Date of Visit: December 2025
If I’m honest, this production was a complete letdown and felt more like a local pantomime than a West End Disney production. Here’s why I left feeling disappointed.
BEFORE THE SHOW:
Before seeing this production of Disney’s Hercules, I was spending a couple of nights in London to see my best mate who lives in the city as well as attending the 40th anniversary special performance of Back to the future.
So once I had breakfast in my hotel, I decided to head into central London and look around the shops in Leicester Square, including the Christmas market.
SYNOPSIS:
Disney’s Hercules is based on Disney’s 1997 animated film. However, many significant changes are made for the stage adaptation.
The story follows Hercules, who was born a God, but due to his uncle Hades, now lives on earth as a Mortal. He becomes a hero in the belief that doing so will allow him to live back amongst the gods.
THEATRE EXPERIENCE:
Disney’s Hercules is currently performing at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane; one of London’s most iconic and beautiful theatres.
The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is absolutely massive and has the most amazing architecture out of any West End theatre I have visited.
Across the multiple floors of the theatre, there is a selection of bars, varying from large bars selling alcohol with seating areas, to more grab and go style kiosks selling soft drinks and snacks.
I decided to grab a programme, Diet coke, and a bucket of Crisps in the Grand Saloon bar, which seemed to be the largest bar within the theatre. All in all, this cost me just under £20 which was quite expensive, but the crips were a large portion.
There was a large selection of seating as well, with plenty of room for large groups. I also noticed a section of the bar closed off for cream tea packages. The cream tea looked really good, so if this is something you think you might be interested in. I’d say give it a go. Definitely for those special occasions.
Across the theatre, there was a selection of artwork, showing sketches and drawings from the 1997 animated film, as well as a variety of Disney’s music in a classical style being played over the sound system. I thought both of these things were nice touches.
Alongside this, there is a fairly large gift shop located on the stalls level and to the right-hand side of the entrance to the theatre.
The gift shop sells a wide range of merchandise from hoodies to teddy bears and backpacks. It was the largest selection of theatre merchandise I had ever seen in any West End theatre.
SHOW REVIEW:
Disney’s Hercules has been playing in the West End since summer 2025 in what was previously Frozen’s West End home.
I had high expectations coming into this performance but left feeling a little underwhelmed and disappointed, especially considering this is a Disney production.
But let’s start with the positives, the costumes, lighting and set design is highly impressive and you can tell that Disney has spent a lot of money on this production. I particularly liked how the colosseum styled collums moved around the stage to help transition scenes. I also liked the use of lighting to depict the spirits in the underworld.
Although the lighting, costuming and set were impressive, this felt more like a local pantomime with expensive sets as opposed to a Disney production and I felt this was down to the changes that was made for the stage adaptation, which made it feel more like a knock off as opposed to being made by Disney themselves.
First off, I had issues with the character of Hades, the actor playing him; Jason Winter, who is the Hades understudy, was absolutely fantastic in the role. However, why does the costume make him look nothing like Hades? His outfit is red as opposed to blue. This, I felt, was a really strange choice from Disney, especially considering how much they value character integrity.
Another significant change, which to me made no sense, was surrounding the character of Phil. In the 90s movie, Phil or Philoctetes is a Satyr (half man half goat), so why was he changed to be fully human and work in a bar? I find this choice so strange.
Again, the characters of Pain and Panic were changed significantly, or you could say completely scrapped from this production and instead replaced with characters known as Bob and Charles. Thought this was odd also.
Luke Brady, however, was incredible in the role of Hercules, and his vocal ability was truly impressive.
The same can also be said for the Muses. Although certain tracks such as Zero to Hero were slowed down slightly for this production, I thought they were absolutely outstanding and really made this production not be completely unbearable.
CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY:
To conclude, I felt disappointed by this production and, in all honesty, I wouldn’t recommend it. I’m unsure why Disney thought it was a good call to take Frozen away from the West End in place of a less popular Disney movie.
If you are a big fan of the 90s film, I would say why not go give it a go?” But honestly, you might end up leaving the performance as disappointed as I did.
I rate this performance ⭐️⭐️
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