Review on “El Rey Leon” By Chance Chavies
June 30, 2014
The play “El Rey Lion” written by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, is a story about the a young Lion named Simba who grows up and becomes King of the Jungle just like his Dad. Before Simba can achieve this important title he must learn the responsibilities that come with being king and defeating Scar. There are several characters such as Timon,Pumba,Zazu,and Rafiki that impact Simbas’s journey to achieving his goal of realizing who he really was and taking “The thrown”.
The plays music was originally written by John Lennon but a few more scores were added and written by Tim Rice.In total there were forty two scores.In my opinion I believe that the music was done really well especially since there was live music compared to a pre recorded band. To aid with the sound and setting of the play, a lot of the music was mostly comprised of native African instruments that made me feel like I was in Africa.
The acting in the play was absolutely magnificent even though there were a couple of slip ups here and there, but besides that the actors were on key with every action and were never late when there cues were given. The only true mistakes the actors made were bumping into each other with their costumes by mistake. The play flowed smoothly and everybody knew what they had to do . The puppeteering was amazing and the actors casted fit each character very well.
The puppets were unambiguously the best puppets that I’ve ever seen.They way that the actors manipulated the puppets made them seem alive. In my opinion the best animated puppet was Zazu; Zazu was the best because his puppeteer was able to make the fake bird almost indistinguishable from the real bird, the “Calao”. The colors on all of the puppets were exactly equal to there corresponding animal.
I have seen this play before but due to the fact that I was very young I do not remember to much, but I remember saying that I thought that I was watching the actual movie. The way that the colors, music, and actors/costumes came together I believe that the play was done in such a way that it made me feel like I was watching the movie, which is great .In conclusion I can say that “El Rey Lion” was one if not the best play I have ever seen In my 15 years of existence.
