The Lion King

When the Lion King started advertising last February, I quickly made the assumption that I wouldn't be going. After years of putting on concerts and working with the public on large and small productions, going to the theater seemed to have lost it's luster in my world. Anchorage has a unique production problem as part of the United States. It's extremely cost prohibitive to bring full productions of Broadway plays to Alaska, therefore usually resulting in half the decoration and half the excitement of the typical show. This, however, was not the case.

Before the lights went down the show began and immediately the powerful, moving music of The Circle of Life engulfed the audience. Figurines of animals performed by smiley, sparkle-eyed artists streamed through the auditorium. From the back, a spark of life electrified the audience and flowed through every person who slowly turned their heads to see the procession of brightly colored giraffes, gazelles, buzzards, butterflies, antelope, even a life-sized elephant. It was a tremendous site, and it kept on giving.

After the initial shock of this life sized animal kingdom wore off, I could focus on the story of The Lion King, which is about a young, rambunctious cub, destined to be the next King, his father, Mufasa, The Ruling and much-loved King, and the greedy, dark, stingy uncle/brother who kills The King and orders for little Simba's death, first telling him to "Run! Run away...and NEVER return."

This plot is the first act of two, separated by a fifteen minute intermission, and took the audience around the The Pridelands and The Kingdom of Pride Rock, including Rafiki's Tree, The Water Hole, The Elephant Gravegard, and The Gorge, where Mufasa sacrifices his son's life only to be killed by his brother, Scar, who has plotted his death for the Rule of the Kingdom. Each place was brought to life with full scale production, from stargazing backdrops, to moving grass, and even staging a stampede. I was hot when it was hot, and cool when it was cool. I had left my seat, and my place in Anchorage, Alaska, and went to where they were. I humored myself thinking there was a real-life African desert in the middle of the arctic. And that's exactly what it felt like.

The lights never dimmed from the intermission to start the second act. The ensemble returned in all it's glory back to front, and the audience is brought back to life in The Pridelands, where Scar has ruled for years, and is now gloomy, scarce, and dead. Herds of animals have moved and panic is real amongst the kingdom's lion den. Nala (Simba's-young-cub-friend-and-destined-to-be-his-Queen-grown-up-a-bit) leaves the area in search of food and finds a solution.

Simba has grown strong, yet has forgotten his purpose. He had run away from it, yet his nature was taking ahold and life in The Jungle was becoming too small for this young adult cub. Nala literally runs into him in The Jungle and they are soon elated to discover each their own friend. Simba must now face his past and return to Pride Rock and make his claim to the throne and where the Herd and his kingdom are in desperate need of a revival. He does and you can imagine what the ending is like for all involved.

The Lion King captured hearts of millions in the 1994 cartoon movie release by Disney, with it's coming-of-age story-line, spirited music, and amazing characters. It's not easy to recreate a kingdom of African animals in the middle of the Arctic. The key, like any performance, is that the actor must become their character. In this instance, it just so happens, the characters are jungle animals. Every one was interpreted with exquisite precision, predictable in their own characteristics, and familiar enough to enjoy. Talking and moving, pouncing, and jumping all the time becoming their animal. I wonder if they ever have personality conflicts after 6 week shows.

The best of the singers was Phindile Mkhize, Rafiki the Baboon. Her vocals were bright and rich and strong. Her bio in the program states that she was on the recording album of The Lion King in 2004. Nala, Marja Harmon, was also a stand-out singer performer.

The rest of the cast, including young Simba and Nala, and old Simba, seemed to be holding back something. Their voices never fully encompassed the passion and exuberant score. For instance, I really didn't believe young Simba when he sang he "just can't wait to be king." I attribute this to possible stage fright on the first night. They weren't quite having fun yet.

During the standing ovation at the end, smiles were generously given to the cast onstage as they stood in appreciation of the cast, the live orchestra, and the percussion sections cleverly built in each corner of the auditorium. Hoots and hollers from the crowd roared the loudest I have ever heard showing overwhelming approval and satisfaction.

Disney's The Lion King is produced by WestCoast Entertainment and is in Anchorage until October 11 at the Atwood Concert Hall. According to the CenterTix website tickets are $25- $85, and great seats are still available. If you've never been to the Atwood Concert Hall, every seat is a good one, as long as you can avoid someone with a big, fat head sitting smack in front of you.

monak's Rating: A