Reviewed by James Karas
The Karate Kid - The Musical is an adaptation of the 1984 movie The Karate Kid. The film was so successful that it spawned half a dozen other productions and I suppose it was a matter of time before it made it to the stage. Robert Mark Kamen wrote the script for the movie and the stage adaptation with Drew Gasperini composing the music and writing the lyrics.
As the title states, this is a martial arts show combined with a love story and a story of friendship. Seventeen-year-old Daniel LaRusso (Gino Ochello) moves to Los Angeles from New Jersey with his mother Lucille (Jodie Jacobs. In school he meets Ali (Abigail Amin) and they are attracted to each other. The building where he lives has a crotchety handyman, Mr. Miyagi (Adrian Pang) who has a dry sense of humour, knows karate and becomes a faithful friend of Daniel.
At school Daniel meets Johnny Lawrence (Joe Simmons) and his klatch of thugs who harass and assault him. Johnny is a former boyfriend of Ali and the tension and violence between him and Daniel will not be resolved until the end of the show.
We go to a karate school whose motto is Strike first, Strike hard, Show
no mercy. You do not just beat your opponent; you humiliate him. This place is awash
in testosterone but they do participate in
several musical numbers accompanied by martial music and machismo. As you may
have guessed, Daniel will take karate lessons, sound advice from Mr. Miyagi,
support from Ali and finally face Johnny in a karate tournament. Hold your
breath for the ending.
in The Karate Kid - The Musical. Photo Credit: Manuel Harlan.
The music and singing display some Okinawan chords but the rest is singing prose to percussion accompaniment and a variety of tunes with some approaching a melody. Jodie Jacobs shows true singing talent and the rest hold their own on a variety of recitatives without huge vocal demands. The story is more important.
Adrian Pang gives a superb performance as Mr. Miyagi. He provides most of the humour in the musical and his character resonates with us as a true friend of Daniel. Ochello plays the confused and victimized Daniel who is unhappy with his mother, awkward and oafish with Ali but a good friend of Mr. Miyagi. He grows up during the play in an excellent performance.
Abigail Amin makes a pretty and supportive Ali despite his acting like an idiot. We like her especially when she shows gumption and slugs the asinine Johnny. Jacobs has her hands full with work and does not know all that Daniel is up to. But she is a dutiful mother and we like her and give kudos to Jacobs.
Johnny and company act like thugs and give the impression that police and law enforcement do not exist in Los Angels. They give Daniel a thrashing and send him off with a black eye with no immediate consequences like being arrested by the police. We understand that, because it would be bad for the musical if justice could intervene.
The most interesting part of the musical is the portrayal of karate. What I thought was a sport of gentlemen for self-defense is shown as a violent and vindictive martial art that almost or is actually promoting the killing of your opponent. I assume that means only if it is placed in the wrong hands.
An example of “the wrong hands” may be John Kreese (Matt Mills) the karate trainer who has a take no-prisoners attitude to the sport and he gives the impression that if you kill your opponent, you have done a superb job.
With karate as the primary motif of the musical, the dancing consists of numerous karate moves and poses in slow motion or quickly in many variations. Choreographers Keone and Mari Madrid do exemplary work.
Director Amon Miyamoto does good work in pacing and getting good performances from a large cast.
The musical was well received (Oct. 1) and got a standing ovation. The
music was often loud but not deafening and the lights and sounds were active as
may be expected from a boisterous musical.
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The Karate Kid - The Musical by Robert Mark Kamen (book) and Drew Gasperini (music and lyrics) continues until November 1, 2026, at the Princess of Wales Theatre, 300 King
St. West, Toronto, Ontario. www.mirvish.com
James Karas is the Culture editor of The Greek Press, Toronto
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