The computer-animated film comedy Madagascar gave DreamWorks a franchise that has gone on giving, if not so lavishly as that supplied by its earlier hit Shrek.

As with its green ogre, the studio saw an opportunity for a further big-bucks bonanza in a transfer from screen to stage.The resulting Madagascar The Musical reaches Oxford this week on an extended national tour starring the charismatic 2016 X-Factor winner Matt Terry in the role of Alex the lion.

Excellent of voice he certainly is, with an especially strong upper register – and he’s no mean mover either, even if he doesn’t get to do much of it in the show’s somewhat lacklustre first half.

There’s a deal of exposition to be got through here, for the benefit of dutiful parents – present with their gleeful sub-teen offspring – unfamiliar with the tale.

There is no denying the occasional comic subtleties Kevin Del Aguila’s book delivers in telling it. One such comes in the uncertainty of the cool-dude zebra Marty about whether he is black with white stripes or vice-versa. One thing he is sure of, though, is his desire to quit the confines of New York’s Central Park Zoo for life in the great outdoors.

His ambitions are revealed in and around rappy numbers from composer and lyricist George Noriega and Joel Someillan. From a duet with Alex, we discover the lyrical quality to Antoine Murray-Straughan’s voice as well.

Marty’s plan for the off are shared by a quarter of delinquent penguins whose diminutive stature as puppets, measured against their human operators, looks absurd. This is especially the case when they launch a joint attack on the captain of the vessel carrying the animals to a new home in Kenya.

The resulting melee lands Alex and Marty in Madagascar in the company of hypochondriac giraffe pal Melman (Jamie Lee-Morgan) and sassy hippo Gloria (Timmika Ramsay).

After which come rich drolleries from ring-tailed lemur ruler King Julian (Jo Parsons), a dream of singing steaks for meat-starved Alex and a rumble in the jungle with the villainous fossa. Plus, of course, I Like to Move It, the one song from the show that everyone knows.

Until Saturday. Box office: atgtickets.com/oxford, 0844871 3020 3/5