The Circle of Life Indeed
Sep. 18th, 2003 12:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fredericksYar! I just felt like typing that. Here: yar!.
I'm reading through Stevie's Dark Tower series again, in anticipation of the release of book V, The Wolves of the Calla in November. I cannot wait. The only other time I was this giddy about the release of a book was during the long months between Tad Williams' publishing of Mountain of Black Glass and Sea of Silver Light. Orlando!
/anguished cry.
Heh. Anywho, yeah, I was reading The Gunslinger yesterday on my way to the mall. King revised it and added some new parts to it. I couldn't recall the original that well, even though I must have read it at least twice, because I didn't like it that much. King commented on as much in the new introduction - the writing was chock-full of unnecessary words and the style was pretty pompous (my phrasing, but the gist of the matter). What he left was totally engrossing. Very very good stuff, Stevie. It wins the Daniella Seal of Approval TM. To me the mark of a good book is when it makes you nearly forget your bus/train stop. And damned if I would have forgotten to get off the train that evening at 42nd Street if I hadn't forced myself to look up at one point. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Mom had two tickets to "The Lion King" on Broadway for a showing yesterday evening, and I decided to ask Alexa to go with me. It's a joke between us that seeing each other is an annual thing, but now that I seem to be stuck in the city for a while I guess our annual plans will be shot to pot. I left the house late (per usual), but this time I sort of had an excuse, since I had to cook dinner. So, yes, I head down to 42nd Street late and rush out of the subway station to the theatre through throngs of people. The people. I love them and I hate them. I love that you can step out onto a street in Manhattan and see people from all walks of life, speaking tens of language. I hate that these same people inevitably slow your ass down while they're gawking at skyscrapers and errant cabbies. My sojourn to New Amsterdam Theatre was slowed yesterday by two Buddhist monks, a gaggle of Japanese tourists, a crowd of people surrounding a street magician, a couple of people babbling away in what appeared to be German, and a number of rude late-working business people. Ah, I love/hate NY.
Alexa didn't seem too put off by my late appearance (we planned on being early to the show, and, besides, you'd think she'd be used to that sort of thing from me by now). She was still...her. I don't know how to say it any better. We perused the guest shop (The Disney Store, which was conveniently attached to the entrance of the theatre) and then headed in. Seats weren't too bad. Nice view of the stage. Although part-way through the show my leg started paining me like crazy. You'd think they'd try to add leg-room for normal people, but no, they obviously build these things for those shorter than 5 feet. Sizism. *snort*
Show wasn't that bad. The costumes were friggin' amazing. Breathtakingly beautiful. And, as always, the song The Circle of Life made me tear up like a baby. It's a kick-ass song, peoples! I'm allowed. My major gripes with the show - the deviations from the movie and the added sexuality (!). They (for some reason or another) decided to write some songs for the stage. Ugh. They were pretty craptacular. Well, not craptacular, but on par with most Elton John/Tim Rice collabo songs. Which made it pretty bad. But those I could just grimace and take. Sometimes they'd have the songs from the movie and then add a (I can think of no other way to describe it) "break it down" section, where the music would change slightly and people would dance in a funky way. I don't know. They fucked up my second favorite song (Be Prepared) that way. And the guy that played Scar didn't sing the part (ala Jeremy Irons) but spoke it lyrically. *sigh* His imitation of Irons was fairly spot-on throughout, though.
The sex (!) though. For one, they changed it up so that Scar ended up wanting to screw Nala (!), and that's what made her leave the devastated Pridelands. I was all like, "WTF?!?" I know I made a loud noise when that twist in the plot emerged, and I had to cover my mouth with my hands to muffle any more exclamations. Even though Nala was all grown up with her fine lioness self! Holla! (Challah! Hee!), I was still thinking "this is giving me pedophile vibes". Another thing is that Timon and Pumba spent a lot of time implying that Simba (now grown up, of course, with his fine lion self - rowr!) needed to get laid to calm his ass down. Ugh. And THEN, the kicker - during the WORST!SONG!EVER!, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, instead of having the actors put on a display of lion lovin' ala the movie (which I was totally dreading - who didn't think that section was the weakest part of the film?) they had four couples dressed in weird costumes emerge and do these...dances...where they'd entangle themselves and then...ugh! Alexa said it was supposed to he hormones. I was thinking something a little less PG-rated, but along the same lines as her. What, the kiddies can take Scar trying to hump Nala but they can't take Simba and Nala pawing on one another? Regardless, the message was not lost on the adults, and the kids were probably bored shitless during the number.
My griping and bellyaching makes it seem like I didn't like the show. I did like it, overall. It made me want to watch "Lion King" again when I came home. Alexa and I enjoyed ourselves so that's all that mattered. She also brought up Bronx Science's 5 Year Reunion (which I did not get an invite for). I was on the fence about going (it costs 40-odd dollars!), but Alexa is going, apparently, and I figure we can get drunk and embarrass ourselves together, ala "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion". The only people I'm interesting in seeing from Science are Irina (wtf happened to her?) and Quincy, who I know isn't going to be there because he was in the class before mine. Hmm. I suppose it'll be interesting/painful anyway. *sigh* Still not sure if I should go. If I want to go. I'll decide soon.
/nonsensical entry
I'm reading through Stevie's Dark Tower series again, in anticipation of the release of book V, The Wolves of the Calla in November. I cannot wait. The only other time I was this giddy about the release of a book was during the long months between Tad Williams' publishing of Mountain of Black Glass and Sea of Silver Light. Orlando!
/anguished cry.
Heh. Anywho, yeah, I was reading The Gunslinger yesterday on my way to the mall. King revised it and added some new parts to it. I couldn't recall the original that well, even though I must have read it at least twice, because I didn't like it that much. King commented on as much in the new introduction - the writing was chock-full of unnecessary words and the style was pretty pompous (my phrasing, but the gist of the matter). What he left was totally engrossing. Very very good stuff, Stevie. It wins the Daniella Seal of Approval TM. To me the mark of a good book is when it makes you nearly forget your bus/train stop. And damned if I would have forgotten to get off the train that evening at 42nd Street if I hadn't forced myself to look up at one point. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Mom had two tickets to "The Lion King" on Broadway for a showing yesterday evening, and I decided to ask Alexa to go with me. It's a joke between us that seeing each other is an annual thing, but now that I seem to be stuck in the city for a while I guess our annual plans will be shot to pot. I left the house late (per usual), but this time I sort of had an excuse, since I had to cook dinner. So, yes, I head down to 42nd Street late and rush out of the subway station to the theatre through throngs of people. The people. I love them and I hate them. I love that you can step out onto a street in Manhattan and see people from all walks of life, speaking tens of language. I hate that these same people inevitably slow your ass down while they're gawking at skyscrapers and errant cabbies. My sojourn to New Amsterdam Theatre was slowed yesterday by two Buddhist monks, a gaggle of Japanese tourists, a crowd of people surrounding a street magician, a couple of people babbling away in what appeared to be German, and a number of rude late-working business people. Ah, I love/hate NY.
Alexa didn't seem too put off by my late appearance (we planned on being early to the show, and, besides, you'd think she'd be used to that sort of thing from me by now). She was still...her. I don't know how to say it any better. We perused the guest shop (The Disney Store, which was conveniently attached to the entrance of the theatre) and then headed in. Seats weren't too bad. Nice view of the stage. Although part-way through the show my leg started paining me like crazy. You'd think they'd try to add leg-room for normal people, but no, they obviously build these things for those shorter than 5 feet. Sizism. *snort*
Show wasn't that bad. The costumes were friggin' amazing. Breathtakingly beautiful. And, as always, the song The Circle of Life made me tear up like a baby. It's a kick-ass song, peoples! I'm allowed. My major gripes with the show - the deviations from the movie and the added sexuality (!). They (for some reason or another) decided to write some songs for the stage. Ugh. They were pretty craptacular. Well, not craptacular, but on par with most Elton John/Tim Rice collabo songs. Which made it pretty bad. But those I could just grimace and take. Sometimes they'd have the songs from the movie and then add a (I can think of no other way to describe it) "break it down" section, where the music would change slightly and people would dance in a funky way. I don't know. They fucked up my second favorite song (Be Prepared) that way. And the guy that played Scar didn't sing the part (ala Jeremy Irons) but spoke it lyrically. *sigh* His imitation of Irons was fairly spot-on throughout, though.
The sex (!) though. For one, they changed it up so that Scar ended up wanting to screw Nala (!), and that's what made her leave the devastated Pridelands. I was all like, "WTF?!?" I know I made a loud noise when that twist in the plot emerged, and I had to cover my mouth with my hands to muffle any more exclamations. Even though Nala was all grown up with her fine lioness self! Holla! (Challah! Hee!), I was still thinking "this is giving me pedophile vibes". Another thing is that Timon and Pumba spent a lot of time implying that Simba (now grown up, of course, with his fine lion self - rowr!) needed to get laid to calm his ass down. Ugh. And THEN, the kicker - during the WORST!SONG!EVER!, Can You Feel The Love Tonight, instead of having the actors put on a display of lion lovin' ala the movie (which I was totally dreading - who didn't think that section was the weakest part of the film?) they had four couples dressed in weird costumes emerge and do these...dances...where they'd entangle themselves and then...ugh! Alexa said it was supposed to he hormones. I was thinking something a little less PG-rated, but along the same lines as her. What, the kiddies can take Scar trying to hump Nala but they can't take Simba and Nala pawing on one another? Regardless, the message was not lost on the adults, and the kids were probably bored shitless during the number.
My griping and bellyaching makes it seem like I didn't like the show. I did like it, overall. It made me want to watch "Lion King" again when I came home. Alexa and I enjoyed ourselves so that's all that mattered. She also brought up Bronx Science's 5 Year Reunion (which I did not get an invite for). I was on the fence about going (it costs 40-odd dollars!), but Alexa is going, apparently, and I figure we can get drunk and embarrass ourselves together, ala "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion". The only people I'm interesting in seeing from Science are Irina (wtf happened to her?) and Quincy, who I know isn't going to be there because he was in the class before mine. Hmm. I suppose it'll be interesting/painful anyway. *sigh* Still not sure if I should go. If I want to go. I'll decide soon.
/nonsensical entry
