The King of all plays: The Lion King

Hola Lexicans! Firstly I want everyone to appreciate my amazing punny title today, clever huh yes no ok then. #imabitawkward Anywayy, before I start this post I have some cool and exciting news. My sister and I have set up a website called Kids Blog Net for kid, tween and teen bloggers. It will give blogging tips, have guest posts from great bloggers and will have reviews on the top books, entertainment, fashion and activites for kids, teens and families. Hopefully it will be a great way to make more blogger friends and connect with your bloggers your age. If you'd like to check it out, you can visit: kidsblognet.wordpress.com. We have a Members page, which is basically a page of loads of great kid blogs, so if you'd like to be on it email kidsblognet@gmail.com and we'll add you up! Well that aside, today I'm reviewing the play The Lion King.

As a little treat, at the end of August my family and I went up to London to watch the stage production of The Lion King. I have previously watched the Lion King movie (I mean who hasn't!?) although not for a while, so I couldn't remember the exact outline of the story. Whilst it had the sad emotions you'd expect and want from the play, the director also put some comedy in there as well, which I liked and was written in well, as not to take away the emphasis of the tragedy but to still make it light and uplifting.

There were a couple of things that really stuck out with this musical and that I thought were very cleverly done. The first was the set. I was very curious to see how they set out the Lion King, as I've been to plays before that did the set very cleverly (like The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas) but I wasn't sure how the team behind the Lion King would manage it. However, I now think that The Lion King had the best set I have ever seen. They used lots of techniques including using what looked like blinds to create a sun and silhouettes of a tree against the brightly coloured orange background which I loved and thought was very effective and even mesmerising.

photography credits

Another thing that really caught my attention was how clever the costume was. Again, my sister and I were wondering how they would tackle the costumes and I don't think it could have been done any better. There were people holding zebra cutouts under their arms (and they blended in with the zebra very well), well-designed masks, and a huge elephant (which I presume people were in and moving, although I couldn't see anyone!). To summarise, this musical has such innovative costumes and I can see why it won a Tony for Original Costume Design!

Overall, I absolutely loved the play and would definitely recommend you all to try and get tickets if you can - it is very expensive, as a lot of plays are, but it's well worth the money and enjoyable for adults as well as kids.

Have you seen this play? Or have you seen the film? Would you like to try and see the play? Remember, if you're a kid or teen blogger to check out our new website: kidsblognet.wordpress.com.