Scooby-Doo Live at the Alhambra Bradford Review
Scooby-Doo Live
The Mystery of the Pyramid
Alhambra Theatre, Bradford
15-18 May 2014
Reviewed by Pamela Wright.
With a Scooby-Doo mad 4 year old son I was quite excited when I found out that Scooby-Doo and The Mystery of the Pyramid was touring the UK and that they were coming locally to the Alhambra Theatre in Bradford.
I went along to their opening night tonight with my 2 eldest daughters 8 & 6 and my son. Our tickets were for seats in the stalls and we were only 11 rows from the front so our view was fantastic. We got seated about 5 minutes before the show was due to start, they were playing some fab catchy modern dance music songs that the kids loved, I think I might have pulled some sad mum dance moves too and embarrassed them slightly haha.
The show opened with 3 mummies dancing, when they finished the famous mystery solving “gang” (Daphne, Velma, Fred and the duo we all know and love Shaggy and Scooby) took to the stage, you could hear the excitement from all the children in the audience.
The costumes were colourful and vibrant but simple, each cast member brought their character to life with their physical and facial expressions which gave the show a brilliantly animated effect that literally made you feel like you were watching a cartoon.
As soon as Shaggy spoke I was totally blown away – if I had closed my eyes I would have thought it was a recording and not a live performance. Although all the characters were brilliant Scooby and Shaggy were the ones that stood out throughout. If you were to take a magic wand and zap it against the cartoon the character of shaggy was 100% what you would expect to get, his performance through the whole show was perfect.
When the mummies first appeared in the story it was quite dark and scary, my children looked terrified and were literally shouting and screaming at the top of their voices trying to get the gangs attention (my 4 year old looked genuinely concerned bless him).
My favourite part has to be when Shaggy does a quick capture of the whole show from the begging using his brilliant fast speed voice and actions – it was hilarious.
To sum the show up it is definitely a must see, anyone who is a Scooby fan young or old will love it, it kind of like an interactive cartoon. I remember watching Scooby-Doo when I was little (I won’t depress myself by remembering how many years ago!) and this show had kept and emphasised all the famous Scooby features, from the knee trembling/noises to the traditional shaggy jumping into Scooby’s arms moments.
The show wouldn’t have been complete without the huge famous ending “I would have got away with it if it wasn’t for those pesky kids”.
A huge well deserved 5 out of 5, although I now have a 4 year old who misses Scooby already and wants to go back again to see him.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost £14.50 (children under 16), £19.50 (Adult) – plus £2.50 booking fee.
Scooby-Doo and The Mystery of the Pyramids is showing at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford until 18 May. For more information or to book tickets click here or call the box office on 01274 432000.
Scooby-Doo Live is touring the UK until the end of August. See it in a theatre near you! For more information and tour dates visit www.scoobydoo-live.com.
The Alhambra Theatre, Morley Street, Bradford, BD7 1AJ | Box Office 01274 432000
