The Sincerest Form of Flattery

One of the touring productions of the Broadway musical, The Lion King, is in Denver right now. This afternoon, I went to the matinee performance. It was a mixed bag; some good, some bad.

In the good column:

The look of the production was fantastic throughout. The designs of the sets, the look of the puppets, the striking usage of color -- the "spectacle" of it all, to cite Aristotle's Poetics, was beautiful.

Some of the cast was phenomenal. Rafiki, the baboon voiced by Robert Guillaume in the original film, has been changed to a female here, and the woman playing her was undeniably the best thing about the show. The ensemble was also incredible, really packing a punch in the group numbers.

The music was wonderful to hear performed live. The percussionists were placed out in full view on either side of the proscenium, and I was often times more tempted to watch them than the action on stage. (I mean that in a good way.)

And notably, unlike nearly every Broadway musical I know, this one had a great second act. Most musicals seem to come unraveled after intermission. The story gets rushed, the songs aren't quite as memorable. Not here.

But, on the bad side:

They hardly changed a thing from the movie. Sure, there were new songs here and there, but almost every line of dialogue came straight from the movie. I would have liked to see the show take a few more liberties, or at least not recycle all the same jokes.

Most of the performances were not that good. Granted, this is a touring production, and those are sometimes filled with "third or fourth stringers." But it's still a Broadway show, and it still costs an arm and a leg for a ticket. I think you should get what you pay for. Young Simba could sing great, and dance even better -- but his acting was like elementary school theater. Adult Simba had a good voice, but one very mismatched to the part -- far too tenor and soft for a "lion" (and totally overpowered by the Adult Nala). And Pumbaa, Timon, and the hyenas were trying so hard to replicate the vocal qualities of Ernie Sabella, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg, and Cheech Marin from the movie that it almost immediately became boring. And since they're performing the same dialogue anyway....

Overall, I'd say there was more good than bad about this show, but I was certainly expecting more from a Tony Award winner for Best Musical. If you liked the music from the film and you have a really good sound system with a lot of bass, it's probably worth your while to pick up a cast recording to enjoy the music. But otherwise, you probably shouldn't spend much time regretting it if you don't live in New York or in a city where this show is touring. There's better theater out there.