A Night at the Orpheum with my Niece

Here’s something that you might not know about me: I’m a bit of a musical geek. I’m not as big of a musical geek as some people that I know, but I listen to musical soundtracks quite often—and belt out the lyrics along with them when I’m alone. I really enjoy seeing them on stage and back in the day I may or may not have been a RENT-head.

(Who am I kidding? I totally was. After I saw it live the soundtrack was all I listened to. When the movie came out and I had a chance to see most of the original cast in their roles I dragged my friends to the movie and made them sit in an ice cold theater that had no heat during winter because I wasn’t going to miss my chance to see it that night due to something as crazy as no heat in the theater. And I’ve seen it live a couple of times.)

Anyway, this post isn’t about RENT. This is about a musical that I have wanted to see live since it first came out: The Lion King. I, like a lot of people, love the movie and we’ve all heard how amazing the costumes and music are, so it’s been one of the musicals that I knew I had to see. I pass by the Orpheum in downtown Minneapolis regularly, so when I saw The Lion King listed as the last musical of the season, I knew I had to go see it. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve probably seen how fascinated I have been with the building recently, and part of that is because I have been watching the marquee change with each show and have been counting down to The Lion King.

As it worked out, I got to see it with my niece, and it was the best thing ever. I was about her age when I went to see my first musical on stage. My sister—her mom—took me to see Beauty and the Beast and I believe it was at the Orpheum too. I still remember how excited I was to go see that musical—and how much I still love listening to the soundtrack. So I was looking forward to seeing what my niece thought of The Lion King, especially since she is quite the musician.

And I think being with her made the show that much better. I loved watching her take in the old building and snap a few photos with her iPod. I loved watching her look down into the pit when they started to practice. (We were in the second row… I’m still not quite sure how we got such amazing seats, especially for the price that we paid.) And I loved the look on her face when the animals started to come on stage at the beginning… and the reaction that she had as we approached the most heartbreaking scene to ever take place in a movie—or in this case, on stage. (You all know which scene I’m talking about, right?)

She said that her favorite things about the musical were the costumes and the music. I loved both of those things as well and was incredibly fascinated by how the musical was choreographed. It was so cool to see how they transitioned from one scene to the next, how the costumes were used, the fascinating ways they used the lighting to help tell the story. I wondered how some scenes would translate from movie to stage and those particular scenes were absolutely breathtaking.

As we were walking out, two people behind us were talking about the musical and one said, “It was just as good seeing it the second time. There’s so much that you miss the first time!”

I’m sure that is true!

They released the schedule for the next season and there are a couple shows that I’m planning to go see: Mamma Mia! in its farewell tour and Wicked, which I missed when it was here a few years ago. I’m still kicking myself about that. Oh! And my beloved RENT will be in town again. Hmm… 🙂

HAVE YOU SEEN THE LION KING? WHAT DID YOU THINK?
ARE YOU A FAN OF MUSICALS TOO? WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN? WHAT SHOULD BE ON MY LIST OF MUSICALS TO SEE LIVE?

20 Comments

Emily
July 13, 2016 at 7:56 am
I loved seeing The Lion King! I saw it once in NYC and then again in San Antonio when Daniel’s aunt was working backstage for the traveling group. It’s a beautiful musical!
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 19, 2016 at 9:07 am
  Did you get to go backstage in San Antonio? I’d definitely love to see it a second time. Did you find that you picked up on things that you missed the first time?
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Christine
July 13, 2016 at 9:53 am
Aw, sounds like you guys had so much fun!
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 13, 2016 at 12:21 pm
  We did! It was such a great night. 🙂
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chelsea jacobs
July 13, 2016 at 10:20 am
I saw the Lion King in NYC and it was just so stunning!
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 13, 2016 at 12:21 pm
  It’s such a stunning show! The costumes and their use of lighting and puppetry was so amazing. It would be so cool to see it in NYC! 🙂
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Georgiana
July 13, 2016 at 11:37 am
I’ve never seen a REAL live show, just a few community productions. Jealous! Sounds like fun.
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 13, 2016 at 12:19 pm
  It’s a lot of fun! I highly recommend it, if you get chance. 🙂 I don’t go often, but might have to go more in the next season since a couple of shows that I really want to see will be there.
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Taylor Mobley
July 13, 2016 at 12:53 pm
I loved seeing the Lion King on Broadway. What an amazing time 🙂
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 15, 2016 at 3:20 pm
  It’s such a great show! It would be so cool to see it on Broadway one day too. 🙂
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Heather with WELLFITandFED
July 13, 2016 at 1:26 pm
WICKED – Favorite, MAMA MIA- Just ok. RENT – AWESOME, LION KING – slightly underwhelmed. Am I too tough? 🙂
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 15, 2016 at 3:19 pm
  I’m so excited to see Wicked when it’s here! That’s what I’ve heard about Mamma Mia, and am kind of expecting, but I feel like it’s one I’d like to see on stage sometime. And I don’t think you’re being too tough at all. I’ve read other reviews that people were underwhelmed with it too. 🙂
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Susannah
July 13, 2016 at 5:44 pm
What fun! How special to share it with your niece! <3
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 15, 2016 at 3:17 pm
  Yes, it was so much fun! It definitely made the whole experience so much better. 🙂
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Rachel G
July 13, 2016 at 6:41 pm
I really enjoy musicals, but haven’t had a chance to see much live shows. It’s funny, I teared up just watching the version of the live Lion King show at Hong Kong Disneyland–I can only imagine what my emotional reaction would be watching a performance like this!
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 15, 2016 at 3:17 pm
  I’d probably tear up at a live Lion King show at Disneyland too! 🙂
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Becky @ Disney in your Day
July 13, 2016 at 10:49 pm
I love musicals (especially Disney) and in fact I’m an actor myself and perform in musicals in community theater! The Lion King is one I’ve been dying to see but just haven’t gotten the chance yet.
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 15, 2016 at 3:16 pm
  That’s awesome! When you get a chance, you definitely have to go. It was amazing!
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Kathy Rosenberg
July 14, 2016 at 8:50 am
Michael saw it in London last summer when he was studying abroad and convinced us we must go as a family. It didn’t take much convincing as it was THE movie at the time of raising our little boys. I think I have every line memorized from the movie and most all of the songs. Now 22 and 25, they can’t wait and either can we. We 5 are going tonight!! I’m packing my Kleenex.
Will they let me sing along?! 🙂
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- Crystal // Dreams, etc.
  July 15, 2016 at 3:15 pm
  That’s so cool! I’m glad you all were able to go see it together. That must have been so much fun! Tissues were definitely needed for me. And I found myself mouthing along with the songs… the conductor was too! 🙂
  Reply