Norwich: Die Hard musical Yippee-Ki-Yay at Maddermarket

The auditorium of the Norwich theatre was packed full of people wondering just how the classic Bruce Willis action film would translate into a singing and dancing musical. 

With many fight scenes, famous one-liners and larger-than-life characters there was a lot to pack into this show and it did not disappoint. 

The show has been produced by new theatre company Open Door Theatre (Image: Leo Jerome White)

Produced by new theatre company Open Door, the writing by Daniel Sturman is very clever and the dialogue and music is all intertwined with well-known Christmas melodies which become big stage numbers. 

Most of the cast play multiple characters which lends itself to the fast pace.  

The set was simple and large as structures emulated skyscrapers and later became an elevator and the building's interior.  

Alisha Hart started the story as Ange the limo driver who rapped which was an impressive addition (Image: Leo Jerome White)

What really brought this whole tale together was the expert direction of April Nash, who has been making a name for herself in this role having recently directed award nominated A Chorus Line at The Playhouse.  

A huge amount of physical comedy complete with an action figure for the most action packed scenes, clever staging and nostalgic references to fan favourite parts of the movie make it a rollercoaster.  

With characters such as John McClane (Thomas Guttridge), Holly McClane (Charly Nash) and of course Hans (Hannah) Gruber (Elle Overvoorde) telling the main arch of the story, it’s the other characters that really had the audience in the palm of its hand.  

Charly Nash took on the large role of Holly McClane (Image: Leo Jerome White)

Stand-out performances were made by Arthur Allen who plays Officer Powell whose vocals were second to none.  

The song ‘Soft in the Middle’ played perfectly to his vocal skills and audible gasps came from the audience when he riffed seemingly with ease.  

Complete with dad dancing his performance really is worth the ticket price alone.

Arthur Allen stole the show with his impressive vocals as Officer Powell (Image: Leo Jerome White)

Joshua Gould plays multiple characters but the one that made the audience roar with laughter was the German spy, Carl – just brilliant.  

And Elle Overvoorde as Hannah Gruber really was the glue that held the whole show together equal parts sinister and sarcastically funny, her characterisation was unmatched.  

Joshua Gould and Elle Overvoorde were stand outs as German spies (Image: Leo Jerome White)

With the cast also including Sadie Inns, Alisha Hart, Alec Mann, Amy Beven and Ray Tempesta, this is a fun night out and a show to keep an eye on.  

There are three more chances to catch Yippee-Ki-Yay, tonight and twice on Saturday.

Yippie-Ki-Yay runs until Saturday, but the show should have a future after this run (Image: Leo Jerome White)