Theatre Review - The Lion King

The Lion King

When: Saturday, January 31, 2pm

Where: Minskoff Theatre, New York City (Broadway)

What can I say. If you haven't seen this, you should. Seriously, just some breathtaking theatre here.  I had seen this ten years ago when it first opened, but I found that I remembered little about it, so it kind of felt new to me again.  I'm by no means a theatre critic, but how can you not get chills watching this thing? A little video clip to get an idea of the production is below...



The best way to describe it is simply that it's unique. The costumes -- everything from the masks worn by the lions to the bird puppet held by an actor to the ensemble wearing literal hats of grass to symbolize the savannah landscape is wonderful. You find yourself looking at the "mask" rather than the actor, but then, when it's "really important," the actors are certainly able to shine through. When a giant elephant walks down the aisle and up onto the stage and giraffes are played by guys walking on stilts, you know you're seeing something unique.

The essentially bare set. As I said above, the ensemble actually takes on "being" much of the set. They become the grass, the water, the animals.

The music -- African chants prove to be just as (and sometimes more) emotionally moving as the Elton John/Tim Rice-penned English-word songs. I think I got chills four times -- yeah, I know that's corny, but it gets to you. There's one scene in particular towards the end that is incredibly simplistic, but beautiful, and the song that accompanies it (a tune penned specifically for this show, "They Live in You") is kind of a masterpiece of emotional storytelling, in my opinion.

Director Julie Taymor really was a mastermind here. There's really just too many amazing scenes to go into here.  She really, to me, almost directs a perfect show here -- although there are two dance breaks (one incredibly out-of-place 70s disco romp during the song "Be Prepared" and a Cirque du Soleil-ish oddity during "Can You Feel the Love Tonight) that had me holding back laughter for the wrong reasons.

Really, I'm not sure how to review theater. You've gotta figure that if these people are putting on a 2 hour, 45 minute show eight times a week, singing and dancing their heart out sometimes twice a day within hours of each other, you've got to give them credit, regardless of whether you liked the thing or not.

But there's no need to worry about liking this one.  You will.  This is actually the eighth Broadway show I've seen in three years (Wicked, Avenue Q, Mary Poppins, Phantom of the Opera, Hairspray, Chicago, and The 39 Steps [a play] would be the others), and at this point, I think it tops the list.