On Saturday (12th March), i went to watch 'The Lion King' the musical and it was out of this world! I've always liked Disney shows from young and it was nice to see the musical staged by a mainly African cast.
I must say that i was surprised at the layout of the MBS theatre though. The theatre was about the same size as the Esplanade main theatre but the seats were less spread out so it felt quite cramped/ claustrophobic since it was a full house. This affected the quality of the singing at some points as most of the sound was absorbed so the impact of the song wasn't felt. The stage was a little smaller than the Esplanade. This affected the dancing in the opening scene as the dancers didn't have sufficient space and had to control their movements. It lacked that punch.
Even though there were such limitations, the production was professionally done. I reallly loved the colourful costumes. The lions' masks were ingeniously made. They were attached to the actor's neck and hung above the actor such that when the actor bent forward the mask would move in front of him, covering his face. This made the lions movements more distinct and very much like a real lion.
The set was gorgeous! The stage could be inclined and props like mountains were rolled around the stage. The most well done (and saddest!) part of the musical was when Simba was running away from the wildebeests during the stampede. The wildebeests were cut-out pieces of metal and attached to a rotating wheel so that it looked like more and more wildebeests were approaching Simba. Another great illusion was of water drying up during the drought. A blue cloth was laid on the stage which came out from a hole from under the stage. Slowly, someone under the stage pulled the cloth into the hole so that the illusion of the water drying up was created. It's really hard to explain but honestly it really was very very good.
One thing that was unique was the Singapore flavour they added. Believe it or not, they used singlish here and there which sent the audience roaring with laughter. Zazu even sang the song "Rasa Sayang" which was really funny :) To be honest, i would have preferred if they left this out but since the mood was generally causal it did fit in to the whole musical.
My favourite character - Rafiki the baboon. This part was played by a lady who sang tremendously well and was really hilarious. She caught everyone's attention as soon as she belted a note...love her.
On a side note, however, i must say i was surprised at the quality of the MBS theatre especially after all the hype about MBS and stuff. Nevertheless, i totally enjoyed the musical! It was awesome and i would really recommend one to catch it!
Remember, Jesus loves you!
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