Sunday, February 22, 2015

Disney's The Lion King musical in Melbourne

On Saturday 21st February 2015, I managed to attend Disney's The Lion King musical at The Regent Theatre in Melbourne- it's at Collins Street- one of the busy streets in Melbourne CBD graced with branded luxurious boutiques. I bought my ticket via Ticketmaster probably in Sept 2014 when tickets were pre-released. I secured myself a good seat Row CC Seat 16 just 4 rows away from the main stage. How good is that!
Price was of course expensive at AU$128.00 and it was an afternoon 2.00pm session.

Crowds were building up at 1.00pm when the doors opened 1 hour prior the show. People were busy buying souvenirs on display, program booklets costing $25.00 and drinks including snacks. The small bottle of slushie with the Lion King logo embossed on it cost $11.50 so everything was very expensive. Kids were asking parents to buy the tee-shirts, key-chains, towels, soft-toys, mugs..etc. It was good way of making money in the musical event. We were all escorted to our seats at 1.45pm and we sat there taking photos of the place. 

The session started a bit late but the opening of the musical was fantastic. The roaring performance from the African lady who plays as the baboon Rafiki was splendid. The costumes and props on stage were real and great. For those of us who were sitting downstairs at the stalls managed to see the other props entered via the aisles and people running around. I must say it was so impressive. Personally I love the animated film so much that I once bought the coloring book and OST. The original OST from Tim Rice was mostly sung throughout the musical. The child actors were a bit stiff but they were still good. 

I give credits to the actor who plays the hornbill Zazu. He's funny and has a queer character. He follows little Simba and little Nala around to the elephant's graveyard where they encountered the mischievious 3 hyenas and his Uncle Scar who is eyeing the throne. When Scar put little Simba on fault after his father Mufasa's death....everything changed in The Priderock. Simba's mother Queen Serabi and her gang have to keep hunting for food while the lazy hyenas take charge along with Scar. 


Haku..Mata..haku mata...Hakuna Matata! It means no worries for the rest of your days...
The cracks and jokes come in with the meerkat Timon and warthog Pumbaa. They rescued little Simba who ran away from home and soon became best buddies. Simba grew into a fine young lion and enjoyed his life to the fullest. That's when he meets his childhood friend Nala again when she was attacking Pumbaa. There was an intermission of 20 minutes where guests were allowed to use the washrooms, stretched their legs, chat and even purchased snacks and drinks. Then again it continued to the end where Simba returned back to Pride Rock and claimed his rightful throne from his evil Uncle Scar. 

Overall I'd give it 5 out of 5 stars. Everyone was blown away with the songs and how the actors perform on stage. Nick Afoa is the main actor for adult Simba. He has pulled his character so well and everyone applauded for him at the very end during the curtain call.
Of course the conductor along with his band of orchestra was fantastic to allow the audience to sing and tap along their feet with those familiar tunes. 

Oh...one thing that cracked everyone up was Zazu who was locked up in the cage was requested by Scar to sing him a joyful tune. Instead Zazu started singing Frozen's Let It Go.
It was a hillarious moment.
We were not allowed to take photos or video cameras during the performance. All we could take are photos outside the theatre... 
I do enjoy every bit of the musical... love it! 









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