Looking for TLKoB midis

[Gazelle]

i wish i could find crazy cool *** pictures to share...

[HasiraKali]

Ok so I just got home again. I waited at the door for like 20 minutes and no one came out. And it took me forever to get out of the theater because there were TONS of little old ladies there so I'm thinking most everyone was already gone when I finally got back there.

Anyway... the cast has changed. I knew contracts were coming up but I didn't know it would changed in the middle of the San Antonio run. Here are the changes and my little analysis.

Scar : Kevin Gray - Mr. Gray is a former Phantom so I was kind of sort of hoping to see him before the tour left, even though I love Mr. Yando. So he was ok. He's still trying to get into the role, you can tell, but he's not bad. He screams a lot too. I was looking at some of my Phantom stuff to see if he was a screaming Phantom too since those are the best Phantoms. Anyway, so he wasn't the most screaming of the Phantoms I've heard but he was definately loud. It was kind of hard picturing him as Scar because I kept picturing the mask with a mask on.

Mufasa : Nathaniel Stampley - Ok so I was sad to see that Rufus Bonds Jr. had left. I simply loved his Mufasa. But Mr. Stampley was pretty good. His "They Live In You" made me cry tonight. That's a first. And there was some pretty good chemistry between he and Young Simba. I love the way he delivered the "I'm only brave when I have to be!" line. He kind of yelled it and then went all comforting. I like that better than just saying the line because that's how parents really are.

Zazu : Timothy McGeever - Ok I was REALLY sad when I read this one. Mr. McGeever has a nice singing voice but again you could really tell he was still trying to find himself in the part. He said "whoop!" a lot and it got a little repetitive. No one got the joke about the IJCWtbK curtain tonight because he said Ikea instead of Peir 1. We don't have Ikea here. He has potential though, he just needs to get comfortable in the role.

Bonzai : Rudy Roberson - He was actually pretty good. He did say "wild-debeasts" which made me laugh. He has a really gravely voice. At times it sounded like he had one of those sore throats that make your voice all scratchy and painful. It was just when he was talking otherwise he was ok.

Shenzi : Danielle Lee Greaves - She was really good. She had pretty good comedic timing and an awesome voice. Overall a very good Shenzi.

There were also a lot of ensemble changes as well. All of the costumes of the new peoples looked really fresh and new. You could actually tell that Zazu's suit was blue instead of a weird blackish bluish colour. Twas nice.

Oh... and GO SPURS GO!

[Sharifu]

Whoa... That's a lot of actors changing in the cast.

HasiraKali, are you saying that you wrote Wallace a message and he never wrote back to you? Well at least he added you to his friend list.

[Zaya]

Nathaniel Stampley? He used to play in London, I think he left just before I first saw the show...but then it was Sello Maake Ka-Ncube and he was in my oppinion the best Mufasa ever, he had such a wonderful voice, really strong and confident, but spoke in a way that fathers should tell bed time stories to children cause it like swung you into extasy and he sang even better than the orginial Broadway Mufasa...

Why do they always change the same actors....it's so similar in London! They change Scar, Mufasa, Zazu, Timon, Shenzi and Rafiki...Pumba, Simba and Nala definitely stay

[Gazelle]

WHAT?!?! Wh-bu-NO! That's evil!

He killed the curtian joke?! He's a discrase to Zazus

That's so sad that no one came out...i would have like, cried. The stage door is my home! Not my second home, my HOME!

[HasiraKali]

Audra: Yeah I wrote him a message back when Zaya first found his myspace. I was added at least.

I thought the curtain joke was funny but I know what Ikea is. Most other people probably didn't because we don't have them here.

[Sharifu]

Hmm... TLKoB is coming to Los Angeles later this year... The only time I see it coming California in the future. Still kind of far for me though... Well I would only do it if I had the money and a friend who would want to go with me.

[Gazelle]

i was really planning on going and seeing it again, but i don't know...now that they changed cast...eeehhh...i don't think id go if i can't see my Derek <3

[Lion_King_300]

Dang, that's a lot of cast changes right in the middle of a run like that, seems highly unusual. I think Rufus Bonds has been Mufasa at all the TLKOB performances I've been to with the exception of the NYC one, and I agree he plays the part magnificently.

I guess that means that Larry Yando and Bonds are done for good now, which is quite sad news, hopefully their replacements can get settled into their roles quickly, they certainly have big shoes to fill!

The new Mufasa sounds good though, maybe I'll get to see this cast in Orlando this December.

Oh, and good news!!! I'm going to China this summer for a week to see my mom in Beijing, and we're going to arrange to see TLKOB during its run in Shanghai during the first week of August!! The trip was my high school graduation present from 3 years ago and I haven't gone yet. The cast will be mostly the Australian cast from Sydney and Melbourne too, so it will totally new for everyone and I'll be sure to take lots of pics and tell everyone about it, I am SOOO excited! Still got about two and a half months to wait though.

oh yeah, looks like the Circle of Life finally pulled ahead in the poll too, 23 to 22... but it's still close.

[Gazelle]

Oh kick ***!!! i wanna go!!!!!!!!!!! i'm only like 5', i can fit in your cargo yeah? please?!

[Lion_King_300]

And on the topic of the "shower curtain" joke from the IJCWTBK scene, here's a list of the places that Zazu mentioned based on the city:

Seattle: Once "Ikea," Once "Pier 1" (I believe understudy said "Pier 1")
Portland: Both times "Pier 1"
NYC: "The Guggenheim" (drew big laughs)
San Jose: "Ikea" I was surprised at this because I didn't think there were many Ikeas down here, apparently I was mistaken.

But the San Antonio story is funny, I can just imagine what it would be like to have no one laugh after Zazu's line... that would be awkward and embarassing to say the least!

[nathalie]

Wauw LK300, that is awesome !!

It's odd though, that it's gonna be an English performance, since maybe not many people in China know English, hehe.

[Ryoga]

Well, well, well. I went to see The Lion King on Broadway in San Antonio at The Majestic downtown last night. I read HasiraKali list of cast changes, and since I on'y saw it once before with the old cast, I can tell that the only one who I was disappointed with was Zazu. Do not get me wrong, the guy who plays him now did a great job, but the one before him was so much better. I was a little weirded out because I didn't think they were going to change right in the middle of San Antonio and right near the end of their time here, but I enjoyed and spent way to much money on merchandise. I am going to miss it. I have to wait for the Austin production, which won't be for a while!

[Gazelle]

YES!!! DEREK PWNDs ALL ZAZUS! *gafa*

[Sharifu]

That's totally awesome Tim! I remember you telling me about this and I'm glad you can go!

[Lion_King_300]

Originally posted by Gazelle
YES!!! DEREK PWNDs ALL ZAZUS! *gafa*

I couldn't agree more, hands down he was the best I've seen play the part. I was pretty disappointed with the Zazu understudies as a whole, not that they were that bad, but that Derek was so much better. His voice, tone and inflection really really REALLY sounded natural and very much like Zazu, he had that challenging puppet and his acting perfectly in sync, and he was so funny.

I hope his contract gets renewed and he stays with the show.

And yeah Nath, it is odd that it will be in English, but I also read that: "The show will be performed in English at the Shanghai Grand Theater, and SGT staff is translating the libretto into Mandarin for projection over the stage" I'm not quite sure what that means. They can't possibly have English AND Mandarin chinese at the same time??? Does anyone know how they plan to pull this off?

[nathalie]

"for projection over the stage"

That kind of sounds to me, that they will project the translation onto something?

[Zaya]

The projection looks like the thing they do in operas, they for instance are sung in italian and there is a narrow screen over the stage on which they project the text in dunno, german, or english, etc.

Kind of like subtitles in movies, just that it's above the stage

[imported_Rafiki]

Yep, I guess so! I saw this those... uhm... above-titles... :Ooo: over here when I saw a "Best of Musical" show. They projected the texts on big screens above the stage. But mostly to help the people to be able to sing along...

[HasiraKali]

If they do the projections for TLK like they did for Phantom when it was there a few months ago, the projections will be down the side of the proscenium. I have a picture somewhere on my other comp. But here's a pretty good pic from someone on WebShots. Piccy

Oh and Ryoga... what happened with that guy that um shot himself outside the theater last night? Was it chaos getting out?