The Broadway version of the Lion King is currently playing in Des Moines at the Civic Center, one of the bigger productions to hit our town in the past few years.  Kim and I have seen it twice so far - once as part of our "Broadway Series" tickets, and once with our friend Jamie who lives downtown.

The show is an amazing blend of acting and puppeteering, starting with a huge parade of animals during the opening Circle of Life song and continuing through the show with a great blend of African tribal rhythms, evocative lighting, great costumes that call out to the Disney characters while also highlighting the actors, and amazing vocal talent.

Our first time at the show we had seats about halfway back and right in the center giving us a direct view of the entire stage. I really enjoyed the music and spectacle of the show, but I didn't necessarily feel a connection to any of the actors like with some other shows I've seen in the past.  This was completely changed with our second time seeing it.

At last night's show we were fortunate to have seats right in front (while there was a row of two seats in front of us, they were left empty on purpose) to the front-right of the stage (is that stage left to actors?).  The experience from these seats was nothing short of amazing. It was as close as we could be without being an actor on stage.  During the Circle of Life, we had an amazing view of the parade of animals as they passed right next to our seats, and as the animals bowed to king and queen on Pride Rock, we were right there, looking through the animals straight up the stage to the rock.

The little details in the show make the difference.  On the Zazu puppet (Mufasa the king's right-hand bird), the puppet is held by the actor, alternating seamlessly between sitting the puppet on his head and hands while controlling the mouth, eyelids, etc, using a hand control.  The effect is amazing, bringing the animated Zazu to stage life.  Same with details on a character like Poomba the warthog where the eyes move left and right where they could have easily just been painted on.  And then there is Scar, whose mask is attached by a rod behind his neck, allowing the mask to sit on top of the actor's head while he's standing up right, but falling in front of his face for a good lion-effect while slinking around the stage.

If the opportunity arises, I would recommend seeing the show.  Even if you are not typically the "theater-type" or think of the Lion King as a children's show, go see it.  It's really an amazing specatacle.

[All photos are from the Disney on Broadway - The Lion King website]