The Lion King

First of all, let me clear something up. In the last post I said, "sadly Burr has left and I am traveling back to the States tomorrow." I meant that it is sad that Burr has gone away again, NOT that I am sad to be traveling home tomorrow. I can't wait to be home! Let me be clear, I am SO EXCITED about traveling home! Ok, understand? Good.

Yesterday we went to a matinee of "The Lion King." Theatre isn't one of those "must do" things in the Tokyo guidebooks. Actually, Burr was hard-pressed to find any information on it at all! We were the sole Westerners amongst a sea of Japanese theatre patrons. And the show was completely in Japanese! Not only was it an enriching experience just by virtue of "going to the theatre" but we were enriched by the foreign-ness of what is a "normal" experience for us. Some observations: the audience did not applaud much between numbers, nor did they laugh at many of the jokes and funny parts. We only knew that something funny had happened by the kids sitting near us. They would get all tickled over something and start giggling, but nothing from the adults! But at the end, we learned that it had, in fact, been a very appreciative audience; the cast recieved SEVEN curtain calls! SEVEN!

It was incredible performance and Burr and I were each blown away by the costuming and staging. The sets were incredible! And that stage! Rotating stairs, elevated platform, retractable floors... wow! And back to the costumes... seriously... the ELEPHANTS AND GIRAFFES!!!! WOW!

So even though the plot is a little fuzzy in our minds (it's been a while since either of us watched the Disney film) and we didn't really catch any of the diaglogue or lyrics, it was a wonderful experience. I love "The Lion King!"