'Hero'
is a musical with a Greek chorus but it certainly is no Greek
Tragedy. Telephos (Mathew Knott) seller of lucky charms is in
despair, all the bad-luck in the world seems to be focused on him
and the whole of Thebes. Despite his best friend Cora (Sara Boomsma)
the thief, trying to cheer him up. Even when a hero in the shape of
Megisthes (Tom Cane) defeats a monster, things instead of improving
get worse. Telephos sees Idra (Anna Gillingham) a slave being sold
by Balaska (Jonny Kangasooriam) entrepreneur, but the fates
intervene, and Idra is killed. Add to the situation that the emblem
of power of the God's has been stolen that to mortals it looks like
an ordinary stone and you have a twisted plot to rival any Lloyd
Webber musical.
"Hero" is beautifully written by
Ben Nicholls who is also a co-producer, musical director and
arranged the orchestrations. The original book and Lyrics are by
Ashley Riches. In this musical Cambridge University ADC are
displaying hopes for the continuing success of Musical Theatre.
This
show is well written, designed, choreographed, directed and
beautifully performed by a talented enthusiastic cast. It was yet
another of those shows I walked out of thinking I would have liked a
CD to listen to a few times before returning to see the show again.
****
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