The Lion King, Did i miss something ?

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

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!!!!

---

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.

---

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

---

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.

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

---

"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

---

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

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 :)

I saw it twice and LOVED it both times.

---

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

---

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...!)