The Prince of Egypt (musical)

Plot

In Ancient Egypt over 3,000 years ago, Hebrew slaves labor under Egyptian oppression. Soldiers kill firstborn Hebrew boys, and Yocheved places her newborn in a basket on the Nile. Queen Tuya finds the baby and adopts him as Moses, raising him alongside her son Ramesses II. Eighteen years later, Moses and Ramses race chariots and cause destruction, angering Pharaoh Seti I. Seti berates Ramses and arranges his marriage to Princess Nefertari.

Moses wishes to leave his own mark on the world. Months later, Seti returns from a campaign against the Midianites and gives Ramses a captured Midianite girl, Tzipporah. She escapes and Moses pursues her into the marketplace, where he meets his real sister Miriam and brother Aaron. Miriam reveals Moses' Hebrew origins and sings their mother's lullaby.

Distraught, Moses finds artwork of drowned Hebrew babies, and Seti confirms the killings were for Egypt's good. Queen Tuya tells Moses the truth and urges him to forget it, and he agrees.

Productions

The Prince of Egypt debuted at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in Mountain View, California on October 6, 2017, directed by Scott Schwartz with choreography by Sean Cheesman. Its international premiere was a Danish production at Fredericia Teater on April 6, 2018, followed by a summer season at the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen in 2019. The song 'The Plagues' also omitted lyrics about Moses and Ramses' relationship. The Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins, Utah staged a production from July 13 to October 20, 2018.

A significantly revised version opened at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End on February 5, 2020, with an opening night on February 25, directed by Scott Schwartz and choreographed by Sean Cheesman. The West End production featured new costumes, sets, projections, illusions, sound, and hair/wigs/makeup, plus a world premiere song. The cast of 38 included Luke Brady as Moses and Liam Tamne as Ramses. The production closed on March 17, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reopened on July 1, 2021, and concluded on January 8, 2022.

Clive Rowe played Jethro from July 1 to October 16, 2021. The production was filmed and released in theaters on October 19, 2023, earning $323,497, and later on BroadwayHD and digital platforms.

Reception

The West End production received mixed reviews from critics. Performances, score, and orchestrations were praised, but the costume design and script drew criticism. Anthony Walker-Cook of BroadwayWorld commended the performances of Brady, Tamme, and the ensemble, though he felt the show resembled a pantomime more than a biblical epic. Alex Wood of WhatsOnStage criticized changes to the screenplay, noting that added scenes made Pharaoh's power less absolute and created a murky political world, but praised the second act's pacing.

Alice Saville of Time Out gave it 3 out of 5 stars, writing that while it had the rousing power of Les Misérables, it seemed stuck in the past compared to recent biblical musicals. Arifa Akbar of The Guardian found Scott Schwartz's directing choices excessive and overwhelming, diminishing emotional intimacy. David Benedict of Variety noted that Gary Wilmot's arrival as Jethro brought a warmth missing from the otherwise effortful production.