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Printed: Wed 30 Nov 2022, 9:46 PM
The age-old debate goes like this: a guide is best than a film, virtually at all times. It was solely once we sat down to look at The Lion King: The Musical at Etihad Enviornment, Abu Dhabi, final weekend, did we start to consider one other sort of debate i.e. can a stay present be higher than a film? Oh, properly, sure was the reply; loud and clear. Sure, die-hard followers of the 1994 film could elevate a forehead to that and to be truthful, the film was and is magical even until date, however let’s simply say that this musical comes a tad shut! And therefore it comes as no shock that the viewers for the present had been people, who’d beforehand seen the present in different locations like London, New York, and so on. however had been again for the second-third time to savour the expertise but once more. By the way, 2022 additionally marks 25 years of the present, which can be sometimes called ‘a celebration of life’.
All by means of the period of the present (two hours and half-hour, with an intermission), we had been in awe of how every scene and emotion got here alive on the stage — be it by way of greater than 200 puppets (rod, shadow, and full-sized puppets) that created animal-like actions or the fantastic music that set the tone. One may virtually cry with the dominion when Mufasa died. Additionally, it is attention-grabbing to notice that it took a mixed 37,000 hours to construct the puppets, and the general variety of folks engaged on the present was 120 plus. The broadway rating options Elton John and Tim Rice’s songs from The Lion King animated movie; extra musical materials had been by South African Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer; and extra.
While every of the actors on stage was phenomenal, just a few would go away you speechless. The actors taking part in Little Simba and Nala, with their vitality and ace performing at that age, particularly protecting in thoughts that the present’s been working eight occasions every week. Antony Lawrence, who performs Scar, is sinister, magnificent and bigger than life! As for Mufasa, performed by Mthokozisi Emkay Khanyile, his presence on the stage is sufficient to make one consider in all nice human virtues. There’s not a single scene that’s much less highly effective or much less aesthetic than the opposite, however just a few deserve a particular point out. Every time the Satisfaction Rock seems on the stage, the swiftness of the battery-powered set attracts an applause. The emotional and lovely scene of Simba trying to discover ‘himself’ (actually, Mufasa) in his father’s reflection, created with exact actions and tiny items of lighting, is sufficient for one to return to the present. The apt, aesthetic backdrops all through the present add sufficient worth to the manufacturing and converse largely of the expertise behind. Do not be stunned when hyenas, wildebeests, elephants, cheetahs, zebras and antelopes seem in entrance of you, and you start tapping toes to the rhythm. No marvel, the present’s been a recipient of greater than 70 main worldwide theatre awards.
A must-mention needs to be of the ‘native’ contact to the present, with out giving out a lot, let’s simply say the inhabitants of Satisfaction Rock know the land i.e. UAE — Al Ain Zoo and Dragon Mart included. And sure, they might converse Swahili (Hakuna Matata), however they know the right way to say Shukran too! Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, beneath the route of Thomas Schumacher, that is the present’s debut not solely in Abu Dhabi however in all the Center East, and it is working till December 10.
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