You’re seven years old again, and you’re terrified, gripping your favorite teddy bear and yelling at the screen. This is only your tenth time watching it since your parents gave you the movie for Christmas, but that doesn’t mean a thing, except for now you can sing along to all your favorite songs, no sweat.
You know you remember Jonathan Taylor Thomas as Simba, and we all cried when Mufasa died. You know the story by heart, and you actually lost a few best friends over who got to be Nala on the playground after school.
Now fast forward 11 years. You’re cool, in college — you even have an iPod, and if you’re lucky, a Mac.
Cartoons are for babies, musicals for wimps, yet still, here you are, waiting for the house lights to dim and the people beside you to shut the heck up.
You can feel it, it’s coming, and then —
“Aaaaaaasssaabaaaayyaaa!”
Your heart does a little dance in your throat, you’re seven years old all over again, and you pull your legs up under you so you can get a better view of the animals galloping down the aisle. So what if it cost you $80? Your only regret is that Teddy can’t be here to see The Lion King come to life.
With ridiculously complicated sets and absolutely captivating costumes, the Broadway production of The Lion King will leave you on your feet, whistling through two fingers, with a new appreciation of Walt Disney and all that childhood has to offer.
The characters were engaged in nonstop motion, and though they did their dance with rehearsed perfection, in the back of your mind you keep waiting for the giraffes with their spindly stilts to crash into the oversized elephant and topple from the crowded stage right into the lap of the 4-year-old kid in the front row. Through a series of imaginative sets, though, the small space worked.
Colors set the mood for the audience, with vivid oranges and reds expressing the excitement of the new day, the new life, while brilliant blues and greens emphasized the peace and prosperity of a happy land. Angry grays and blacks coupled with somber, sick browns were used to make the crowd feel the despondency of that same land under Scar’s reign.
Complex layers of hanging vines and twinkling lights were used to bring the night sky to life, and during a particularly impressive rendition of “He Lives In You,” Mufasa’s face, comprised of more than a few moving, spinning, suspended parts, appeared in the sky as if by magic, just like it has in so many childhood dreams.
With more than a little creative genius running the show, cast members don hats made of tall green strands to simulate grasslands, and utilize swords, sticks and body paint to mimic features too complicated or cumbersome for practicality, such as claws, manes, horns, bones and even anthills.
No character is completely costume, and while the masks and feathers used certainly top off the package, the actors’ body language tells the same story just as well. While the cast has the ability to engross you in their characters to the extent that you forget they are not real creatures galavanting about, they never lose their humanity. The story is always real.
As for the musical score, the audience certainly could “feel the love.”
While all of your favorite songs from the movie are there, the producers threw in a couple of new tunes sure to earn a place in your heart. By mixing the traditional sounds of African rhythm and dance beats with modern vocal stylings, and topping it off with a little fancy footwork, the music keeps you tapping your feet to the tune, while the melodies practically beg you to sing along. I know I was biting my tongue the whole time.
The real show stealer, though, was not Nala, Simba, Mufasa or even Scar. It’s a toss up between Rafiki in all her crazy glory and Timon, one of the only full puppets in the entire production. Timon is an oversized meerkat attached to the body of an actor, and between his convincing gestures and fantastic lines sometimes you’ll swear he’s walking on his own. Rafiki is a bumbling, babbling baboon who laughs hysterically and sings incredibly, and she steals your heart from beginning to end, and beware — she’s pretty lethal with that walking stick.
A by-the-book account of the cartoon, with a few instances of metaphysical drama here and there, The Lion King is worth every penny. As for me, I’ve been singing “The Circle of Life” since Saturday and keeping my fingers crossed that they’re next venture is The Little Mermaid.