do a lot of people underestimate the Lion King by thinking it's a kids show?

I know Lion King is a sold put show but I mostly hear about Wicked and Les Mis etc and I am wondering if people dismiss it as a kids show.

I think people are too busy falling asleep after the opening number to underestimate it.

Les Miz is a new revival, and Wicked keeps circulating new cast members in all the time, so they get more ink. Lion King has just been playing for 17 years, so there isn't much to say about it at this point.

If anything it's usually underestimated as overrated spectacle.

I know many a middle-aged or elderly couple who have gone to see it just because "they heard it was amazing." Not at all because they had kids.

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Great opening number and staging. Ragtime was a true musical ans should have won. Lion was a spectacle- Ragtime was a great show

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Dear jm10112,
Are you 12?!?
Please calm yourself and accept that other people have different opinions from you.
Lion King does have beautiful visuals and creative staging. I think the music is much better then that of Wicked, but it can't even begin to touch Les Miserables. Les Miz is being spoken about a lot because it is a new production and Wicked is being spoken about a lot due to hype.
I don't think that people underestimate Lion King they just don't find it incredibly stunning or interesting.

The design is sumptuous, but the drama does sag at times.

I have yet to see a Scar firing on all cyclinders- every one I've seen has turned languid into lazy.

What, the animals and grass are portrayed by people? Well, I never! What ever is this show? Does anyone else know about it?

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The Lion King, as I recall, is a visually spectacular production of a Disney cartoon. It's been awhile since I saw it, but that's what I remember about it. I don't remember a single cast member, and the songs I remember are those I recall from watching my kids watch the videos. It is what it is. For a lot of people, even most people, that is enough, but it relies on things other then compelling story, sharp dialogue, and standout performances in order to be "enough". No different than a lot of shows in that way.

Well I think that it really is two different shows wrapped into one: you have that African show with all of the Lebo M music and the great choreography and the signature Taymor costumes, and then you also have a completely different show with Zazu and once Timon and Pumba are involved. You can even see a change in costumes, when they go from metaphorical puppets to exact replicas of the film put onto the stage. Even the set changes, with blow up cactuses instead of metaphorical rocks. Personally, I prefer the Disney show to Julie Taymor's "art" and I don't think that the two mesh well together or very gracefully, but Julie Taymor's vision is the reason why people think of it as more than just a fun Disney musical.

Updated On: 10/23/14 at 12:44 PM

Fantod -- I must ask....what the heck to you mean by "Lebo M" music? La Boheme, the opera?

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"If anything it's usually underestimated as overrated spectacle."

Sorry, what?

Here's Nathan Gunn and Jennifer Aylmer in a scene from Julie Taymor's Magic Flute:

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