Here’s a solid, critical review of How to Train Your Dragon: The Musical (stage adaptation, based on the DreamWorks film and Dean DeBlois’s story). Verdict: A visually breathtaking, technically ambitious stage adaptation that occasionally clips its own narrative wings, but ultimately delivers a roaring family experience. ★★★½ (3.5/5)

The film is a tighter, more emotionally resonant story. The musical is a bigger, louder, more tactile experience. Think of it as the difference between a carefully written short story and a fireworks display. Both have value. The musical never quite achieves the film’s quiet heart (the scene where Hiccup reaches out to touch Toothless’s snout is more magical on screen), but it compensates with awe-inspiring craft.

£35–£120. Tip: Sit in the front half of the stalls to see the puppeteers’ expressions; from the balcony, the magic dims.

7/10 – See it for the dragons, forgive the songs.

On the Viking isle of Berk, young Hiccup, an undersized and undervalued son of the chief Stoick, defies centuries of dragon-killing tradition by befriending a wounded Night Fury he names Toothless. Together, they must prove that coexistence, not combat, is the true path to survival.