The Karate Kid - The Musical

There is an element of inevitability here as The Karate Kid, the film, has now been brought to the stage in the form of a brand-new musical of the same name. The book was written by Robert Mark Kamen, and the musical broadly remains true to its iconic namesake, but unlike the film, the musical appears to struggle to define its target audience. There is some use of language inappropriate for youngsters, whilst some of the scripted humour may leave adults cold.

Teenager Daniel LaRusso (Isaac Lewis) is the new kid in town, having relocated to California with his mum, and through no fault of his own soon finds himself the victim of bullying by a group of karate students who train at the Cobra Kai dojo and who are led by star student Johnn Kreese (Matt Mills), a ruthless veteran of the Vietnam War. Further trouble looms for Daniel, forcing him to defend himself when he meets and tries to date Ali (Abigail Amin), a Cobra’s ex-girlfriend. It doesn’t help matters that she is from the top of the hill, i.e., has wealthy parents, whilst Daniel lives in the valleys with his mum. Daniel’s saviour, Mr Miyagi (Adrian Pang), is the maintenance man at the block of flats where Daniel and his mum live. With the help and support of Mr Miyagi, Daniel is taught the skill to enable him to enter a local karate competition to gain respect from his tormentors and stand up to his love rival.

Isaac Lewis (one of the understudies) played the part of Daniel and perfectly captured the teen’s vulnerability which built in confidence as the performance progressed. Adrian Pang is adorable as the fantastic Mr Miyagi. His mannerisms, timing, movements, humour, and occasional grumpiness regularly elicited howls of laughter from the audience. Prospective girlfriend Ali is a likeable, down-to-earth character clearly not given to any airs and graces. Matt Mills is suitably scary and not a man to cross as the menacing John Kreese, whilst Joe Simmons gives Johnny Lawrence the authentic unlikeability factor as Daniel’s rival.

I would challenge anyone to be able to remember any of the musical score on leaving the theatre, and unfortunately, the lyrics were indistinct, although it was easy enough to understand the ‘gist’ of a song's subject matter. However, in contrast, the choreography with its mixture of theatre movements and martial arts was exceptional, and its execution by the ensemble was brilliant, especially so during the karate tournament towards the end of the show.

Ultimately, Mr Miyagi teaches Daniel that karate is not about fighting alone, as the skill involved in the martial art promotes self-discipline, self-confidence, resilience and respect tempered in all things by balance.

Sadly, not my cup of tea, but the nearly full auditorium (which included some youth groups) was enthusiastic in its applause for the cast during the finale, which I suppose would indicate that I was in the minority tonight!

Sheffield Lyceum Until 11th July