Thursday 28 March 2013

The Lion King - A Musical Phenomenon! - A Review


Hello my friends, long time no talk. My fault! I'm sorry!

Anyway this post is a long time coming (I saw the show on March 10th I know I know I'm a slacker please don't judge me I'm working on it!)

Without further ado a review of The Lion King the Musical

The Lion King arrived in cold and rainy Manchester in November 2012 before opening in December.  Even before performing a single show its stay in Manchester was extended due to record breaking ticket sales, as it makes its first long anticipated journey out of London. Manchester marks the second stop on the tour following an 11 week stint at The Bristol Hippodrome. It is a show that has a company of 52 performers, and it mixes puppets and actors to tell the classic Disney tale.

Now however the Lion King is coming to the end of its stay in Manchester as it plays its last show on the 20th of April, before heading over to Dublin for the third stop on a tour that is scheduled to visit 10 cities over a two and half year period. Having never previously seen the show I have always wondered exactly what it was that made this musical become the international phenomenon that it undeniably is. After all it can't solely be coming from the popularity of its source material in Walt Disney Animations classic 1994 film.

What I can tell you us that though I was excited to finally have the opportunity to see the show I was also a bit sceptical. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get past seeing someone with a lion mask on his head as just that or whether I would be pulled in to the point where I didn't notice. I hoped that the latter would be the case obviously. It's strange you'd a favourite character would be the obvious choice of Simba, but no the outstanding performance of the night for me came from the character Rafiki who was brilliantly portrayed by Gugwanan Dlamini. She provided a lot of the laughs in the show, alongside Timon and Pumba of course, who could forget about them.

Forget about the whole idea I had that I would only be able to see a human in a lion mask, my worries were quickly proved to be unnecessary. From the minute that the show began I was simply astounded by the sheer size of the production that was put on display. I don't think I will ever get the image of what was probably a life size elephant walking down on of the aisles of the theatre right past me during Circle of Life out of my head. It is a show that simply captures its audience and refuses to let you go. If there is anyone out there who is a fan of the film but isn't sure about seeing the musical [side note: I am told that the touring production actually uses a lot more dialogue etc from the film that the show in London does] go and see it. Please, I promise you won't regret it. The costume design alone was enough to just take my breath away and I would be lying if I was to tell you I didn't shed a tear at Mufasa's death like always.

(What can I say I'm an emotional wreck, my friends and family can vouch for that!)

For 14 years the Lion King has been wowing audiences at the Lyceum Theatre in London and when the show scheduled to close this Autumn is safe to say that this tour could well be your last chance to see it in the UK so don't miss out if it's something you want to see!

It gets a thumbs up and giant 4/5 stars from me!



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Saturday 9 March 2013

Oz The Great And Powerful - A review


Today was one of those days where I couldn't stand staying in the house for one more second. So I looked at Odeon's website and saw that Oz The Great And Powerful was showing. I remembered seeing the trailer for this film a while back and I decided I would go and watch it.



As most of you already know it stars James Franco as Oscar Diggs/ The Wizard of Oz. He is a con man magician making a living in a travelling circus, performing magic tricks, when a tornado hits and he finds himself in the magical land of Oz. Here he meets the Theodora played by Mila Kunis, who believes that he the prophecy come true and that he will rescue Oz from the Wicked Witch Glinda, thus taking is place as king. On his way to the Emerald City with Theodora, she falls in love with him and believes she will rule Oz by his side as Queen. They meet Finley the talking flying monkey who Oz rescues from a lion causing Theodora to believe whole heartedly that he is the Wizard.
Upon arrival at the Emerald City he meets Theodora's sister Evanora, who tells him that in order to become king he must kill the Wicked Witch by stealing and breaking her wand which is the source of her power, and that he can find her in the Dark Forest.
When they do eventually find Glinda it is revealed that Glinda is the good witch and in reality it is Evanora who is the Wicked Witch.
I will tell you no more than that because I don't want to spoil the rest of the film.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the original Wizard of Oz film, I find it to be a bit tedious and boring however because I enjoyed the musical Wicked, another tale about the witches of Oz I thought I would enjoy this film more. Which I did.

I went to watch the film in 3D which normally I try to avoid because it costs more but this showing time fit in with when I would be near the cinema. Having said that I'm actually really glad I went to see this film in 3D it had its moments were things jumped out of the screen (and a couple of those moments had me jumping in my seat) but mostly the 3D was used in the same way that it was used in say Avatar, to give the landscape more depth. In that respect the 3D was top notch as were the special effects, I was presently surprised.

There were a couple of funny one liners in the film that gave it an added bit of light-heartedness the story was good. The acting was good also. A few people I know have said they were sceptical about the casting of James Franco as the Wizard but I can tell you that he plays the part extremely well. As do Michelle Williams who pretty much epitomises my idea of how Glinda should appear. So obviously the casting directors did a wonderful job.

With all that in mind I give this film 4 stars. It is enjoyable viewing for anyone; it's just one of those films that let you escape the really world for two hours. Be warned that there maybe a couple of parts that some children may find scary; this is after all a PG film.

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