The Karate Kid – The Musical
Sunderland Empire Theatre – 14th July 2026
Invited| Review by Stephen Stokoe
As soon as I heard that The Karate Kid was being made into a musical I knew that I had to see it – and I was not let down in the slightest. I had reservations about it transitioning from the big screen to the stage but as soon as I saw the stage preset, I knew I was in safe hands. As the audience enter the auditorium there are the sounds and sights of Japan with a pagoda-style set and a plinth with a beautifully ornate bonsai tree beautifully lit.
Both acts of the show are prefaced with a familiar character entering and bowing. This is simply perfect as the familiar character is Mr Miyagi (Adrian Pang) who gives such a comedically and lovingly mirrored performance as the no-nonsense but secretly troubled karate master who takes new arrival Daniel LaRusso (Gino Ochello) under his wing after the latter moves to California from New Jersey with his mother (Sharon Sexton.) It must have been extremely daunting to take on this role from the adorable performance by the late Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita but take it on he has and Pang brings out the character wonderfully. If you close your eyes you may think you were listening to the OG reluctant sensei.
Ochello is superbly cast (Olivia Layton for Jill Green Casting) as the wannabe karate champion who faces woes as soon as he arrives in his new Californian life by catching the eye of posh girl Ali Mills (Esme Rothero) the recently estranged girlfriend of Johnny Lawrence (Joe Simmons.) Visually, Ochello is much more imposing than Ralph Macchio and he physically looks much more likely to beat Simmons’ Lawrence in a fight.
It is through these early tussles with Lawrence that LaRusso seeks the tutelage of the dry-witted caretaker, Miyagi and as a duo they end up competing in the local karate tournament which inevitably results in LaRusso and Lawrence fighting it out in the final.
There is much to commend this production. I imagine there must have been many obstacles in the way not least of which was what to include and what to leave out from the classic 1980s movie. The opening is cleverly skimmed over with all the necessary elements hinted at to move the LaRusso family in, to set up the rivalry between LaRusso and Lawrence, and to introduce Miyagi as the kindly guardian angel for his young protégé.
Visually, this production is beautiful. The lighting (Bradley King) is stunning from the initial preset to the finale and the sound (Kai Harada) crisp and clear throughout. There as some wonderful stylistic choices from the director (Amon Miyamoto) and choreographers (Keone and Mari Madrid) largely involving Mr Miyagi as ghost like figures accentuate his every move which suggest generations of the Miyagi family assisting in his knowledge, wisdom and strength. The entire cast take their turns in manipulating the complex set (Derek McLane) which is beautiful especially when suggesting the Okinawese influences. This is also reflected in the music (Drew Gasparini) and the underscoring delightful but I have to say the songs in this musical are unremarkable and instantly forgettable.
There is one scene which brought a lump to my throat, well actually more than one, but Daniel reads a letter from Mr Miyagi’s late wife and it is beautiful in every regard, musically, lyrically, and visually.
The villain of the piece is not in fact, LaRusso’s nemesis Lawrence but in fact the latter’s own sensei, Vietnam veteran John Kreese (Matt Mills) who runs the formidable and ruthless Cobra Kai dojo. Now, I said that Pang had his work cut out reimagining Mr Miyagi, Mills was on a loser right from the get-go trying to emulate Martin Kove as Kreese. In this production, I really felt that Kreese was relegated to a bit part and never really allowed to flex his acting chops in the role. That is not to say that he was not imposing and threatening because he most certainly was.
I have to commend all the cast for a hard working and effective performances with an honourable mention to LaRusso’s supportive first friend in California, Freddie Fernandez (Finley Oliver) who was adorably sweet.
Everything from the original Robert Mark Kamen movie is there and fans of the film dressed up and whopped throughout the performance this evening which was lovely to see. If Cobra Kai never dies then it is clear that The Karate Kid never dies and you should go and see it before it kicks its way to complete the UK tour before heading over to North America where I have absolutely no doubt it will be a great success.
This 80’s teen was in nostalgic heaven this evening and it is well worth a look.