The Midnight Train Crossing

I'm totally in awe. The show was absolutely spectacular.
The opening scene, Circle of Life, was really impressive. I'd heard all about the amazing costumes, half costume, half puppet, and I'd seen pictures and clips, but it didn't do them justice.

It started out with Rafiki (Gugwanna Dlamini) as a yellow-ish circle rose into view (the sun). Then one animal came into view on one of the side balconies, then another one on another side, and then more and more animals. I thought that the cheetah (Charline Katsuyoshi), the giraffe (Dion Wilson) and the elephant were especially impressive. I liked the cheetah because the person controlling the puppet (and acting as the back legs) moved very much like a big cat. The giraffe was very impressive because the person was on stilts, hands and feet, and that was just impressive.
The elephant was cool mostly because it sort of snuck onto the stage. And for an elephant to sneak onto the stage… was impressive.
The hyenas had rather impressive costumes as well. The main three, Banzai, Shenzi and Ed, had the puppet heads hanging down so the actors could control them with their hands. With where I was sitting, I couldn't see the faces of the actors, so I couldn't tell how bent over they were.
Pumbaa and Timon also had cool costumes. The actor's legs were Pumbaa's front legs, and the rear were puppet. Pumbaa's head was around near the chest of the actor. He had his face painted white, and had spiked black hair.
Timon's actor was head to toe in green, and green make up. Attached to his front was a Timon puppet that came up about to his chest, one hand controlled Timon's mouth, and the other, one of his hands.
The most amazing part was that not five minutes after the two entered the stage, I completely forgot about the very visible actors controlling the puppets. Even though Timon's actor was in bright green.
I also liked Zazu's costume. The actor was wearing blue, and carrying around a Zazu puppet. I always saw the actor controlling the puppet, but that didn't detract at all. (More on that later).

I know that one of the things that I was a little concerned about was that I would constantly be comparing the actors on stage to the ones in the movie. It's hard not to really.
I wasn't so sure about Rafiki's voice at first - something about the way she pronounced the word "Circle" in the first song. But she grew on me, and "He Lives in You" in the second act was awesome.
Singing aside, Rafiki was really really funny. Seeing as how the character is a baboon of a type known for its bright red rear end, the costume took that into account, and she bounced around the stage, shaking her rear. Most of what Rafiki said was not in English. I'm guessing Zulu because I think I read somewhere that that's the African language they used in the songs. Anyway, there was this one scene where she is walking around on the stage, talking to herself. No idea what she was saying, but it looked like she was acting something out. Then, after the audience laughed a few times, she turned and addressed the crowd, "Do you understand me?"
The scene later on - the big important one where she tells Simba who he is and leads him to look inside himself - was also very entertaining.
The big dramatic scene where Mufasa appears in the stars was very well done. Parts of scenery swung into place. By themselves, they looked like branches or something, but somehow, all of a sudden, they formed a stylized lion head. The mouth didn't move when Mufasa talked, but the eyes kept moving. Not like, standard eye movement though, more like the ropes were swinging. It was a little distracting.
In the movie, when Simba leaves, Rafiki tells the others where he has gone. That still happens, but she swings in on a swing. "You won't find him here, the king has returned." Then she swings out of sight. Then she comes back, and repeats herself. Timon and Pumbaa look very confused.

Mufasa (Geno Segers) had me sold from the start. He just had that… authority, and the deep voice to go with it - especially during his song "They live in you." Him and Zazu (Michael Dean Morgan) made a great team during most of their scenes together. After the encounter in the elephant graveyard, they had a scene together where Zazu apologizes for not doing such a good job at watching over Simba and Nala, but he's just not good at watching kids. But Sarabi told him to do it, and she's the boss…
At which point Mufasa gave him a fantastic Look and then tells him that Sarabi wanted him to fire Zazu. Poor Zazu launched into this really entertaining bit, begging Mufasa to reconsider, and then Mufasa told him he was joking.
"Sire, your sense of humor never ceases to torment me"
"I'm sorry Zazu, but it's so much fun to ruffle your feathers"
Watching the two of them during "The Morning Report" was also quite amusing. It was easy to see that they are friends.

Zazu was very entertaining in his own right. Sometimes the actor would hold the puppet, sometimes he would put it on his head, sometimes he would swing it around like it was flying. It was great. He didn't do things quite like the movie Zazu, but he kept the sort of stuffy sounding attitude. His stand out point for me - besides the scene I just mentioned - was during the song "I just can't wait to be king"
First off, the opening to that song was pretty cool. At a cue from Simba, a curtain fanned out from the ceiling, leaving Zazu on one side (the audience side) and the cubs on the other.
Zazu is rather upset by this, since he can't figure out how to get through the curtain, and he turns to the audience and says "This never happened in the cartoon!"
The curtain comes down again during the bridge of the song, and he says something to the effect of "Not again." When it comes up again, all the animals who dance in the song are on stage and they whirl around Zazu. At some point during this, Simba takes the Zazu puppet from the actor and moves it off stage, while the actor is still caught up in the action. He gets some feathers from one of the ostriches stuck to him.
After the song, the curtain comes down again, and he glares at it, saying that it looks like it came from Ikea. As he is trying to get the feathers off him, something suddenly occurs to him.
"Where's my bird? Zazu! Zazu where did you go? I'm sorry I lost you! Hang on, I'm coming!" He rushes off stage and then collides with a pole. The rather dazed puppeteer/actor staggers off stage. This explains why Zazu was delayed.

The hyenas were also really great. I adore them in the movie, so it's not much of a surprise that I adored them on stage. Banzai ((Rudy Roberson), Shenzi (Jacquelyn Renae Hodges) and especially Ed (Robbie Swift) all did a really good job. I was also pleased that the hyenas got a song "Chow Down"
The scene in the elephant graveyard was pretty intense. There was a lot of running around and Nala almost got eaten.
Luckily Mufasa turned up with these two flat club type things that I think were meant to be his claws.

Scar was played by Kevin Gray. He had a walking stick, cane type thing. It made him seem more villainous somehow. I'm not sure how to describe the sense I got from him. Like with Rafiki I wasn't too sure of him at first. He didn't have a very deep voice, and he didn't pause in the same places or have the same inflection that movie-Scar does. Not quite the long-suffering tone of voice nor the sarcasm. But he did grow on me, and his "Be Prepared" sounded very nice indeed.

I was thoroughly impressed by both of the children in the cast, young Simba and young Nala. The roles were double cast, so I am not sure which of them I saw. I mentioned "I just can't wait to be king" before, but I'll say it again, because that's the main song that the kids sing.
They also made the "Pinned ya… pinned ya again" scene work very nicely. The Nala had a slightly different way of putting it, but it worked out fine.

The stampede scene looked a little silly at first. Simba was standing on a ledge, running in place, and it was hard to see what he was running from. Then, on a screen behind him, they projected images of the wildebeasts running… and then behind Simba some puppet heads popped up… first one row… then another… then another… then another… then another, all the way up to the ceiling. Then people in costumes came out and started running in place next to Simba. So it started out kinda silly looking, but by the end it was rather impressive.

After Mufasa's death, he was left lying on the ledge. Then most of the ledge moved away, leaving Mufasa lying there on what made me think of as a pyre.
The lionesses all gathered around, mourning. Then they all reached up and pulled these strips out of their eyes. So for the rest of the scene, they all had these long clear strips dangling from the eyes of their masks. I guess they were tears, but it looked silly.

The world of Pumbaa and Timon was very cool. They live in a lush jungle, so there would be a lot of plants. Well it wasn't set… there were people dressed as plants. It was pretty cool.

I wasn't terribly impressed with Pumbaa's (Bob Amaral)singing voice, but Pumbaa doesn't sing that much, so it was okay. Timon (John Gardiner) on the other hand, had an awesome voice. He sounded so much like the movie Timon too. During the song Hakuna Matata, Simba grows up. I thought this was handled very nicely. Young Simba exited the stage and adult Simba (Clifton Oliver) came swinging in on a vine, bursting out with "It means no worries, for the rest of our days!"
After Hakuna Matata seemed a very natural place to put intermission, so they did.

The first song of the second act is "One by One" ("Seasons go by, one by one"). During this song, the cast members were scattered over the theatre with large birds on sticks, which they whirled around, so it looked like birds were flying all over the place. This was another scene that I thought was very impressive. It was just… pretty.

On the stage was a blue circle in the center of the stage, which slowly shrank. It took me a little while to realize that it was water, drying up. After it was mostly gone I could see that it was fabric, being pulled down into the stage.
During the first scene "The madness of King Scar" which features some more fantastic Zazu lines, adult Nala turns up. We had an understudy Nala, who did a good job, but I don't remember which of the understudies it was. Christine Horn maybe?

Nala's song, Shadowland, was very impressive. She has the full lioness chorus adding strength to her voice. This is the scene where she decides to leave the Pridelands. I liked this line: "
And where the journey may lead you/Let this prayer be your guide/Though it may take you so far away /Always remember your pride"
It was cool because when she was singing, the lionesses in the background were singing back up and Rafiki was singing in Zulu (or whatever) and giving Nala a blessing.
It really made me think that Rafiki is like, the shaman of their tribe.

There was another interesting scene that took place between Simba, Timon and Pumbaa. Simba is bouncing around with far too much energy and he goads Timon into jumping over a stream. It was a cool stream too… blue fabric held by two people with fish swimming under the "water"
Well Timon ended up in the water, being rapidly swept downstream to a… you guessed it… water fall. Not only that, but there were crocodiles at the bottom.
Simba and Pumba find Timon dangling from a tree branch, and Simba freezes. He is remembering long ago when he was dangling from a tree…

So Simba goes off on his own to sort out his feelings, as he is rather bummed. Something about his life just doesn't seem right. So he sings his big song "Endless Night."
Wow.
Add him to the list of people who can play Rusty.
That's all I have to say about that.

So Nala comes into the scene. First we had people running around with Nala and Pumbaa puppets as she was hunting him, before they switched back to the actors.
It was a funny scene, with Timon getting really flustered before the two of them leave Simba and Nala alone to reunite and do "Can you feel the love tonight" amidst all the people dressed as plants.
The chorus sang most of the song, with Simba and Nala only doing the parts that are specifically theirs.
So then two dancers came out and started doing ballet type things.
Then two people came out on wires… and then another two came out. I was a little confused.
So then everyone went back to pride rock, where many hyenas were sleeping. Simba told Timon and Pumbaa that he wanted them to create a diversion.
"What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the Charleston?" (not hula)
Timon took a pink hat from Pumbaa's mouth and started to do the Charleston, singing a song about his big pig pumbaa.

So then there were random scenes of fighting with the hyenas. I already mentioned Ninja-Rafiki with his staff. Timon and Pumbaa used a very nice trick for dispatching some hyenas… Pumbaa turned his rear end towards them and let it rip. The hyena collapsed after that.

I really was not that impressed with the fight between Simba and Scar. They did have to deal with the fact that they were fighting on a rather high piece of the set, but it didn't seem especially dramatic. Once they got off the ledge it was a bit better though. They could do more.

In the end, Simba is armed with the same flat club type things that his father had in the elephant graveyard scene. Scar flies-I mean falls- down amidst the hyenas.
That part was a little creepy, because Scar screams and the hyenas run off with things. It's hard to see, because it's dark, but… I think they sorta showed them ripping him apart. Eww.

Just like in the movie, the show ends with Circle of Life again, and all of the animals parade onto the stage. Maybe not quite as impressive as in the beginning, but only because by now I had gotten used to seeing all the puppet-costumes.
I left the theatre in awe. Now I know why I have always heard so much about how awesome the Lion King is.

A few more things of note. I feel obligated to point out that Zazu is from my area of the country. From the city right next to mine.
Another cool thing was that I recognized a name in the cast list - Angelo Rivera. While he was not one that I knew very well (I only talked to him once), he was in the US Starlight Tour, so that was awesome. I didn't go stage dooring because I didn't think he would remember me, and because it was 14 degrees fahrenheit