The Lion King

From the Cinderella thread:



Has anyone heard anything? I have a fairly early show booked and want to know as early as possible if I need to book my plan B

Not my normal stomping ground, but it was fantastic to see this show open tonight. The audience really seemed to love it, and definitely got behind the cast!

Yes, I was expecting the singing and chatting to be way worse, especially considering the number of kids around, but they were all relatively well behaved. And thankfully the young girl sat next to me who kept attempting a high pitched whistle with her fingers in her mouth wasn't very good at it :' ) Didn't notice any phones from where I was sat, but I've heard there were some out. The guy who ran across the stage in the interval was a bit much though 

This is good to know, thanks! I’m hoping they add Mary Poppins to this after it reopens, or at least have info on the lottery soon.

So, that was the worst show audience for anything I've seen for at least the last two years.

Talking throughout is strongly encouraged. The moment the kids stop asking dumb questions, it is expected that you then start a further conversation with them to check they're enjoying themselves. And if a baby at the upper level starts crying and other kids start yelling out, you just leave the to get on with it for most of the second half.

You can also expect little kids to climb on the chairs, for them to not be able to manage large tubs of popcorn so most of it to end up on the floor or over the person next to them. And if you buy them a soft toy over the interval, they're required to keep waving it around, showing it to the actors and blocking the view of the people sat behind.

They actually made an announcement before the show that masks were mandatory and I didn't spot a single person put a mask on, or any attempt at enforcement. I only spotted one other person wearing a mask in the row I was in. They also had the most hidden hand sanitiser out of any theatre I've been to recently and they were out of soap in the gents.

On the plus side, entrance to the theatre was quick and they did check Covid-19 passports on mobile devices (although e-tickets themselves had to be printed, which was completely wasteful).

The show itself is quite a spectacle and I'm impressed how the cast get through it while the audience do what they want (even I could see various phone lights going off and lots of photos being grabbed). The only other time I saw this show was in Sydney about 15 years ago, so it was good to see it here with English accents, even if the Australian audience was much more respectful. I'm sure the Primark jokes weren't in the script back then.

Cast boards are very well hidden if they exist at all, but I was very impressed by Kayi Ushe as Simba, more so than when I saw him at The Show Must Go On. I know he's new to the role. He keeps his body in great shape too. I was equally impressed by Young Simba, who based on the website photos I presume was Ta’rell Fearon-Telfer. This must only be his second or third time performing the role.

The whole cast is full of talented puppeteers and this is a show that runs like clockwise. The sound quality was rather mixed though, particularly the vocals, but that likely wasn't helped by being sat close to the orchestra.

I was a day seat holder. I've tried to get day seats online before and not got through, but this time I was through the virtual queue in about two minutes and got one of the three remaining seats (one single, one pair) at about 10:02am. It looks like more go on sale later. It was a front row aisle seat, which has to be the best view in the place as the stage is low. And you will only end up with one family beside you and one behind you (just think, there are other seats when you could be surrounded on all four sides).

Mark, I know you were also on the front row somewhere, so hope you enjoyed it, but I wasn't quite in the mood to try and work out where you were!

I did enjoy it for the spectacle and the seat was great value at £20, but it may well be another few years before I risk this type of audience again.

I was in the central section (A22) just behind the conductor (next to a kid who got popcorn all over the floor and the mum who kept talking). Very frustrating when parents don't (can't?) control their children.

In the 'Joseph' thread some have wondered about a more magic, less comic version, and I thought long ago: if only someone would do 'Joseph' with the beautiful and tasteful aesthetics* of 'The Lion King'.  Except I hadn't been to see 'The Lion King' then, only seeing TV excerpts and stills.  Eventually I did see it.

The show began with what, for most shows, would be Finale-level brilliance and artistic spectacle, as the animals gather at the watering hole.  But - having got the amassed cast of characters there, there's nothing for any of them to say/do (why not a big speech from the elder King?).  Instead, a curtain with African print design descended to screen them, and in an old fashioned front-of-curtain scene (like pantomime), some rodent 'thing' described it as looking like "an IKEA shower curtain".  How to kill the mood, and negate so much of the art!  And an incredible insult to African design.  Now Primark get a look in?!

Maybe I took it too seriously, lol!  But I'm not surprised if it's treated by audiences like a play facility at an out-of-town industrial estate, only missing a ball pit for kids to role around in.

*I think Morgan Large's design for Joseph looks great btw - not a dig at that.

The first time I saw it in London was a magical evening, mid-stalls aisle seat.

The second time was years later, basically same seat, but at a matinee. The audience was full of kids, rowdy school groups and an especially loud disabled group, very scared of the hyenas, very annoying, but you also felt for them (and wondered, why they were brought to a regular West End show). Due to the terrible atnosphere I saw every fault and hole in the production, all magic (besides the opening number) gone. A very miserable experience.

Similar thing happened with Aladdin, first time Dress Circle evening - amazing, second time Front Stalls matinee - show felt terribly rushed, whole production felt cheap.

Seems it is best to never see a Disney show twice...though trying it again with Mary Poppins.

This was years ago, so I don't know if autism-friendly performances were already established. Was a very mixed group I seem to recall.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CSPb1ZDoUQi

Tonight's performance has been cancelled.

Was bound to happen I’m afraid.