#Prince of Egypt west end

[pinball-glizzy]

HE’S WEARING THE FUCKING DRESS

[patheticblorbloscholar]

[come-see-our-show]

why is tzipporah not played by a Black woman

[nervousnighttragdies]

How to help roommate with big sadtm by roommate B

Step 1: Sit roommate down

Step 2: Have them listen to the entire west end recording of the prince of eygpt

Step 2a: before each song info dump because mom said it's my turn to have the hyper fixation

Step 3: soup I guess

Step 4:

[mykingdomfor]

So the Prince of Egypt musical production announced a pro-shot release. And just to prepare some of you, in this adaptation, Moses and Ramses... make up. Ramses shows up at the Red Sea and lets the Hebrews go. The two of them hug. I----

[umisha]

The Prince of Egypt - London Musical

Ages ago now I went to see the West End production of the Prince of Egypt. And I've honestly not been able to stop thinking about it since.

I went back and watched it like three times. I watched the cinema release and I listen to the spotify album religiously.

So imma organise my thoughts here.

Before I saw it the first time I was kinda worried I'd be disappointed or that it wouldn't live up to the animation. I think the first time, I was inspecting it so much that I couldn’t enjoy it as much. But I still loved it to the point where I went again (musical tickets are expensive).

The story and characters were slightly to the animation. And when I first watched it I wasn't sure if I was going to like these changes. But honestly, I think the changes somehow managed to make the story 10x more profound. 

If you watch the interviews of the cast on YouTube, I think it's mentioned that they focus on humanising the characters. And to see them more as normal people experiencing the extraordinary. And you really sense that watching it.

The one thing that used to bother me about the film is the part where the first born in all of Egypt are taken. And I think adding Moses’s distress towards this made it seem so much more human. And well raw in a painful sense. There is a part in the song where Moses compares himself to a solider blindly following orders and I just loved having this inner conflict added. 

I think the main change I enjoyed was Remases character. They moved away from a stubborn villain character of the animation. And made him this misguided and lonesome character.

There's a particular scene that stuck with me, where Ramesses’s father dies and Rameses wife’s first reaction is to bow to him as pharaoh. The actor looks at her almost as if to say “what the hell” before turning to comfort his mother who instead of taking his hand also bows down to him. And he just kinda drops his hand. I don’t know but I could real feel his loneliness in this moment. Feel that he almost lost his mother in becoming pharaoh. And how this changed all his relationships.

There was also more fleshed out women characters than in the animation. The queen, Moses' adoptive mother, plays a much bigger role. There was a scene during the plagues where she speaks to Moses and it's just so painful on both sides. Then there's also the addition of Nefetari (Rameses' wife) who is also an interesting character.

Other than these changes in story and character writing, I also really enjoyed the way the stage was set up. So, the stage was quite simple and there were very minimal props. Most of the movement and scenes were created by an amazing ensemble. Like really, they played elements such as fire, sand and water as well as a chariot and horse and a variety of characters. It was really something.

Also the music (I almost forgot the most important part). There were some new songs and some adaptations to the soundtrack but all were amazing. Honestly I could write a whole post on just the music but this is already too long. Maybe another time.

The animation used to be one of my comfort films that I was watching on almost a weekly basis. But after watching the musical I've barely watched the animation. Because the musical was actually SO good that the film just doesn't hit the same. It’s just a shame it's not running anymore.

[loverofcartoons]

So I watched the Prince of Egypt proshot

It wasn’t good

The Bad

The characterizations

Moses and Rameses father Pharaoh Seti is portrayed much more Jovial. In the film is was very stoic and strict which is reflective of him in the Bible. In the film he is honestly pretty scary. In the stage production, his yells at rameses once, but immediately joking around right after.

The Pharaoh when confronted by Moses about the death of the Hebrew babies, states that it wasn’t something he necessarily wanted to do but needed to. The sentiment that “they were just slaves” is absent, which lessens the cruelty of the crime.

As Moses runs into the desert, he clearly isn’t as upset with his father as he should be. The line “ask the man I once called father” is missing during this scene. After Moses left, the pharaoh banishes him but begrudgingly. We see him still grieving Moses absence as he dies.

Rameses is portrayed much the same way throughout the play. Even once Moses returns to beg for the slaves to be set free, Rameses is seen as kind hearted, actually wanting to grant Moses request but is stopped by his wife and the Priest. It isn’t until Rameses son dies that we see a turn in him, but is clearly still being influenced by the priest. In the end, hesitating to kill Moses and sends his soldiers back, letting the Hebrews go.

The costume design

As I understand these costumes were changed for this specific production, but gosh they are bad. They are a strange mix between British royal garb and ancient Egypt Halloween costumes.

All of the royal outfits just feel incredibly out of place

The songs (but mostly The Plagues)

This was the biggest hit for me. They changed Moses and Rameses verses in The Plagues. The Chorus stayed the same the verses were completely changed. The charged emotion that had been there before lost completely. If you want to hear for yourself, go give it a listen on YouTube or Spotify and hear for yourself.

The rest of the song from the film were kept in tact and performed perfectly fine. The new songs are honestly very forgettable. The Act one Finale, Never in a Million years and Heartless seem to be the best among them, but are still just ok. The music itself felt like it belonged in a D tier Disney movie, not a Bible epic.

The absence of dramatic resonance

The stage production has a habit of making the quiet dramatic moments loud or rushing through them entirely. The scene were Moses mother sings a reprise of All I Ever Wanted is supposed to be quiet and comforting, instead, it is belted out. It seemed that every time there was a scene where two characters were talking about something serious, they were just trying to get to the next scene. Never giving the audience time to sit and feel the moment.

The burning bush scene is one of the most impactful scenes in the movie. Although the stage production handles it interestingly enough, using dancers to interpret the fire and all of there voices as one sing the word of God, the scene is too short and throws away the quiet majesty present in the film.

The good

The choreography

The choreography and the dancers themselves were the best part of the whole show. The dancers were often used to tell the story that is difficult to tell on stage. They are the fire, the river, the Red Sea, the desert sands fighting against Moses. They are the hieroglyphics on the walls and the Midianites dancing with Zipporah. It was gorgeous to look at.

More inclusive

For those of you who were not aware, the film cast of Prince of Egypt was astonishingly white. In this production almost every member of the main cast is a person of color.

This production also tries to put more focus on its female characters. They actually introduce us to Rameses wife Nefertari. Showing that they were forced into marriage by both of their families. Moses wife Zipporah is also given slightly more emphasis. There is an added scene of Zipphrah and Moses flirting while Moses watches the sheep, enabling us to see a bit of their courtship which is complied into a montage in the film. While fleeing with the Hebrews, she has an emotional moment expressing how much she will miss her family, never being able to see them again.

Moses and Rameses mother is also given an extra scene during The Plagues, pleading with Moses to stop and see reason.

Conclusion

The prince of Egypt musical looks spectacular with its stellar choreography, staging and lighting, but falls insanely flat with its costume design and script. They took an amazing, epic story of two brothers at odds that felt almost Shakespearean at times, and made it feel entirely childish. It’s almost as if they didn’t think the audience could handle the original interpretation and decided to water it down.

If you, for some reason, have Broadway HD and love the film, give this one a pass.

[girl4music]

God this looks and sounds so fucking powerful.

I can’t believe I’ve only just discovered this now.

What the hell am I doing with my life to have not known this existed already? Crazy. Shame on me.

[fruitlicense]

I had a few friends over to make matzo brei (which I’ve never had before!) and watch Prince of Egypt, and I think it was the best possible Pesach activity besides the Seder itself!

[loverboybrightsideghost]

sometimes i'll just be minding my own business and then a piece of a song from the prince of egypt west end recording will start playing in my brain and i just have to keep going like my brain hasn't just instantaneously fizzled into mush and evaporated

[pinball-glizzy]

Seti I and God telling Moses the same thing is such a deep cut

[patheticblorbloscholar]

[come-see-our-show]

my beef with the west end prince of egypt is not even funny

[nervousnighttragdies]

Roommate B: you and I are going to cure your depression if it kills me with these essential oils

Roommate A: No you'll fail your test

the oils in question:

[midshipmank]

so how would one, in theory, find a bootleg of the prince of egypt on the west end, if one were so inclined?