The Karate Kid The Musical Review | Palace Theatre | Manchester
- Frances
- May 13
- 2 min read
Waxing on a thick layer of 80s nostalgia, Karate Kid the Musical offers a questionable balance of slow-motion karate and drawn-out pacing.
Based on writer Robert Mark Karen’s 1984 film, the story follows New Jersey native Daniel LaRusso as he and his mum relocate for her new career selling newfangled computers. After swiftly making enemies with the karate dojo, Cobra Kai, Daniel (Gino Ochello) is forced to defend himself if he wants a shot at dating a Cobra’s ex-girlfriend or if he wishes to walk the streets in peace. With the help of his apartment’s maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi (Adrian Pang), Daniel is offered the training required to enter a local karate tournament to put some respect on his name and square up against his rival.
The Palace theatre’s broad stage is put to poor use with this boxy production, making it almost impossible for end and corner seats to see the majority of the show's projections or its final fight scenes. The often blank set obscures its actors with impressive dojo shades, which light up and allow for playful, sliding door set changes, but leaves the largely empty set feeling barren.
Unfortunately, the sound quality for the first three songs was too quiet to decipher any lyrics and the soundtrack soon became largely forgettable. Despite featuring all original music and lyrics from Drew Gasparini, including the show-stealing Strike First, Strike Hard. No Mercy performed by the talented and terrifying Matt Mills, there are too many ballads in this action/comedy. As the seventeen-year-old Daniel and his love interest gossip during a house party, he impresses with an insult to a guest “He hasn’t reached puberty, but he thinks he’s Casanova”. It is hard to imagine revisiting any of these songs but the saving grace for this musical is Mr. Miyagi’s excellent casting and the inclusion of what all audiences came to see, his Wax On! Wax Off! song. Pang’s straight-faced, comedic performance is true to the original, but Pang is also given some interesting moments related to his World War II history to refresh this reimagining.
The choreographed karate felt slow outside of the Cobra Kai dojo, with those snakes bringing all the best moves. Without the constant threat of the Cobras the show slows down to a snail pace, taking Daniel’s mum away from her computer job to sing the heartfelt, If I Could Take His Pain Away, a sweet song that feels completely undeserved considering how little we see her character and how it is sandwiched between other ballads, including Mr. Miyagi’s WWII tragedy.
Karate Kid the Musical prematurely ages itself with a cheesy, generic soundtrack and a bland Casio keyboard-backed score. Designed for centre viewing, this musical brings the worst of both worlds, adding too many forgettable songs and slow-motion choreography that will likely have audiences reaching for the original, its TV show or even the Phoenix Nights episode.
Tickets are available via the ATG link