The Vaults are taking you back to your childhood with a special immersive, Disney experience with Sounds and Sorcery. This concert brigs together the classical music which featured in the 1940’s film and contemporary staging.
First of all your given a headset, all of the music you’re about to hear plays through a device which reacts to sensors in the area. It’s true, it is innovative especially in one of the rooms which has four different areas to it; when crossing a boundary the music changes; however it doesn’t meet up to the expectations it has set out. The technology really lets the concept down. Cutting out at crucial moments to leave you watching performers panting and audience members walking through beautifully lit and designed areas in silence and it really highlighted the fact that if you can’t do something then you probably shouldn’t.
You walk through different areas with the classical music ringing through your ears, most of the time. Each immersive room reflects an aspect of Fantasia. However the concept descends into a themed bar at the back of the beautifully performed Dance of the Hours.
The shining piece in this immersive experience is The Sorcerers Apprentice. A contemporary dance adaptation of the famous Mickey Mouse section of Fantasia. However there was no little mouse in a signature red cloak or for that matter dancing brooms. It certainly is the jewel in this concept, but when the music cut out, and it frequently did, it left you watching three dancers splashing around.
Unfortunately the last scene, which you’d expect to be the climax as it was in the film is a disappointment. A space that was rather large had a projected last scene; it didn’t really meet up to the previous experiences leading up to this moment. The whole thing was innovative and pushed boundaries with technological design but it could have gone another 5%.
From rooms filled with primordial caves to luminescent flowers and bubble rooms; it’s a fantastic, nostalgic romp with an innovative contemporary twist which equates to a thoroughly enjoyable night at The Vaults.
Review by Samuel Clemens
Rating: ★★★★
Seat: N/A | Price of ticket: £38
