The Lion King, Did i miss something ?

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 9:34am

Saw " The Lion King" in Melbourne Australia yesterday for the first time.

Now why the opening was everything i hoped it would be, the rest of the show was like a bad high school musical, the staging, costumes, lighting and so forth was great, but the musicals numbers and story was, well boring.

Now i know this has most likely been talked to death, but am i the only one who came away thinking thats what all the fuss was about.

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 9:39am

you're not the only one
many people on this board dont like the show, but i personally loved it

[sybil7]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 9:59am

When people ask me what I thought of the Lion King. I usually reply with something on the order of 'its Disney' - meaning its very visual - - but, content-wise??? for me??? zzzzzzzzzzzz - -

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 10:41am

Oh, thank God! I thought I was the only one who hated this piece of dreck that NEVER should have beat RAGTIME at the Tonys. I thought I was gonna have to start a support group or something! And I agree, the opening is stunning, but then its three very kid inappropriate and boring hours of the same crap. If I'd've seen just ONE more bird on a rope on a pole I was gonna go mental!!!!

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:04am

One of the first things I said after seeing The Lion King was it's destined to be the "CATS of the 21st century." And that's not a compliment.

I'm in the even smaller minority who wasn't even overly thrilled by the opening. It was almost too much...and by halfway through the first act, I began to realize that we'd already seen the most spectacular thing the show has to offer in the opening number.

And then there's the issue of constantly STOPPING the story cold to set up a puppetry moment that lasts all of 10 seconds. I found myself pretty much able to figure out what the result was going to look like before each "moment" was even set up.

Sadly, the only thing that worked for me in The Lion King was the original Simba, Jason Raize. He was the only person on stage who had the talent and charisma to break its way through the puppets and costumes.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:43am

I love The Lion King. LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE. But no. You are FAR from alone. A lot of people hate The Lion King on BWW... it's hip to do so. Also, Ben Brantley doesn't so much like it either. So, you're in good company. I think The Lion King is one of the best musical of the 90's or whenever... the story's lame... usually the actors they hire are bad... whatever... to me, the staging is such a triumph of the imagination ... a really awesome blend of traditional international theatrical techniques, old fashioned storytelling, and manipulative emotional phooey. It fabulous. It's the kind of theater I can't wait to take my kids to. Because it requires thought and imagination while still stirring a sense of wonder. Also, it really bothers me when people say "it's Disney," like that is some indictement... it WAY more Julie Taymor than it is Disney. In closing...watch out for my soapbox on the way out...Ragtime... with it's beautiful score and top notch performances... was not really staged all that strongly... I think the Lion King deserved it's award.

[Hawker]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:52am

"Ragtime" may have been one of Broadway's biggest screwings. Get past "The Lion King"'s set design and "Ragtime" trumped it in every other conceivable way.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:54am

I agree with you. Some nice visual moments, but it's just tired and boring.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:54am

I haaaaate The Lion King. Haaate.

I won't go into details because Broadway Bob and Mother's Younger Brother have mostly expressed exactly how I feel.

I will say however that I took a friend who was visiting to see it because I thought she would really like it (she loves Disney, loves spectacle musicals, loves the story). AND I wholeheartedly decided to give it another chance (I had never seen it on Broadway, only in London and on tour). We were both really excited and the opening was okay... and then it got to the show, and every actor on stage seemed DEAD. I mean, they really seemed like they hated their jobs, had been doing them for 30 years, and couldn't wait to be finished. They exuded this "we're performing for kids in Disney World, they won't notice if we half- ass through it" attitude. You know what, I kind of don't blame them because NOBODY did notice except my friend and I! At intermission, she turned to me and said, "Would you be mad if I told you I really think this is garbage?" and I couldn't stop laughing.

In every Disney show, the show is a product. No one cares about the actors or the songs, and really nobody even cares about the beautiful Julie Taymor design. Everyone seeing the show just cares that they're seeing a recognizable commodity that they already "know" will be good. "Ooooh, giraffes!"

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:56am

I totally agree. And no, I'm not "bashing" Lion King because its hip. I generally just didn't care for it. The opening was okay. It was what I had gone in expecting. I was let down with pride rock. It was so small and just...ugly. It wasn't this big pride rock that I thought it would be from the movie. And the moments inbetween the different scenes just got boring. Like the tiny puppets or the one where the Cheetah is like grooming herself. Or something like that. And the actors I saw were horrible. Except for Timone and Pumba, the actors were horrible. Adult Simba was the worst by far. I agree, Jason Raize was brillant in the role. (I saw his performance on the Rosie O'Donnell show on youtube.com). I don't think Taymor's staging was all that great. A good director should work with the show and make the show better - not just the puppets. It seems like she was working on the visual and kinda let everything else take a backseat, which is stupid. It wasn't a horrible experience, but I didnt think it was really all it was cracked up to be.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:57am

I completely agree with you, ITF - that's how I feel about all Disney "stage products." Once upon a time, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST actually did have some heart, but that was long ago.

Have you seen TARZAN yet? If you hate THE LION KING, you will abhor TARZAN.

[BluCat500]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 11:58am

I *might* like it if I could actually get tickets to it without selling my soul...

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:00pm

Count me in....Ragtime was robbed..THE LION KING is nothing more than a glorified puppet show. (And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the film)

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:07pm

"glorified puppet show"

Just give me a minute and I'll get off my high horse. It's not so much that you are wrong... it's a valid perspective. It's disheartening to me because so much of what Julie Taymor does is taken from traditional theatrical forms from Africa and Asia... she's using these forms in new ways and I think that's really something. I think it's really fantastic that when you take a kid to see The Lion King they are in for a true multicultural experience... and obviously a commercial one... but what you are attacking is how they told stories in different parts of the world for hundreds of years. Your attacking cultural history.

"and then it got to the show, and every actor on stage seemed DEAD. I mean, they really seemed like they hated their jobs, had been doing them for 30 years, and couldn't wait to be finished. They exuded this "we're performing for kids in Disney World, they won't notice if we half- ass through it" attitude."

This is a completely valid criticism of the show... and I agree with you... if you note in my first post I sorta say that. But attacking the puppets and costumes... it bothers me... because Julie Taymor is using old forms in new ways... with a deep respect for tradition... and has employed it in a commercially succesful way... and it bothers me when people don't get that. Obviously you are entirely entittled to still find the show boring in spite of all that.

kmc

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:09pm

Um...chill.

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:10pm

I enjoyed the music written for the stage show but found the show to get a bit annoying when it got to the songs from the movie. But visually it was pretty stunning. I am actually seeing it again when the tour hits Denver this coming October. I have a block of 95 seats for it. And they are all sold. I am only going because there will be a lot of friends and co-workers in that block and I feel I should be there.

Updated On: 4/14/06 at 12:10 PM

[DramaDork925]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:14pm

I hated it, personally. Sure it's very visually stunning but the story line is so boring and the actors I saw seemed so bored.

[elphieisperky]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:20pm

Maybe something happened over time, because when I saw it, everything was perfect. The cast, the songs, the story...all great. I don't LOVE it, but I really enjoyed it. But like I said, Lion King could have changed, and that stinks, because it could have stayed really good. I too think it didn't completely deserve the Tony, but oh well. I still remember my favorite song was Shadowlands :)

[smiles]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:20pm

wow really? Because I plan to go to NY soon and Lion King was among the shows that I really wanted to see. I have a few friends who saw a regional production (Toronto) of it a few years ago and they loved it.

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:29pm

I saw it twice and LOVED it both times.

[InfiniteTheaterFrenzy]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:29pm

Munk, Yes I did see Tarzan, and yes it made me want to cry (not in a good way). It doesn't deserve any Tony noms at ALL, and if it gets any, it will reflect very badly on the Committee AND the future of actual artistic merit on Broadway.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:34pm

TLK sux, you didn't miss anything at all. I couldn't stand it.

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 12:37pm

I liked it, though yes the book was weak though the musical numbers were nice

[sybil7]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 2:04pm

wow - this is the first time I've been accused of being 'hip' with my opinion! I loved BATB the first time I saw it at the Palace with Chuck Wagner/Kerri Butler/Marc Kudisch. It was alive and fun - not so much now. I was hoping at least for the enjoyment I first experiened at BATB when I went to see TLK - but, I left feeling very cheated. Ridiculing an ancient form of storytelling? I simply don't like it and yes - one more flying performer and I'd have gone out for a beebee gun! (especially during the mating ritual that seemed to go on and on and on...!)

[TLKfan]

Posted: 4/14/06 at 2:08pm

I was talking to someone in the NY cast and I asked him what he thought of the cast in AU. He said that Simba was weak and someone else, but can't remember who. It definately depends on casting too because I saw it in SF and was totally disappointed, but now the tour cast has gotten better.

Yeah there's definately good and bad parts of the show, but I still love it. :)