Robert and Elizabeth still holds the record for worst musical in the world, but this one might be a close second. The premise has been done before, both in the actual movie The Ten Commandments and, more recently, in The Prince of Egypt, which is a far superior musical movie. The music is unoriginal and somewhat aimless. The lyrics try unsuccessfully to mesh ancient biblical language with current pop phrases and awkward metaphors that occasionally sound like they work but don't mean anything. On top of that, there are the bizarre costumes and the completely unnecessary special effects (excuse me... WHY does the initial Pharaoh glow? Does Ramses not get the glow because he's not special enough? Did Moses make the glow leave?).
There is one bright light at the end of the tunnel, though. The performers are all (with the exception of Val Kilmer) PHENOMENAL. There's the spectacular Adam Lambert, most recently famous for being an American Idol contestant, playing Joshua. Musical theater veterans Lauren Kennedy and Kevin Earley are as spectacular as their bizarre songs will let them be in their roles as the princess and Ramses. Alisan Porter plays Miriam and has simply amazing vocals. Graham Phillips, the recent star of the Broadway show "13," even shows up as a young boy who sings the ten commandments themselves to the Israelites.
So... the musical is terrible. Awful. Complete nonsense. But if you like good singing, this is a fairly brilliant collection of fantastic singers. Just close your eyes and listen to the music instead of watching the nonsense going on on stage. The entire star and a half goes to the cast. 1.5 stars.
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