The Lion King!

Outside Edinburgh Playhouse.

Hellooo my lovelies,

Today I have a different kind of post for you but I'm hoping you'll enjoy it all the same! During the week I was a very lucky girl and got taken to see The Lion King Musical at Edinburgh Playhouse! I was super excited as I'd heard amazing things about it and I am Disney's biggest fan and on top of that The Lion King is my all time favourite Disney movie! I own the movie and I'm not exaggerating when I say I watch it at least once every two months (I did warn you I was obsessed hehe) I don't have too many pictures sadly because obviously I couldn't take pictures whilst the performance was ongoing but I do have a few snaps to share with you. One of the best things about Disney films is there's a lot to learn from them such as 'what's in the past doesn't matter', Hakuna Matata- have no worries and that some people will only be in your life to look after their own best interests as Scar does in the movie. One of my most favourite quotes is from Rafiki (the baboon) "The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it" and my other favourite quote is from Mustafa "I'm only brave when I have to be. Being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble". I find those two quotes truly inspiring and I think Walt Disney had a lot of hidden meanings in his film that people could really learn from. (get your scuba gear out.. haha!!)

Before the Performance.

The Lions.

 I absolutely love a trip to The Playhouse as it is so old fashioned and beautiful inside with its luxurious red seats and it always amazes me how massive it is! It's also a really nice excuse to get dressed up and do your hair and makeup special (what girl doesn't love doing that?!) I always love all the performances that I have been to see, a few of those being 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Oliver'. No doubt though the Lion King absolutely topped them all. It is just so clever that it blows your mind at how they're managing to sing and dance, whilst wearing amazing costumes and controlling them. For example they had giraffes walking around the stage that consisted of one person with their hands and legs both on stilts whilst controlling the giraffes head with their own. A particular highlight for me is that the performers actually come through the audience and I was lucky enough to have been bought amazing seats so I was in the front stalls on an aisle seat. So I really did have the perfect vantage point for viewing the performers walking past me. The most amazing two that walked through the audience were a real sized elephant!! which looked most realistic just plodding down the aisle and also a rhino. They also have performers walking down swinging birds over your head in the most seamless way, totally adding to the African feel and they must have so much skill to avoid it hitting anything but they did incredibly! Not to mention the dancers and singers who walk down the aisle and Simba also at one point runs down. Everytime I go to see something at The Playhouse I always wonder why I couldn't have had some talent as a child to be able to do something like that (maybe my kids will fulfill my dream for me one day hahaha!) Another highlight for me was the Stampede scene as I think this was conveyed brilliantly with the dramatic music and lighting and the scenery alongside of course the fabulous acting.

The Stampede scene. (I have to admit I shed quite a few tears when Mufasa died)

 The music was incredible as it always is in musicals and I love the Lion King songs so I was always going to enjoy it! They had added a few extra songs into it that aren't in the original film such as 'Chow Down' with the Hyena's but I actually think that only added to the performance. They also added in quite a few funny jokes that the film didn't have in it but it made me chuckle all the same. My favourite songs in the performance were of course 'Circle of Life', 'He lives in you', Nala's solo 'Shadowland', 'Can you feel the love tonight' and 'The Stampede'. I will leave a link below to the Broadway Lion King musical performance spotify album and you can check it out. (I've played it non-stop since I got home from the performance, it's that good!!) Another thing they did with the music is they added a lot of original African music/chants and dances that they had done alot of research into. This added to the performance amazingly and really made you feel like you were in Africa and forget about the world outside of the Playhouse. I also bought the book on the Lion King and the programme to get abit more info on everything because i enjoyed it so much so I have taken some pictures of the book. I would really recommend buying the book if you are interested in how they do everything as it tells you a lot about the lighting, direction, costumes and design and it only cost £8. Not forgetting the amazing pictures in it and I got the programme for £2 because I bought the book and that's really good for telling you about the performers, who they are and what they've previously done. So defo worth a buy if you're interested in that sort of shizzz (if you're sad like me). Also I think it's nice to have a souvenir when you've had such a good experience.

Lion King Book and Lion King programme.

 The only bug bare I had (which was nothing to do with the musical itself at all) was people going out in the middle of the performance to get alcohol. I have no problem with people having a little drink at the theatre but I do think it's entirely inappropriate to get drunk and create noise ESPECIALLY at a Disney performance. However, in our performance, one particular man annoyed me as he kept getting up to go get beers in the middle of the performance which actually nearly caused a problem because it was at the point where a performer was running down the aisle (thankfully he got out the way). Seriously though, I can understand people not being able to wait till the interval to go to the toilet but to get alcohol from a bar realllyyyy??? Could that not wait till after or at least the interval?? Anywaaaaaay all that aside it did not take anything away from the absolutely outstanding performance from The Lion King.

Hakuna Matata!

 I would 110%  recommend anybody to go see this musical because i guarantee it will blow your mind! It is pricey, I think tickets start out at around £30 and go way up to £70 for the better seats but it is worth every penny I promise you! I am planning to try and get tickets to go again another night because I loved it so much. This is proving very difficult though as it has been a sell out every night and has been in the Playhouse since October so that proves how much of a top performance it is! I actually can't remember any performance that has been put on for so long there before! They are doing a UK tour throughout 2014. I'm not sure of the exact dates but I do know they're going to Birmingham, Sunderland, Southampton, Cardiff and Liverpool and I'm almost positive there's a permanent performance of The Lion King in London at the Lyceum?? (don't hold me to that!) Although The Lion King is a Disney performance The Playhouse recommend not to bring any children under the age of 4 and I do agree with this as at times it is quite scary and a young child did have to leave during the performance I was at. I remember when my little sister was about four, our parents took us to see Beauty and the Beast and she cried and sat with her coat on the whole time wanting to go home (Sorry Beth). So definitely not worth wasting money on getting little kids a ticket that won't like it!

Hope you enjoyed this little lifestyle post and do let me know if you like posts like this so I know whether to do more or not! Have seen the Lion King before? and what other musicals have you seen?

Hope you're all doing well, Lots of love,
A x x

Link to Lion King website (where showing and how to buy tickets):- http://www.thelionking.co.uk/
Lion King Spotify album- https://play.spotify.com/album/1y6p6tINBthUWsQVQJmiYK