Foot and Mouth....No Chance Here (Lion King)

Member Name: forrest

Product:	Lion King
Date:	23/03/01 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fab costumes, brilliantly presented, worth the journey

Disadvantages: Acoustics not always clear, difficult to get tickets

I managed to get one of these rather rare tickets and headed off not quite knowing what to expect having seen the video. The opening scene is unbelievable, I mean why just use the stage when there is an aisle, doors at the back, balconies as well. The show starts as it means to go on hitting you from all directions. As your eyes flit from animal to animal trying to decide which costume is which animal (not difficult) and then trying to decide which one you like best.

The stage itself is fairly bare with a main prop rolled out for certain scenes, but the majority of the atmosphere and visual affect (even the grass) being provided by the actors and actresses.

The songs as expected are fab, with the main singers supported by the cast in what is similar to gospel choirs, my only disappointment here was that sometimes the acoustics in the theatre were not always clear enough to hear the words being sung.

The show added some additional humour which was well received and complementary of the rest of the show.

The scene that I was most interested in before seeing the effect was the death of Simba's father. In the video there are hundreds of wildebeest stampeding and I was more than curious to see how this would be done (that is without trampling the entire audience at the same time. All I am going to say on that is brilliant. They managed to create the scene and the emotion without special effects.

You never tire of being in awe of the characters and the way in which they have been re-created for the stage version. The characters who previously had the voices of top movie stars cover themselves in glory by playing the parts superbly.

Do what you can to get a ticket and see the show that has caused rave reviews, believe me they are right!!!!!!!

Summary: