Show Guide: Madagascar: A Musical Adventure

Alex the Lion and his friends — Gloria the Hippo, Melman the Giraffe, and Marty the Zebra — have a pretty sweet life in the Central Park Zoo in New York City where the zookeepers provide for most of their needs and they are beloved animal icons appreciated by an adoring public. But when Marty starts to long for a life that is “wild and free” and ventures out of the zoo, his friends go searching for him in the city. After a misadventure in the NYC subway and a run in with the police, they themselves crated up and being shipped to Africa! A group of
crafty penguins (also runaways from the Central Park Zoo) take over the freighter and Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman are thrown overboard and wash up on the shores of Madagascar. They meet the boisterous leader of the lemurs, King Julien, who hatches a plan for the “New York Giants” to step in to protect the lemurs from their predator enemies, the foosa! But Alex is hungry and not getting along with Marty who loves life on the island. Will the friends from the Central Park Zoo ever find their way back home and if they do will their friendships be irreparably damaged by this adventure in the wild? And where did those crazy penguins end up, anyway? You’ll definitely have to “Move it! Move it!” to stay on top of this twisty tale and find out!

• ALEX (THE LION)—the “King of New York City” and the star attraction at the Central Park Zoo. Alex is a natural-born showman who really only knows a life in the zoo.
• MARTY (THE ZEBRA)—Alex’s best friend who wonders what life would be like if he was wild and free” instead of living in the zoo. On his birthday Marty decides he needs a to get out of the zoo and return to nature.
• GLORIA (THE
  HIPPO)—one of Alex and Marty’s neighbors and good friends and the “third largest land animal on earth!” Gloria tries to keep the piece and calm in her circle of friends.
• MELVIN (THE GIRAFFE)—another of Alex, Marty, and Gloria’s zoo neighbors and friends. Melvin is a
  bit of a hypochondriac who is always worried and suffering from some sort of malady.
• MASON (THE MONKEY)—a rather erudite primate gentleman who does not take kindly to inaccurate stereotypes of his species
• ZELDA & ZEKE—zookeepers at the Central Park Zoo in New York City
• KING JULIEN—the somewhat conceited but charismatic leader of the
  lemurs on Madagascar. When King Julien meets the animals from the Central Park Zoo he thinks he made have found a solution to the lemurs’ predator problem.
• MAURICE, MORT and THE LEMURS—the furry friends that are part of King Julien’s animal tribe on Madagascar.
• THE PENGUINS (Skipper, Kowalski, Private & Rico)—fellow inhabitants (and a semi-organized troop of escape artists) from the Central Park Zoo who break out at the same time as Alex and his animal friends.
• THE FOSSAS—predatory cat-like beasts who are a constant threat to the lemurs on the island of Madagascar.

• The story of Madagascar – A Musical Adventure hinges on the relationship between predator animals and the prey animals that they eat in the “circle of life” in the wild. The zoo animals who are friends are suddenly forced to think about this relationship when they are out of the safe world of the zoo. While there are certainly no violent “National Geographic Animal Documentary” reality moments on stage, some young audience members may be trouble by
  the notion of friends wanting to eat other freinds.
• There are a few, mostly comedic, moments of animals in jeopardy during the story. No animals are harmed in a significant way, but children who are very sensitive about animals might feel a bit anxious at points.
• During the story, the Penguin behave a bit selfishly sometimes abandoning their zoo neighbors and putting their own interests and needs
  before others. They are very funny characters but may not offer the best examples of being good animal citizens.
• King Julien the Lemur is a rather anarchic leader who doesn’t always use the nicest words when addressing his followers and animal guests. His words are usually humorous, but he isn’t very sensitive and sometimes indulges in some name-calling.