Saturday, June 13, 2009

The Lion King

Last week three friends and I went to see one of the Broadway roadshow productions of Disney's The Lion King.

Aunty has been a live theater buff for decades and has seen it all, including Broadway and the Royal Shakespeare Theater in Stratford-on-Avon, and I can honestly say -- It does not get any better than this!

The storyline had something for everyone: action, drama, romance and humor. The characters and songs were memorable, and the costumes were absolutely out of this world in creativity and innovation!

Here's a photo of two of the characters: Pumbaa the warthog and Timon the meercat.

As you can see, Timon is an almost-life-sized puppet that the actor manipulated with his hands and speaks for. Pumbaa on the other hand is a large costume with the actor's legs as the creature's front legs, and he manipulates the mouth (and tongue) with his hands. The back half of the animal is an elaborate decorated framework, with the animal's back legs suspended in the air.

My editor has four critical criteria she looks for in any book she acquires. One of these is "a world is created." By this she means that no matter what the time period or setting, the author vividly portrays a unique world for that story and those characters. Readers need to feel like they have stepped into a complete and fascinating world of its own.

The Lion King is the perfect example of a world being created! The audience is transported, even feels like a participant in this beautiful and unique world of strange and wonderful creatures. My friends and I were lucky enough to be included in that very special world for a few hours and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

If you get a chance to see a production of The Lion King-- GO! You will be very glad you did.

Hakuna Matata!

Care to share some of your experiences with being transported into another world?

11 comments:

Terri Osburn said...

I was fortunate enough to catch this play with my kiddo a few years ago. One of the many angels in my life actually arranged for us to go for FREE and we were very close to the front. In fact, I was on the aisle and was smacked in the head by a hyena. LOL!

I love stage shows and though I've never made it to Broadway, I've seen everything from Les Mis to the Joffrey Ballet. Wicked is in town now and I only wish the tickets weren't so expensive. :(

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Terrio, LOL on the hyena! Those were the most innovative costumes of the lot!

We were 3 seats in from the aisle, but some of the birds flew over our heads but the elephant didn't brush our sleeves.

OOO! I'd LURVE to see Wicked! It is on my list. I haven't been to NYC in about 6 or 7 years. :-( Some of the shows I did see on Broadway were Miss Saigon, Tommy, and our FAVE -- Kiss of the Spider Woman.

Is this the last week of school?!?!

AC

Terri Osburn said...

Okay, I haven't seen any of those. LOL! I'm so far behind.

Technically, there are two weeks left, but this week is going to be hell week. MAJOR paper due Sunday (which I've yet to start. Gah!) and then regular work plus finals have to be done by the 28th. If I can just make it that far....

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

You WILL make it!!! And we will have a LONG COOL ONE at the bar in DC to celebrate!

AC
P.S. I won't even yell at you for not practicing your knitting. ;-)

Terri Osburn said...

Man, I was hoping you'd forget about that. LOL! I'll definitely have that drink!

Jane said...

Can you believe I've never seen a Broadway show? I really wished I could have seen Jersey Boys with the original Broadway cast. West Side Story is back and I would love to see that.

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

OH NO, Jane!

Say it isn't so! We always got the half price tickets in Times Square when we visited. You really need to check that out.

Two of my good friends saw Jersey Boys in San Francisco and couldn't stop raving about it.

AC
who lives in the state capitol and can't remember the last time I was actually IN the state Capitol building...

Helen said...

Aunty Cindy

I have been to a few live shows over the years here in Sydney and loved them they really are magical. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar yes way back when and I have seen The Rocky Horror Picture Show a couple of times live. The Lion King is one I would have loved to have seen when it was on here in Sydney but sadly never made it there although I have seen the movie lots Jayden loves it but so do I that is one movie I can watch over and over. Jayden and I also watch the Wizard Of Oz a lot I wish that was a live musical here.

Have Fun
Helen

pjpuppymom said...

I adore stage productions! We had a terrific drama dept. in school and I won parts in all of the musicals and the lead in a drama my senior year. It fueled a love of theater that has not lessened one bit over the years.

When my late dh and I lived in FL we had season tickets for the touring broadway plays and saw many fabulous productions with lots of terrific actors, some very famous. Les Miserables was the show that sucked me in completely, so much so that I lost awareness of everything else - the audience, the time, the dh...everything! I could see that show every month and never tire of it.

I saw WICKED on Broadway two years ago and it is fabulous! If the touring company ever comes here you can bet I'll find some way to be in the audience.

I'd love to see JERSEY BOYS! That's the music I grew up with. Such great memories. We tried to get tickets before going to NYC two years ago but they were sold out for the next 8 months. Guess a lot of people like their music!

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

Hi Helen!

I've seen a couple of different productions of JC Superstar and they were great! What can I say? NOBODY does it quite like Andrew Lloyd Webber!

I loved The Lion King movie also, but the witch in The Wizard of Oz used to scare the daylights outta me! They showed that movie on TV every year and until I was about 12 or 13, I ran into my bedroom whenever the witch came on. LOL!

Loucinda McGary aka Aunty Cindy said...

WOW PJ! I had no idea we had a star in our midst!

I took drama in high school too, but never had more than walk on parts. That's where I first learned to LOVE Shakespeare. Our drama teacher was a Shakespeare fanatic and that brave woman mounted on full blown production of a Shakespeare play every school year. The year I participated, the play was Twelfth Night, and to this day it remains my favorite of the comedies.

I saw Le Miz a couple of years ago in a theater-in-the-round production that was one of the best I've ever seen! Oh, and I once saw The Pirates of Penzance with Jim Belushi as the Pirate King. He was GREAT!

AC