Why Disney’s Hercules Flops Again in London: Muscles, Misfires and Missed Moments

Jordan Collins here. I guess I can simplify this for you: Disney’s stage version of Hercules has arrived in London and, shockingly to precisely no one who’s paid attention, it still hasn’t figured out how to turn the animated classic into a satisfying musical.

Let’s cut to the chase. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane production, directed by Casey Nicholaw, runs two hours and twenty minutes and leans hard on spectacle, cartoonish comedy and fresh padding that doesn’t help the story. The show is built from strong bones — Alan Menken’s score and David Zippel’s lyrics give you gospel-fueled anthems and heartfelt ballads — yet the new stage additions, the bloated book and a buffet of gaudy choices make the whole thing feel like a gym membership you didn’t need.

Here are the facts you probably should already know. The property has been through multiple incarnations: a community-driven Central Park staging in 2019 that hinted at potential, a more traditional Paper Mill Playhouse version that left audiences cold two years ago, and now this West End attempt under Disney’s recent stewardship of the Drury Lane house. Critics and ticket buyers have repeatedly flagged the same issues: the musical’s heart gets buried beneath showy mechanics, and the title hero’s emotional arc is suspiciously absent.

Speaking of Herc, Luke Brady, who plays the lead, is convincingly buff but dramatically underpowered. The script insists on selling him as a lovable meathead so often that his central identity struggle — a young man discovering his divine origins and searching for purpose — never lands. “Go the Distance,” historically the score’s emotional peak, barely combusts here. The mentor relationship with Phil (Trevor Dion Nicholas) is reduced to comic noise rather than soulful guidance, so there’s no meaningful growth to root for.

Villainy fares no better. Stephen Carlile’s Hades has splashy look and zip-line one-liners, but he’s busy being a cartoonish punchline instead of a genuinely menacing force. This is an all-too-familiar Nicholaw quirk: turn darkness into broad comedy and lose the stakes. Jafar took the same treatment on Broadway’s Aladdin; now Hades is getting a similar fate in London.

There are bright spots, of course. The Muses and big ensemble numbers such as “The Gospel Truth” and “Zero to Hero” showcase vocal prowess and theatrical energy. The women who sing them are powerful and thrilling to hear live, but the lyrics are often muddled beneath over-loud arrangements and an over-reliance on visual flash. Sets are gargantuan — rotating pillars, sweeping mosaics and David Lean–scale ambitions — yet the visual choices sometimes veer into tackiness: think mini golf meets mythic ruin. Puppets and props turn up for the hydra, but the puppetry feels like checklist theater rather than an inspired storytelling asset.

Costumes are a separate issue: a parade of athleisure, mesh tanks and unfortunate color choices that drain the mythic world of any grandeur. The attempted humor is stuffed with schlock and lowbrow gags that fight for attention against the genuinely moving moments the original film provided. Meanwhile, added songs and book material meant to beef up runtime mostly feel optional — and not in a good way.

So what’s the takeaway? Disney didn’t lack for resources or talent; they lacked restraint and dramatic clarity. Great musicals respect the emotional through-line; here, large parts of the show are busy admiring their own reflection. If you’re a Disney completist you’ll want to see it for the spectacle and the vocal fireworks from the Muses. If you want a tightened, emotionally satisfying Hercules, you’ll be left craving a rewrite.

Stay tuned: the West End is a testing ground, and Disney tends to tinker. Will they trim the fat and repair Herc’s arc or keep piling on more glitter? I’d bet on more glitter — but I’ll be here to tell you why that was a mistake when it happens.

Well, now you finally understand.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post, Theatre Royal Drury Lane press materials
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed