The Lion King

I absolutely love that we have opportunities for culture, including seeing Broadway musicals, right here in Spokane! I've been wanting to see "The Lion King", so as soon as I heard that it was coming here, I booked the family tickets to go to the matinee. 

In preparation, we watched the cartoon movie the night before for our Fun Friday movie night. I don't think that Riley had ever seen it, and I wanted him to understand what was going on when we saw it with live actors and interpretive costumes. 

It ended up being perfect! The costumes were AMAZING, with the animals coming right down out of the audience and up onto the stage for "The Circle of Life" right from the beginning. Riley commented that he liked that they used the same lines from the movie, so he was able to follow everything and even enjoy the same jokes. 

All the boys agreed that Zazu was their favorite character. And he really was amazing. The actor was in a blue suit and bowler hat, while manipulating the bird puppet. The puppet was very articulate, with blinking eyes, a stretching neck, flapping wings and a big beak. With his British accent and quick wit, he had the audience giggling the entire time. The entire production was so colorful, creative and energetic. We all loved it!

Photography was not permitted, but I stole some photos off the internet, because they showed many of the same actors we saw. I want the boys to be able to remember the grandeur of it all. What a fun experience to have together!