He Just Can't Wait to be King
The Lion King was, from the day I first saw it, an instant lock for one of my favorite movies of all time, no matter how old I got. And it held the test of time; to this day it remains my #1 favorite animated movie ever, and definitely in my top 3 of all movies. So seeing it in broadway musical form...well, let's just say it had a BIG name to live up to.
Having returned from it last night, really...I shouldn't have worried.
Let me get the negatives out of the way first. Scar left something to be desired, acting-wise. Not to say he was bad, not at all. I really, really can't blame the actor for this one, because it was a competition he was just never going to win against Jeremy Irons' performance in the movie. That man was a god. This Scar had his moments, definitely (trying to make Nala his queen was all kinds of creepy), but to my dismay, "Be Prepared" was not one of them. It didn't really send shivers up my spine the way the whole NAZI GERMANY look of the cartoon sequence did, and that was a bit disappointing.
It was also a little rocky when young Simba and Nala were focal points, but they were like, ten, literally. I refuse to be critical of ten year olds being in a major broadway performance and not shaking in their booties from the sheer terror. Considering that, they were great.
And that's....really all that was negative about the show. Everything else was utterly incredible. I could ramble on forever about every little thing that was incredible but that would take forever so highlights:
- The costume work and choreography. Everyone was ASTOUNDING. The elephants, the giraffes, the Hyenas, the lionesses, even the plants and grass were actual people...everyone was so intricately detailed and lifelike in their movements. It must have taken MONTHS to make all those costumes, and it shows, the craftsmanship is second to none. And the choreography was exceptionally fluid and limber, something that showed especially well in their rendition of Can You Feel the Love Tonight (which was strangely erotic, by the way, there was a very Adam and Eve-like pair of lead dancers that were surprising amounts of naked, though nothing quite naughty).
- The new songs. The Morning Report was a little too goofy for my tastes, but the rest of them were very welcome additions. Worth special mention was "Shadowland," sung during one of the scenes expanding Nala's role, in which she leaves Pride Rock to find something, anything, to help her home; "Endless Night," Simba's big 'woe is me' moment the night Timon and Pumbaa ridicule his stargazing theory; and most of all was a song called "He Lives in You," which leads into my final highlight...
- RAFIKI. Rafiki stole the show, you have no idea. The character was female in this show, played by a woman named Phindile Mkhize, a native-Zulu-speaker from South Africa, and she put every bit of her heritage on exceptional display in her performance. She led the show in with an astounding performance of the Circle of Life, was generally charming and hilarious whenever she popped in, and completely floored me with her performance of the song "He Lives in You." While it's technically a reprise of a song sung during Mufasa and Simba's early stargazing scene (They Live in You, which was amazing in and of itself), this was more its own song than any other reprise I've ever heard. It is sung during the famous scene of Simba seeing his father's reflection in the water, in the clouds, and in himself....and it was pretty much the most powerful scene in the show, and Rafiki leads it beautifully. For that song alone I want to get the soundtrack.
Bottom line, SEE THIS SHOW. It is worth every penny you invest in it. You will not be disappointed.
ARBITRARY GRADING PORTION OF THIS REVIEW: A.
No other musicals lined up for the moment.....maybe I should start posting some real content here now. XD
(I still cry when Mufasa dies. D= )
Having returned from it last night, really...I shouldn't have worried.
Let me get the negatives out of the way first. Scar left something to be desired, acting-wise. Not to say he was bad, not at all. I really, really can't blame the actor for this one, because it was a competition he was just never going to win against Jeremy Irons' performance in the movie. That man was a god. This Scar had his moments, definitely (trying to make Nala his queen was all kinds of creepy), but to my dismay, "Be Prepared" was not one of them. It didn't really send shivers up my spine the way the whole NAZI GERMANY look of the cartoon sequence did, and that was a bit disappointing.
It was also a little rocky when young Simba and Nala were focal points, but they were like, ten, literally. I refuse to be critical of ten year olds being in a major broadway performance and not shaking in their booties from the sheer terror. Considering that, they were great.
And that's....really all that was negative about the show. Everything else was utterly incredible. I could ramble on forever about every little thing that was incredible but that would take forever so highlights:
- The costume work and choreography. Everyone was ASTOUNDING. The elephants, the giraffes, the Hyenas, the lionesses, even the plants and grass were actual people...everyone was so intricately detailed and lifelike in their movements. It must have taken MONTHS to make all those costumes, and it shows, the craftsmanship is second to none. And the choreography was exceptionally fluid and limber, something that showed especially well in their rendition of Can You Feel the Love Tonight (which was strangely erotic, by the way, there was a very Adam and Eve-like pair of lead dancers that were surprising amounts of naked, though nothing quite naughty).
- The new songs. The Morning Report was a little too goofy for my tastes, but the rest of them were very welcome additions. Worth special mention was "Shadowland," sung during one of the scenes expanding Nala's role, in which she leaves Pride Rock to find something, anything, to help her home; "Endless Night," Simba's big 'woe is me' moment the night Timon and Pumbaa ridicule his stargazing theory; and most of all was a song called "He Lives in You," which leads into my final highlight...
- RAFIKI. Rafiki stole the show, you have no idea. The character was female in this show, played by a woman named Phindile Mkhize, a native-Zulu-speaker from South Africa, and she put every bit of her heritage on exceptional display in her performance. She led the show in with an astounding performance of the Circle of Life, was generally charming and hilarious whenever she popped in, and completely floored me with her performance of the song "He Lives in You." While it's technically a reprise of a song sung during Mufasa and Simba's early stargazing scene (They Live in You, which was amazing in and of itself), this was more its own song than any other reprise I've ever heard. It is sung during the famous scene of Simba seeing his father's reflection in the water, in the clouds, and in himself....and it was pretty much the most powerful scene in the show, and Rafiki leads it beautifully. For that song alone I want to get the soundtrack.
Bottom line, SEE THIS SHOW. It is worth every penny you invest in it. You will not be disappointed.
ARBITRARY GRADING PORTION OF THIS REVIEW: A.
No other musicals lined up for the moment.....maybe I should start posting some real content here now. XD
(I still cry when Mufasa dies. D= )