OUT OF THE ZOO AND ONTO THE STAGE! OUT OF THE ZOO AND ONTO THE STAGE!!!
“All of your favorite crack-a-lackin friends from Madagascar are out of the zoo and onto the stage in Madagascar Live – a wild new musical adventure based on the blockbuster DreamWorks film. Join Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe, Gloria the hip hip Hippo and of course, those hilarious, plotting penguins as they escape from their home at New York’s Central Park Zoo and find themselves on an unexpected journey to the madcap world of King Julien’s Madagascar. This celebration of friendship is brought vividly to life by imaginative sets and costumes, action-packed adventure and spectacular new songs that will inspire you to MOVE IT MOVE IT in the aisles. Get ready to go wile at MADAGASCAR LIVE!”
My Little Man is such a fan of this movie, and now after seeing it LIVE at Radio City Music Hall in NYC, I am too! I am sitting here, bouncing and singing “I like to move it, move it”, and my preschoolers have been dancing around with us since we got home! Everybody up! Everybody down! LOL…. it’s stuck in my head! AHHHHH!!!!!
I had high expectations going in, and boy, let me tell you, they were met!
Little Man is in love with Gloria, the hippo, above all others. And seeing her dance and sing right before his eyes was just the bees knees!
The sets were awesome, I loved the subway scene! Perfect. And the boat scenes were done really well- super cute. Poor Melman! The whole thing was too just much for that poor giraffe, LOL. Those Penguins were up to their usual tricks, but found out that there is no place like home- and set out to find all their former zoo-mates. Alex the Lion and Marty the Zebra are best friends, but will they stay that way once they realize how the Food Chain works? Let me tell you, also- Maurice? That lemur can really bust a move (and was so amazing vocally- James Brown! Woot!) King Julian is my personal favorite, and it was so much fun to watch him live. We also got the chance to meet him backstage! Little was so excited- look at his cheesecake face, lol.
Before the show started, we got to see the Radio City Stage Door Tour,and it was on that tour that we were able to meet King Julian. We also met an actual Rockette! (Little Man informed me “Mom- she got big tall legs!”) Yep, thanks darling!
It was also a lot of fun to hear about the design of Radio City Music Hall, see costumes, statues, and photos of the Rockettes from their start (NOT in NYC, believe it or not!) in 1932 all the way until today. This is also where we got to meet the Rockette pictured above!
Seeting King Julian in person was the most fun for most of the kids (and me!) and he was really nice, friendly, and funny! He gave the kids little penguins, and had them answer questions. He also taught them the “Move it, Movie it” dance, and told them not to “be snooty with the booty”, LOL…I laughed harder then Little did 🙂
The whole team at Radio City was sweet, friendly, helpful, and kind to the kids. They gave them bags with snacks, juice, toys (Little got GLORIA!!!) and King Julian signed a poster for him! Could they have been any sweeter? They were also super energetic, God bless them, haha. In fact, they were so thoughtful- THEY EVEN SCHEDULED A BATHROOM BREAK!!!! How awesome, right? This way, no one missed anything due to a Captain Pee-Pee Pants, LOL.
The creative team for “MADAGASCAR LIVE” includes: director, Gip Hoppe; assistant director and choreographer, Jenn Rapp; writer, Kevin Del Aguila and music/lyrics, Joel Someillan and George Noriega. The performers include Nigel Jamaal Clark (“Marty”), Rob Marnell (“Alex”), David Perlman (“Melman”), Aurelia Williams (“Gloria”), Drew Hirschfield, (“King Julian”), and Darren Lorenzo (“Maurice”). Assistant Director & Choreographer
For more information about “MADAGASCAR LIVE,” visit www.madlive.com or on Facebook .
You can find more information about Radio City Music Hall on Facebook or Twitter, and make sure to check out their website! ( A few more Twitter Handles you may like! @MadagascarLive @MSGEconcerts @MSGnyc )
Disclosure- we received tickets to review the show, as well as the tour described- all opinions are my own 🙂