We recently saw Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance on stage at the New Theatre Oxford, and though the show is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary, this was my first time seeing it live on stage.
I don’t normally go to dance only shows, but did have a lot of fun with Lord of the Dance and can see it’s appeal and why it has been so successful. It’s combination of impressive dance routines, high quality presentation and a story that is easy for anyone to follow make easy for anyone to enjoy, regardless of language, or background.
The story, as I understand it is about the male lead, the Lord of the Dance, who has to defeat the evil dark lord Don Dorcha and get the girl at the end. Along the way there is an evil temptress, Morrighan, who tries to seduce Lord of the Dance. And that’s basically it.
Oh, there’s also a star sprite pixie girl who is smaller than the rest of the female cast who looks like that one kid who was forced to play the star that Mary and Joseph have to follow in the Nativity school plays. She’s dressed all in gold and blows a magic whistle.
The show is filled with impressive dances and music, and the dance routines are pleasing to watch at worst and exciting and inventive at their best. Along the way there is some variety with an occasional song, or routine with two violinists, and you can understand that these happen most probably to give the main cast a breather.
There’s a few fight and battle sequences, and the powerful and sinister routines danced by Don Dorcha and his army were my favourite. There were also routines where both the females and then the male cast all took off most of the clothes to the excitement of the audience. Easy win to be a crowd pleaser, and ensure both the men in the audience are woken up, and then win over the ladies with the topless men routine.
Towards the end there was a lengthy dance that was entirely just a projection and I get that this was so the cast could obviously do a costume change for the finale, but it felt strange and almost like they should have just had another song, as I did feel it sucked the energy out the theatre and didn’t get much response when it was obvious we were just watching a lengthy video. This was the only blip in an an otherwise great production.
Dance shows aren’t going to be everyone’s things, but if you’re ever going to see one, this is probably a good place to start. Great production values and a fun story to see with great music.
