I have seen a lot of plays, here in Boston and in New York City. I have a lot of favorites and plays that I've seen more than once - Phantom of the Opera, Beauty and the Beast, Grease, Mama Mia. BUT I left The Lion King absolutely floored. It was unbelievably incredible!
The costumes looked odd and I didn't really understand the concept of the whole play. You could see the actors and the puppets and their masks. It looked bizarre in the commercials. And The Lion King was never one of my favorite Disney movies.
But it was getting great reviews, and winning Tony awards - Best Musical, Best Scenic Design for a Musical, Best Costume Design for a Musical, Best Lighting Design for a Musical, Best Choreography, and Best Direction of a Musical - so when I heard it was coming to Boston I had to see for myself. Tickets were not cheap but we had great seats, 6 rows from the stage on the aisle. This was absolutely the best time to have aisle seats, several times the characters come down the aisles singing and I had to restrain from touching the costumes.
Julie Taymor - a native of Newton, Massachusetts, directed, wrote the lyrics for the song Endless Night, designed the costumes, co-designed the masks, and co-designed the puppets. She is a genius! Vocally the actors sounded like the characters in the Disney movie but visually it was mesmerizing! There was so much to see and hear, so much to take in all at once. The whole play was enveloping. With only three dancers, a herd of gazelle would run by,
the actors who were giraffes walked on stilts with ungodly tall giraffe hats. And while the cheetah were "creative", they were a bit freakish.
The play left Boston yesterday but if you ever have a chance to see it, go.... you won't regret it!
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