[Ad- gifted experience] Described as a ‘Subversive adult cabaret musical theater burlesque show’ Zeus on the Loose is a somewhat distant take on Greek mythology, containing all of your favorite gods; Zeus – who only really has one thing on his mind, Hades – played by the hilarious Vicky Vox, who is really just looking out for herself, Hera – who is really just quite jealous of everyone Zeus sleeps with, and a bunch of smaller characters and nymphs. Dean McCullough plays a stage master, much like in children’s pantomime, talking between segments of the show and interacting with the audience.
Zeus on the Loose follows this theme of Greek mythology throughout, giving each performance a string of story to connect the various dance numbers, aerial hoop, bow and arrow show, and much more. Everyone looks like gods or nymphs, though it’s not very accurate to the various plots of most of the mythology. At the start of the show, it is explained that it’s a very loose take, as if someone opened up a bunch of books and just read one page about each god. The plot is simple; Hades is in love with Medusa, who is a mortal. Hera is jealous that her husband, Zeus, literally sleeps with everyone apart from her. Hera makes a deal with Hades to get rid of a very beautiful twin from Olympus and Zeus finds out about it, because he is literally the king of gods.
Each act is beautifully preformed, from the dancing numbers to the breathtaking bow and arrow work. Everything person was well rehearsed and on point within the show. There are quite a few of singing portions – this is also a musical after all – which are done by very talented singers who are a joy to hear. This is where my first issue with the show cropped up though. It was their first preformance, a press night, but Zeus on the Loose did have quite a few audio issues, especially at the start. The first time we see Zeus, his mic just wasn’t on, meaning that I could not hear anything he was saying. After intermission and for the second part of the act, most of these issues were fixed right up, but it was a shame that there were so many microphones not working, especially as the venue had a very weird and loud noise going on in the background of the room we were in.
The entire show is done in front of a screen, which can be changed to have different backgrounds depending on what is happening in the show. This was pretty interesting, especially with the 90s gaming graphics that were displayed and the way Hades interacted with the screen and the audience. Hades honestly brought so much humor to the show, it was really amazing to watch her. The musical numbers were offset by the large quantity of dance numbers – which happened often. Even while one girl was on the areal hoop, another performer was behind her, dancing along the stage. The show did have issues putting the areal hoop back up after it had been put down, leaving quite the shadow and distraction across the stage, but this was cleared up during intermission. There was also a lot of low performances , dancing against the bottom of the stage, which I could not actually see due to sitting towards the middle of the audience. This was a bit of a shame, but could not be helped due to how the venue was set up.
Zeus on the Loose wasn’t overly sexualised, though there were some very sexy costumes and acts, bringing a very good balance to the story. All of the actors clearly were excited and into their performances – many of the background characters played (and nailed!) several different characters. You could easily follow the story, which was littered with humor and fun – it was a very good night out. Also, if you’re not a huge fan of audience participation, this show really doesn’t include much so you can just sit back and enjoy without thinking you’d be called up onto the stage. I went along with Dann, who really doesn’t like participating and he commented that it was a good balance.
Over all, Zeus on the Loose is a really great show – a lovely night out, especially if you are looking for a good laugh, nice dancing, and a few acts that might surprise you. You can find tickets for Zeus on the Loose via this website.
You can check out our other Days Out to see what else we’ve been up too!