#lionkingbway

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(queuing this for later for privacy reasons but)

GUYS I SAW THE LION KING ON TOUR

Ohmyword it was so good. Like. Heck man. Wow. Get ready, long post ahead.

I bought my tickets mooooonths in advance (you may remember my mentioning it in passing some time ago). It was my Christmas present to me. XD I drove four hours to another state to see it, and I ended up doing so by myself because my traveling buddy wasn’t able to come. Very proud of my adulting there, btw, first big independent adventure. XD

Taking the advice of some of my lovely mutuals who have seen the show before, and telling myself I could splurge, I got an aisle orchestra seat, and wow. Best decision ever.

So, with no further adieu and in no order whatsoever, here are some details (with terribly mixed tenses), if nothing else but for my own remembering of this fantastic night:

The opening. I started crying immediately. Rafiki and the Jackals: flipping yeah. The parade of animals for “The Circle of Life.” Pride Rock. The Elephant came down my aisle and I started crying, I’ve never seen anything like it.

Rafiki though. Mukelisiwe Goba was just alkjdghlsjgs gorgeous. I had chills and tears and laughter thanks to her. Bless.

“The Circle of Life” was legitimate sensory overload, I wish I could just watch that opening sequence on repeat for hours. The costumes, the music, the puppets. skdjfajldkfjshhhjlahskdjldfskjlhdhhhhhhnnnn. Best number, duh.

I was so flipping excited to see Gerald Ramsey as Mufasa, I can’t even. He’s one of the few players from the tour cast to have content on youtube for me to find and just... He was so good. (I am very quickly gonna be repeating adjectives don’t mind me) His interactions with Simba, his presence on the stage, “They Live In You”, the balance between his noble kingly portrayal of the pride leader and his playful antagonizing with Zazu - everything that makes Mufasa who he is. Splendid. Bravo sir, bravo. (He also walked right past my seat. :D )

Aaron Nelson was on for adult Simba that night. He portrayed such a playful character with Timon and Pumba and then transitioned into such a raw, emotional performance of “Endless Night” bravo sir, bravo. You really believed the hope and courage Simba finds at the end of the number.

Zazu (Greg Jackson) broke the fourth wall so many times, it’s a wonder the theater was still standing at the end of the night. These occasions included, but not limited to: literally ‘losing’ the Zazu puppet during “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” and shouting frantically to the audience about it, enduring Mufasa’s jokes and staring out into the audience like he was in an episode of The Office, the now-famous singing of “Let It Go” in place of “It’s a Small World” in Scar’s Lair, and I think he yelled at us for laughing at his misfortunes at one point too.

slight con: I didn’t know the tour removed (sometime in 2010 I guess) the “The Morning Report”/Pouncing Lesson, which I understand cuz it doesn’t forward the story by a lot, but I just love the Pouncing Lesson bit for Mufasa and Simba so much.

After “Hakuna Matata” during Intermission, I was texting friends about knowing Jordan Samuels, aka our Specs from Newsies Live, was in the ensemble and hoping I could spot him, and then Act Two started with “One By One” and I turned to see the dancer standing at the back of the theater in my aisle and 90% certainty it was him, which made me laugh and made my night. Saw him again a few more times throughout the show, but had to remind myself to focus on the big picture lol.

During “Be Prepared” while the hyenas are coming from the back of the theater and running to the stage, the last one in our line stopped to chat with the guy sitting directly behind me. “Hey dude, how’s it going? Enjoying the show?” The guy in the audience was laughing too hard to respond much (he was a nervous-laugher, I’m pretty sure that’s just how he expressed emotion cuz he laughed a lot through the show but whatever) and it was so great. XD He then took off at a run to catch up to everyone on stage.

Speaking of: the hyena march was distinctly less third reich like, and although I really appreciate/respect that element in the movie, I was personally happy it was removed from the production.

The Wildebeast stampede. I just. That staging/blocking and the puppets and costumes to show that. Ohmyword, sooooooooooooooo good. I’m still geeking out about it. Visually one of the high points, purely for the ingenuity of it all. There were essentially three parts of the set: a backdrop, a smaller midstage backdrop, and two pieces on either side representing the closest canyon walls. Cutout silhouettes of wildebeast are on display at the beginning of the scene. When Scar leaves and the Stampede starts, twin rolling wheels of wooden puppet wildebeast appear in the middle backdrop. Then the costumed dancers bearing wildebeast heads on their arms appear to swarm around Simba and Mufasa. I was so distracted by them, I didn’t even notice Mufasa and Scar on the canyon wall until they started speaking.

I FLIPPIN HAD TO WATCH MUFASA DIE AGAIN. THIS WAS NOT SOMETHING I BARGAINED ON PREPARING MYSELF EMOTIONALLY FOR, AND THEREFORE IRONICALLY ENOUGH I WAS NOOTTTTTTT PREPARED.

How have I not mentioned Joziyah Jean-Felix?? All the attitude and naivety and bravado and sincerity you could want in our young hero. Also very enthusiastic with the reigns on the bird puppets during “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King.” Danielle Jalade was so precious and ferocious as young Nala too. My heart belongs to Kajuana Shuford’s performance, but truly Danielle was a gem.

Okay, but back to the costumes???? JULIE TAYMOR IS THE TOO OFTEN UNSUNG HERO OF THIS SHOW, SHE EARNED THOSE TONYS AND THEN SOME.

When Mufasa dies, and the song “Rafiki Mourns” comes, Rafiki enters first and Sarabi and the lionesses join her. It was so beautiful and sad and moving. AND. I DIDN’T KNOW THIS. At the end of the song, the lionesses reach up to their lion mask headdresses and pull silver streamers from the eyes, which they let fall to the ground and over Mufasa, and it was the most beautiful, spell-binding instant of the show.

Sarabi’s streamers remained to show her mourning until Scar angers her and she rips them from her eyes to lash out against him.

HAVE I MENTIONED NIA HOLLOWAY YET? HECK. She was....breathtaking. “Shadowlands” has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and she really does it justice. Her interactions with Aaron were so organic too, I loved them.

Timon (Nick Cordelione) and Pumbaa (Ben Lipitz) were appropriately hysterical and on point. They really got the youngest audience members going, and it was great to hear the kids shrieking with giggles, and the older kids giving surprised bursts of laughter when Pumbaa made a crack about winning Angry Birds by chasing the buzzards away from Simba.

Mark Campbell was a good Scar. He wasn’t my favorite part of the show, I think maybe he was having an off night. Still, his monologues and dry wit were great, and the overt Offense(TM) he took at Simba playing with his tail cracked me up a little too much. XD “Be Prepared” was a jam as always XD

Sarabi (the lovely Kimber Sprawl) I think has even fewer spoken lines in the show than she does in the movie, and yet she seemed like more of a character. The time they allow her to mourn for her husband and son is beautiful and appreciated, and the way she blends in with the other lionesses for many parts of the show before making a subtle move to stand out is just a really good touch imho. There’s almost enough time to suggest, if not establish, a close camaraderie between her and Rafiki and I love that.

Rafiki’s tree (does it have a specific name?) is such a gorgeous piece for the set.

what else am I forgetting, it was such a night

I can’t say enough or describe in enough detail the sets, costumes, and puppets. slkdjfnlakjdksldkgnlgf !!!!

The “grass people” while Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba are discussing the stars, help Timon lie down ‘in the grass’ and when the ensemble help him stand back up again, he turned to say thank you and the dancer who had been holding him up for the scene gave him a big thumbs up. XD They also helped operate the Timon puppet for the scene so that Nick could add more expression and movement.

The ending man, the ending. The reprise of “The Circle of Life.” The energy, the spectacle. aksjdddddddddddddddddkjkjgsdgesdkjs.

At the end, we gave everyone a standing ovation immediately.

I whooped loudly when the cast gestured down at the orchestra pit. Not many other people did, but that’s on their own heads. XD

The night I went was the last show before they packed up and moved on to the next city, a conscious choice on my part based on stage stories of how free the actors usually are with their performance on last nights, and how all the bugs in the venue are usually worked out by then. All good and accurate things I think, but the con is there was no stage dooring, for which I was very sad.

I bought a shirt and a bag, and I’m going to turn the bag into a throw pillow for my bed. ^_^

I’m just....so....happy...I got to go and see this amazing show performed live. It was a pretty good audience too, which can make or break a night, so what a blessing there.

I feel like I’m already forgetting so much, but there you go, this post has run on long enough.

I saw The Lion King, guys. *fangirls out of the room*