Karate Kid The Musical Festival Theatre 23rd June 2026 Review
The Karate Kid – The Musical is at the Festival Theatre Edinburgh this week (Tue 23 - Sat 27 June) and if you are old enough to remember the original 1984 film starring Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue and William Zabka, then this show could be an enjoyable trip down memory lane for you.
If you are lucky enough not to be that old, then the chances are that you have seen the film on television re-runs or DVD as it was a huge commercial success spawning two more films in the original franchise, numerous later films, whilst also serving as the source material for the long running Cobra Kai (2018-2025) television series. The latter probably explains why there were so many young people at tonight's show. Clearly there is something about this story and its characters that has struck a chord with so many people and allowed it to not only withstand the passing of 40 plus years, but along the way reach out to new audiences.
As well as the obvious martial arts story arc, the original film and this show also have their teen romance, Ali Mills , the girl from the rich family (Abigail Amin) and Daniel Larusso, the boy from a very different background (Gino Ochello).
I have to say that when I think of successful teen films from this time period that have gone on to be hit shows (and others still to be adapted), Karate Kid is not one of them for many reasons. However, on paper, this show has everything that you could ask for in a musical adaptation of a popular film. Having the show book written by Robert Mark Kamen, the original writer of the Karate Kid Film (plus Karate Kid films 2, 3, and 5), the very experienced Drew Gasparini as composer/lyricist, and Amon Miyamato directing, should have been the raw ingredients for something very special on stage.
Sadly, this is just not happening, something about this show is just not shining anywhere as brightly as the original source material, yet all the components are there - the martial arts, the teen love interest, the message about finding your inner self and personal balance in the world, and of course, the anti-bullying stance. Why this is so, I am not quite sure, but whatever the reasons, this time Mr Miyagi (Adrian Pang) and his calm, inner spiritual wisdom seems to be unable to fix things here. In all fairness though, Adrian Pang's performance here is a good one and is the central focus for me of this show.
The other main cast, Gino Ochello (Daniel Larusso), Abigail Amin (Ali Mills), Matt Mills (John Kreese), Sharon Sexton (Lucille Larusso) and Joe Simmons (Johnny Lawrence) do their best here, but their characters are all too often shoe-horned into musical numbers that fit an obvious stage formula and, sadly, these were, for me, just not memorable ones. Worse still, the songs and dance routines, for me, at times interrupt the flow of the narrative itself. To be honest, I am struggling here to see what the film adaptation to stage musical has achieved here, struggling to find what, if anything, it has added to this franchise. A rather basic stage set with some less than slick scene changes has also not helped.
Perhaps my problem is that this story, no matter what format it is being told in, has to be seen through the eyes of someone close to the age of the teen characters in it?
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
If you are lucky enough not to be that old, then the chances are that you have seen the film on television re-runs or DVD as it was a huge commercial success spawning two more films in the original franchise, numerous later films, whilst also serving as the source material for the long running Cobra Kai (2018-2025) television series. The latter probably explains why there were so many young people at tonight's show. Clearly there is something about this story and its characters that has struck a chord with so many people and allowed it to not only withstand the passing of 40 plus years, but along the way reach out to new audiences.
As well as the obvious martial arts story arc, the original film and this show also have their teen romance, Ali Mills , the girl from the rich family (Abigail Amin) and Daniel Larusso, the boy from a very different background (Gino Ochello).
I have to say that when I think of successful teen films from this time period that have gone on to be hit shows (and others still to be adapted), Karate Kid is not one of them for many reasons. However, on paper, this show has everything that you could ask for in a musical adaptation of a popular film. Having the show book written by Robert Mark Kamen, the original writer of the Karate Kid Film (plus Karate Kid films 2, 3, and 5), the very experienced Drew Gasparini as composer/lyricist, and Amon Miyamato directing, should have been the raw ingredients for something very special on stage.
Sadly, this is just not happening, something about this show is just not shining anywhere as brightly as the original source material, yet all the components are there - the martial arts, the teen love interest, the message about finding your inner self and personal balance in the world, and of course, the anti-bullying stance. Why this is so, I am not quite sure, but whatever the reasons, this time Mr Miyagi (Adrian Pang) and his calm, inner spiritual wisdom seems to be unable to fix things here. In all fairness though, Adrian Pang's performance here is a good one and is the central focus for me of this show.
The other main cast, Gino Ochello (Daniel Larusso), Abigail Amin (Ali Mills), Matt Mills (John Kreese), Sharon Sexton (Lucille Larusso) and Joe Simmons (Johnny Lawrence) do their best here, but their characters are all too often shoe-horned into musical numbers that fit an obvious stage formula and, sadly, these were, for me, just not memorable ones. Worse still, the songs and dance routines, for me, at times interrupt the flow of the narrative itself. To be honest, I am struggling here to see what the film adaptation to stage musical has achieved here, struggling to find what, if anything, it has added to this franchise. A rather basic stage set with some less than slick scene changes has also not helped.
Perhaps my problem is that this story, no matter what format it is being told in, has to be seen through the eyes of someone close to the age of the teen characters in it?
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com