The show was visually stunning. The costumes were amazing! I especially liked the parade of animals. The music was very rhythmic and evocative of the story's African setting. That's where my positive feelings for this particular night of the tour stopped. On this evening, the understudy for the young Simba took the stage. He never quite found the pitch on this night. It's not fair to say that he was flat; he was consistently under all night long.....and I was miserable. The actress playing Nala could have used some help with diction and enunciation. It was difficult to tell when her lyrics were in English and when they were in an African dialect.
Thankfully, there were some really nice voices and characters on stage in this performance. The actor who played the adult Simba had a smooth, lyrical voice that was a joy to hear. The comedic pair of Timon and Pumbaa were a welcome relief at the end of a long opening act. The truth is the show should have ended after the team's stunning performance of "Hakuna Matata"; sadly, the audience had to suffer through a lack-luster second act.
I really don't like being Debbie Downer after seeing a show. I know all about the hard work involved in putting on a quality performance. What I have found is that the two Disney shows for Broadway that I've seen (Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King) simply can't stand up to all the hype. Do I regret going to the show? No....I wanted to see the visual spectacle. I'm just disappointed that there wasn't much else to support the beautiful images.
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