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I would pay to see the
Broadway-bound "The Lion King'' again,
even if I could only stay for
the first five minutes. The opening
number, "The Circle of Life,'' is
among the most spine-tingling,
goosebump-raising, overwhelmingly
beautiful curtain-raisers in the history
of Broadway musical theater.
It begins as the movie begins, with a
single, keening voice (Tsidii Le
Loka), singing about the balance of nature
on the African savannah.
Gradually, Le Loka is joined by dozens of
animal puppets - antelopes
leaping on the arms of graceful dancers,
cheetahs operated with eerie
precision by puppeteers, statuesque
giraffes that are actually men on
four stilts, breathtaking,
lighter-than-air birds and a lumbering
elephant with an actor in each of its four
legs. (That's not giving
anything away - you can see the people
operating the puppets, and that
makes the effect even more amazing.)
Sometimes critics fret that their
enthusiasm will raise expectations
too high, but "The Circle of Life'' is so
gorgeous and moving that it
cannot be overpraised.
It also provides the key to "The Lion
King's'' problems. The scene is
moving not because it involves us in the
characters - at that point, we
haven't met any of them - but because of
the volume of the imagination
and talent on display. There are several
other visually thrilling
scenes in "The Lion King'' and some fine
performances, but it feels
choppy and the narrative momentum
sometimes gets lost in the effects
(it doesn't help that the acting styles
vary from Shakespearean to Bob
Hopean).
Director Julie Taymor, who designed the
costumes and - with Michael
Curry, the astonishing puppets - draws
inspiration from Walt Disney's
film, "The Lion King.'' All the movie
songs are here, as is the story
of a curious lion, Simba, whose uncle,
Scar, convinces him that he's
responsible for his father's death. So
Simba runs away, makes friends
with some wacky animal vaudevillians and
grapples with the debt he owes
to the community he deserted.
New to the stage version are several
songs, including "They Live in
You,'' a jubilant, gospel-tinged ballad
that is reprised in an
extraordinary display of puppet magic. I
also like the teen-aged
Simba's (Jason Raize) soaring "Endless
Night'' and his girlfriend
Nala's (Heather Headley) passionate
"Shadowlands.''
But the remainder of the new songs are
superfluous. "The Madness of
King Scar'' is a dull number sung by an
uninspired Scar (John Vickery).
Actually, the problem is that Vickery's
performance is inspired - by
Jeremy Irons' stellar work in the animated
film. (Why, for instance,
does Vickery use a British accent, unlike
the other lions? Because
Irons did. Why does he say, "You have no
idea?'' Because, in the
original, it was an in-joke line borrowed
from Irons' role in "Reversal
of Fortune''). Vickery is also saddled
with the one bad costume in the
show - fussy and frittery, it makes him
look like The African Drag
Queen.
"The Madness of King Scar'' comes almost
two hours into "The Lion
King,'' and time is an issue in the
160-minute show, although pacing
has improved tenfold since I saw it two
weeks ago. Still, it's hard to
believe that four - count 'em - four
dancing grass numbers lasted this
far into the show's development (there are
no human characters here,
but there's a heckuva lot of foliage).
Another bizarro dance moment: a
hyena attack is interrupted for a disco
hoedown. One minute, we're in
the middle of a bloodbath, the next minute
we've been transported to a
hyena gay bar, complete with glistening
torsos and clingy tights.
Between unnecessary dance bits, some
performers shine. Tops on my list
is Lana Gordon's wordless, astonishingly
detailed performance as a
cheetah. Max Casella (Timon) and Tom Alan
Robbins (Pumbaa) will remind
you of their movie forebears, but it's a
welcome reminder. And Samuel
E. Wright brings authority and dignity to
Simba's father, Mufasa. As
the cynical bird, Zazu, hammy Geoff Hoyle
needs to learn that more is
less.
Occasionally overblown, a bit overlong and
- what with all that dancing
grass - way overgrown, "The Lion King''
would benefit from learning the
same lesson. But, even unpruned, it's a
mighty entertaining show.
What: "The Lion King''
Where: Orpheum Theatre, Minneapolis
When: Through Aug. 31
Tickets: $65-$20; call 989-5151
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