On Sunday, the Eckerts, along with friends Meg and Matt Frankovis, Chad and Kelly Neumann, and Chad's parents, saw The Lion King at the Milwaukee Theater. It was Cassie and Tommy's first live Broadway show. Everyone had a good time and really enjoyed the experience.
A couple of years ago, when we were new Broadway series subscribers, Chad Neumann and I suffered through the musical Cats. We found it one of the most frustrating three hour experiences of our lives. In our humble opinions, Cats has no plot, makes no sense, utilizes costumes in a rediculous manner, and is in general beneath the normally impeacable work of Andrew Lloyd Weber. As theater lovers, Chad and I developed the "Cats Scale" to be used to review future theater outings. Zero Cats equals theater excellence, perhaps perfection (in other words, the opposite of Cats). Five Cats equals, well, Cats the Musical, or a similar unimiginable experience. Since that day, Chad, Matt, and I have reviewed all of our broadway experiences based on our Cats Scale (as you may imagine, our wives shake their heads at us, to say the least.
This is Matt Frankovis' "Cats Scale" review of The Lion King:
"Unlike Cats, which I have never seen, and My Fair Lady, which I have already forgotten, The Lion King was intriguing enough to hold my attention for the duration of the performance. The set changes and use of costumed people as scenery truly stood out and added life to a musical predicated on just that, with the grand opening composition "Circle of Life"
capturing the audiences attention and the imagination of both young and old.
Without having seen Cats, but having the transcendental experience through Chad and Jason, I would have to give the Lion King a score of 2 on the Cats Scale. While entertaining (for a musical), the middle of the show lost some steam after Mufasa met his death at the hands of his brother Scar. However, my prediction is that this will be the best show of the five in this year's series. Hats off to you, Lion King."
capturing the audiences attention and the imagination of both young and old.
Without having seen Cats, but having the transcendental experience through Chad and Jason, I would have to give the Lion King a score of 2 on the Cats Scale. While entertaining (for a musical), the middle of the show lost some steam after Mufasa met his death at the hands of his brother Scar. However, my prediction is that this will be the best show of the five in this year's series. Hats off to you, Lion King."
Kelly Neumann, who is not an authorized Cats Scale reviewer, contributed this comment in lieu of her husband's contribution:
"I can only laugh at my wonderful friends! I am not a voting member of the party but would give it a 1 on the Cats Scale! I thought it was amazing! And seriously can you find cooler elephants in a broadway show?"
And me? I give The Lion King a 1.5 rating on the Cats Scale. It was an excellent production and the kids had a really good time. The set, costumes (unlike Cats appropriate for the material), and performances were excellent. My only complaints were the temperature of the theater (I could have bottled and sold Tommy's sweat at the end of the performance) and a minor concern with the volume of the production in the balcony section (it was sometimes to clearly hear the actors during some quieter scenes). Overall an excellent production and great friends and family outing.
Feel free to contribute a comment concerning The Lion King and/or our Cats Scale! Next up for the Cats Scale -- Avenue Q on March 2.
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2 comments:
That Frankovis guy really seems to know what he's talking about. And he sounds quite handsome.
-Anonymous
Lion King was wonderful on stage. The costumes were marvelous. The vocals in St. Louis were magnificant. I am not an authroized Cat's reviewer but I would give it a 1.5 as well. I do agree with Matt as the middle of the show did loose some steam.
Erin
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