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The Lion King -- The Musical
By James Emery Vigh of profbruno.com
One of the great perks (and sometimes headaches) of being a volunteer usher at Playhouse Square Center in Cleveland, Ohio, was that I got to see world-class entertainment on a consistent basis. Now, it's surprising what you can get used to. After a while, you just become accustomed to it and it seems like no big deal because you see it all the time. There were exceptions of course: Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Wicked, and Cleveland Ballet's The Nutcracker come to mind. And then there's Disney. Just a couple of years ago, Disney's "The Lion King" roared into town for an extended 3 month stay at the State Theatre. Disney does it right. As far as they were concerned, we ushers were considered to be cast members and in effect, part of the production. There were special rules on what we had to do and when we had to do it, as well as WHERE we had to be or not to be at certain times during the show. The musical itself is awesome. The actors, besides being in costume, had masks attached to their costumes depicting their characters. Many were attached to a kind of head band, and others protruded out of there chests. This may not seem that this would work very well, but it worked very well indeed. By accident, not knowing any better, I got a chance to see some "back-stage" stuff. There is a scene in the 1st act just before a large cadre of hyenas appear on stage. If you are sitting inside the theatre, you hear them sing "off-stage". At the State Theatre, this off-stage area was the inner lobby just in front of the doors to the inside of the theatre. I happened to be in that area just before that, and saw the hyena actors and actresses getting their costumes together. There were also some crew members who were there to assist the actors with their costumes, and what looked like some kind of stage manager type person. There was also a TV monitor there that was zoomed in on the orchestra conductor. The hyenas seemed to be just milling around, when suddenly on cue they all gathered around the monitor. Some sat on the floor while others stood. I wasn't allowed to get any closer, but I thought to myself "Hey, this is pretty cool!" Then, again it seemed, suddenly, they got themselves in character and starting singing. Then on another cue, they entered the theatre to take their places on stage for their big number. I felt privileged to witness that. Afterwards, during the run, I tried to make it my business to be at that location for that part of the show. I love that kind of thing. I love seeing how things are put together in theatre. And it was Disney.
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We saw this play with our grandchildren at a theatre in Boston. Great show!
Thanks for sharing, Jim.
Best wishes.
Frederick
That sounds real cool. I have never seen a play but I would like to. Now I want to find out if one is coming to Phoenix.
CONTRIBUTOR'S REPLY
You'll be hooked. I can practically guarantee it.
Regards,
Jim
The copyright for this content entitled "The Lion King -- The Musical" has been specified by the contributor as:
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