image from disney.go.com
Post by Andrea Grant and Jes Lacasse
Like a meerkat uncovering a grub, we at Apartment 613 love discovering the smaller delights of this city, but we also like to take a look at the bigger delights of Ottawa arts and culture scene. Especially when they include life-sized elephant puppets and ripped men in hyena costumes.
We unleashed a blogger duo on Disney’s The Lion King, which opened at the National Art Centre on Saturday, July 16. Even given the reputation that preceded this Broadway-calibre musical (including six Tony awards), The two were surprised when they returned to their laptops in complete awe of this show.
Jes Lacasse: After I volunteered to go to see The Lion King, I thought to myself, “What are you doing? You hate Elton John!” But I love musicals, so I went. And the visual spectacle alone was worth it. When I tweeted at intermission about that, one of my favourite responses was “puppet overload in the best way possible”, and it’s so true. The puppetry wasn’t the only visual strength – the dancers dressed as antelopes and savannah grasses were arresting and lovely.
Andrea Grant: I’ve seen a lot of musical theatre, and it’s easily my favourite genre. But The Lion King was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before – particularly due to the magical puppetry. Jes and I were nearly moved to tears by the opening parade of “bunraku” animal puppets – which involved master puppeteers, visible to the audience, giving life to giant cheetahs, a warthog, elephants, and, of course, lions.
JL: The visual excess of the production is tempered by the music’s weakness (particularly the numbers not from the film), and I suspect the cast and crew were plagued in Ottawa by a much smaller stage than they are used to – several of the larger production numbers look cramped. Additionally, the climactic confrontation between Simba and Scar was marred by technical difficulties. But none of those things affected my enjoyment of the performance, and I came out tingly and happy.
AG: I left wanting to play hyena and sing Hakuna Matada like my thirteen-year old self. Most importantly, I did not cringe once at an Elton John song (“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” is infinitely better in a Broadway production than on soft rock radio).
The Lion King is playing until August 7, 2011 at the National Arts Centre.
.gif)