Dichotomy...

Emily and I went to see the Lion King at the Kennedy Center last night. I wish I had watched the movie more recently than 10 years ago so that I could keep all the events in correct order, but from what I remember, it seemed to follow the movie pretty closely. The costumes were amazing, but it wasn't just that an actor was dressed like a cheetah or a zebra or whatever. There was also a mechanical component that caused other parts of the costume to move to simulate a two-legged actor having 4 legs or caused the head of the animal to move along with the actor's head. I was really impressed with the technical aspects of the entire show, including making Mufasa's head appear seemingly out of nowhere. Yes yes, you can take an engineer to a musical, but he's still an engineer... I thought the costumes and characters were also very true to the movie. It was sufficiently cartoony, but without being cheesy or over the top. And some of the vocalists were just outstanding. It should tell you something that after the final curtain, Emily said she may have a new favorite musical. I'm not sure if she still feels that way today, but I've never heard her even come close to mentioning anything else ever dethroning Phantom. For me, Les Mis is still top dog (speaking of which, happy revolting Frenchmen day! Wait, that came out wrong...). There's more going on, with enough major characters that anyone can find something to idenfity with. And I think what keeps it at the top of my list is that I know in 10, 20, 50 years, I may not see as much of myself in Enjolras as I did 10 years ago, or as much Marius as I do now, but there may be more Jean Valjean. It's a story that grows with you. And yes, I understand that the Lion King wasn't a story written by anyone like Victor Hugo and that it was originally intended for a young audience, so the character complexities just aren't there. The Lion King just doesn't compare in terms of power with Les Miserables. That said, there is a lot of power to be had in African drums and tribal vocals. All things considered, I would definitely go see Lion King again.

Posted by Rev. Adam on Monday, July 14, 2008 at 12:10 PM | Permalink