The Lion King

My parents took four of us to see "The Lion King" at the San Diego Civic Theatre after Christmas. They generously bought six tickets to give as gifts, and originally, they weren't going to go. They were going to watch Emily so that Stephen & I could go, along with Sister, Ken, Holly & Grace. Holly had to skip out because of a school project, though, and Stephen volunteered to give up his ticket so that Mom & Dad could go instead. (Stephen ended up with Emily for a record five hours straight! He & Zac played and danced with her, sang to her, took her on a walk, and just plain entertained her! They did a great job. :-)

I had been wanting to see this play for a long time. I had heard so many good things about it, and I was sure it was going to be spectacular.

I was right. The costumes, the dancing and the scenic design were all amazing. The animals really did seem to be brought to life -- many times throughout the show, I would forget that people were acting and not lions (or meerkats or wild boars)! The only complaint I had was the singing. I expected a lot more from the actors when it came to their vocals and their ability to project. Unfortunately, they didn't project well at all. Consequently, it was awfully hard to hear the actors and make out what they were saying/singing much of the time. True, this could be the fault of the theatre. Apparently the Civic Theatre is notorious for its poor acoustics. It would be great if San Diego would build a nicer, bigger theatre with good acoustics so that audiences could get the full effect of an awesome musical experience. However, I do believe some of the fault did indeed lie with (at least some of) the actors. The actor who played Scar was quite good, and so was the actress who played Rafiki. Unfortunately, the guy who played Mufasa was not. I felt his voice was much too weak and he didn't enunciate or project well at all. This was the only disappointment for me.

Aside from the singing, everything else truly was spectacular. Tickets aren't cheap, but if you have any desire whatsoever to see The Lion King, I recommend you go.

Hakuna matata!