THE LION KING
THE LION KING, Capitol Theatre, December 18, 2013-June 29, 2014. Photographs: Simba and company (Nick Afoa); right: Rafiki (Buyi Zama).
BY FELICITY DAYHEW (AGE 10).
The Lion King is a fantastic play at the Capitol Theatre. It is an old themed theatre, with lots of stone statues.
The show begins with all the animals coming on stage, from the back, from the sides of the stage and down the aisles. I thought that was pretty cool.
When all animals are gathered Rafiki, a kind and wise monkey, shows the new-born cub, Simba, to all the animals. Simba was born to Mufasa , a brave lion and leader of his pride, and his wife, Sarabi. Mufasa is a brave lion and a very good father. His character is very confident , but sometimes he has trouble keeping his temper. Scar is an extremely wicked character, though very cunning. His evil mind helps him conjure up despicable plans and he joins forces with some hyenas.
The story is about Simba’s uncle Scar and his father Mufasa. Scar wants to rule the pride but has been stopped by Mufasa’s son Simba being born. He's annoyed at Simba for taking as he put it "his rightful place to the throne". Scar makes Simba believe he did something wrong when Mufasa is killed, although he did not. So Simba leaves the pride and becomes relaxed when he meets Timon the Meerkat and Pumbaa the Warthog. But one of his childhood friends comes looking for him to tell him things are bad at home at Pride Rock and he realises what he must do.
Simba and Nala are the cubs of the group in the beginning. As youngsters they have wild imaginations, they are smart and they are always cheeky, and grow up to be great lions. Zazu is the king's advisor and he is a Hornbill. He thinks everything must be in the right order all the time and doesn’t fancy jokes yet is very funny himself.
Music and songs, as well as words, take you through the story, with happy moments, sad moments and loads of others. Plus the music and songs make the story a lot of fun!
The Lion King is an amazing play with a great story and awesome puppets and actors and it’s great for the whole family. I enjoyed it, so I hope you do too!!
DIANA SIMMONDS (godmother to Felicity) adds…
Hard to believe it's ten years since The Lion King first opened in Sydney. It's now officially the most successful stage musical of all time and is now also known as "the landmark musical event". That's true most particularly of director Julie Taymor's work as costume designer and mask and puppet designer, all of which stand the test of time and whose influence can be seen in shows that have followed - such as War Horse, for instance.
The cast is, as ever, a rainbow nation and as well as the highly disciplined and hardworking ensemble, the stand-outs are Josh Quong Tart as the hissingly evil Scar, Buyi Zama as the monkey spirit-mganga Rafiki, Russell Dykstra as Pumbaa the farty warthog and Cameron Goodall as Zazu, the majordomo Hornbill. Jamie McGregor as Timon the Meerkat is irresistible and Nick Afoa and Josslynn Hlenti make an attractive and beautifully athletic pair of lovers as young lions Simba and Nala. The hyenas are masterpieces of nonsense and nastiness while Rob Collins as Mufasa the great king could do with a bit more majesty and a little less sweetness in order to balance the top order.
The Lion King is a feel-good show that begins with one of the great lump-in-throat scenes in musical theatre. As for the rest, the spectacle is as spectacular as ever and for a child (above) seeing it for the first time, it is - as she said during the warm standing ovation at the end - "Awesome!" And for once the word is appropriate.
