend of mine saw the original production in the US in...2017 I think? I was chatting to her about it and it doesn’t seem like they’ve changed much and tbh I think it needs a bit of a rewrite.

My girlfriend has been gifted tickets for her birthday so we’re going again and it’ll be interesting to see what’s changed since previews.

On the whole I’d probably give it a 3/5.

3 stars is incredibly generous.

It’s one of the worst directed amateurish messes I’ve ever seen. Absolutely shocking. Dreadful design, an insipid leading man and horrible songs.

Oh, shall I take that to mean you didn't think much of the show, mrbarnaby? 

He was absolutely useless. Liam Tamne sang him off the stage. He has zero stage presence or charisma.

Anyway not that it really mattered, everything about this show was bad.

How far back is the circle at the Dominion because ive booked Row E of the circle, will this be a good view?

I felt more depth from Luke Brady.  I'm not saying that Liam Tamne gave a poor performance but i felt his portrayal was a bit broad where as i felt that Luke played his role with more nuance and intimacy.   So fair enough Liam might have a stronger singing voice overall but if i was saying who i thought gave the best performance out the two i'd certainly say Luke.


On a general note to all, i feel like we should think a bit more about how we express our opinions, especially if it's about a person and their performance or ability.  I think there are ways to express you didn't personally enjoy what they did without being as harsh or using the words that have appeared in this thread recently. It feels a bit over the line.

Absolutely agree, it is unacceptable to describe hard working professionals as 'absolutely useless' or having 'zero presence or charisma'. Let's all be kind and respectful.

I paid my money (sadly).. I have a right to comment. I’m sure he’s a lovely person but I don’t care to see him on stage again.

Oh, Liam Tamne? I thought you were all talking about Gary Wilmot!

Saw this tonight. I thought it was good; definite 3.5 stars in my view. A couple of tweaks to the second half pace would push it up to a four. The sound design is just fantastic - the Dominion has not sounded so good for quite some time!