If you stayed in Paris
over the summer, you probably saw those bright yellow posters in the Metro for Le
Roi Lion advertising the summer special 20-euro tickets.Naturally, we bought some.
It was a Sunday at the
theatre. We got matinee tickets to see Le Roi Lion (the French
Broadway version of The Lion King).It was what I would normally have called "one of those New
York days", only it was in Paris. Don't you love it when that
happens?
We haven't done much
theatre here since the kids are kinda young and Paris doesn't really have a
theatre district (French people tend to very strongly dislike musicals or
any type of theatre where people are happy or suddenly break out into song or
dance. Or where people are happy or, say, happy.).
We dressed the kids up for a day at the
theatre and made a big deal out of it. The girls wore white eyelet
dresses and our son wore a button-down oxford and suit jacket with his favorite
tie. While waiting for the bus, a lady told us that our youngest was
going to be an actress one day. Our daughter replied, I'm an actress
everyday!
Our seats were not the
best. They were on the orchestra level, but they were in the very back
and on the side. But at 20 euros apiece, you won't hear us
complaining.Oh but the kids looked so
cute in their little outfits.
So them in their
cuteness and us in our bad seats . . . about 5 minutes before the show started,
I saw an usher look over at her and then he walked over and asked her
to come with him. The usher took us down to the fifth row, center,
orchestra. Best seats in the house.What an amazing gift. For some reason, those seats were empty just
waiting for the tried and true Lion King fans.
And our youngest daughter
is a tried and true Lion King fan.
Disneyland Paris has had
a 25-minute Legend of the Lion King show that she was obsessed with when
she was even younger. She would wear her Simba costume and we would sit
on the front row and she would sit on my lap to dance and sing along.
This love of the show came to an abrupt end when she finally got
strong enough to pull herself over the little green railing and
onto the stage at one point.When I
pulled her back, she screamed and screamed and screamed until the end of the
show. We had some old college buddies visit us in 2005 in the heyday of
her Simba costume days.At the end of
the show, Andy's old roommate said, "Did you see how your daughter looks
at Scar? Like he's a rock star!"
Yes, while other kids
would cry at Scar's appearance, she had a huge crush on him. Even now,
years later, whenever we're walking around and she sees a really tall,
dark-skinned African man, she gets all flirty and I know it's because of
Scar. Well, that Scar she was in love with was one Jean-Luc
Guizonne.You may know him as Jee-L
from Star Academy. And guess what? He plays King Mufasa in Le
Roi Lion. So our littlest one got to see one of her favorite
actors. And the actor who played Simba used to be one of the Simbas
at Disneyland, too.
Le Roi Lion is like no other Broadway show I've
ever seen before. The costumes I've heard about for years, but the set
was just as impressive. The entire presentation and music and dancing is
very strong and, really, words do not do it justice.You have to experience it. The production draws
heavily on elements of Greek Tragedy with masks and a chorus and very clean,
crisp physical movements. There is one scene where the women lions cry
and it was very dramatic how they expressed that, but I won't spoil it for
you with details.
What's truly amazing is
that the show got a standing ovation (no, we were not the first to stand up)
and several curtain calls. I've never seen a French crowd react so
enthusiastically.
Our day wrapped-up
with the requisite visit to McDonald's for dinner and ice
cream. We really didn't want to go there, but the kids begged and since
they had been so good during the three-hour show, they deserved to get what
they were asking for.
The kids loved the
show. I do think that it's more for adults, but our kids have always
loved the show at Disneyland so we knew they could handle it (as long as we
weren't on the front row!). Their feedback was interesting-they all
disliked Zazu for being too crazy (which is a shame because I think he is
the best character with energetic acting, perfect line execution, not to
mention great make-up and costume). Our son liked the tree that Rafiki
lives in and our daughters liked the ballet dancers that came out on stage
during Can you Feel the Love Tonight. I was enthralled with
the entire performance, but Terre d'Ombre (Shadowland) was very
moving.
The summer special has
been extended through September, so right now you can get tickets to see Le Roi
Lion for a mere 20 euros.You better
hurry, though, these tickets go fast.Go to www.leroilion.fr to
buy your tickets online (you can even print them right there at home).
Open Door at the Mogador
On Sunday, September 14,
the Mogador theatre and the Roi Lion family will open its doors to the general
public in celebration of its one-year anniversary.Starting at 11 a.m. and going until 5:30 p.m., you'll be able to,
among other things, participate in African singing and dancing ateliers, go
backstage to see the costumes, masks and sets, get your face painted, meet the
cast and musicians and watch a documentary on the making of the Lion King
stage production.Dude, we are so
there!
In the meantime, here
are two great videos to enjoy:
This first one is a
video of the main cast: Jean-Luc Guizonne as Mufasa, Jérémy Fontanet as Simba
and Zama Magudulela, a South African woman playing Rafiki, singing the amazing Il
Vie en Toi:
And the same actors
performing La Circle de Vie on a local TV show:
Mollie Coyne
About the author:
Mollie Coyne is from South Carolina, USA and moved to France in 2003.