Personal Narrative: The Lion King

To play a role given to us, isn’t fun once we learn of it, however, breaking away pushes us further into the journey. The Hero's Journey, a repetitive process that seems to be in the basic natural structure of every human, and despite any efforts are often replicating it ourselves. Following the journey is simple and sometimes unavoidable. The whole journey is mapped out by Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey. Then seen in Dracula, Bedazzled, and Noah. Also, in a easier way Howl's Moving Castle and The Game.

When I went to go see The Lion King on Broadway a few words came to mind after the play; amazing, stunning, and unbelievable! I was a little unsure at first, because I thought I was too young to see something from a Disney World production. I was also wondering how Disney was going to manage putting a film starring non-human characters, into a three-dimensional stage. However, using all their “Disney magic” with a little help from a great stage producer The Lion King Musical kept my attention all the way through with their; voice and diction, staging, and many other elements.

A short play is usually filled with a theatrical energy of diverse anthologies. The time allotted may be only ten or fifteen minutes, so it must be able to capture and engage the audience with some dramatic tension, exciting action, or witty humor. Just as in a short story, a great deal of the explanation and background is left for the reader or viewer to discover on their own. Because all the details are not explicitly stated, each viewer interprets the action in their own way and each experience is unique from someone else viewing the same play. Conflict is the main aspect that drives any work of literature, and plays usually consist of some form of conflict. In “Playwriting 101:

Joseph Campbell has a theory called The Hero’s Journey in where an individual is shown in a mundane world, called to an adventure, and goes on the adventure. In the adventure, the individual goes on the path of trials that consisting of making new friends, new mentors, new enemies, facing new challenges, gaining new skills, and new knowledge. When the individual comes back to their mundane world, they are the master of two worlds through their new experiences they've gained in the adventure. The Hero’s Journey has been repeated in literature and films through many years: two examples that have The Hero’s Journey are the films, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Change is inevitable. Whether it be positive or negative, change is constantly happening. More than often change can take you from the known world and spit you into the unknown, where you return a changed person. While embarking on the journeys provoked by change, you are on a hero’s journeys. The hero’s journey was popularized by Joseph Campbell. When describing what prompts hero’s journeys, Joseph Campbell said,

The acting in this musical was phenomenal. The puppets and the puppeteers were in sync with one another to the point that their outward appearance and facial expressions mirrored one another. I do not know if this was intentional of the director but it help to minimize the fact that there was someone else on stage holding the puppets. However, I often

Sadly when I arrived at the theater I was not even sure I would be able to focus on the show, for my mother who was meant to see this production with me yet was unable to. Due to unforeseeable circumstances that neither one of us could for see and so with all of this hanging over head I was really hoping to get a laugh from this play, which it did. This was not the first time that I had come to see a play at Boise Little Theater, but definitely this was the first time that I had done it on my own. Which was a tad

Overally, I loved it. A lot of things happened that I would not think was possible because I have been to previous performances. It was always an unexpecting experience being in the same room with the actors and actresses because

One of my first experiences that I can remember is when my Grandmother was having a book signing. I had to introduce her to the audience. Telling all of these people that I did not know, who she was, what she wrote, and why she was having a book signing. At 13, this was an unusual experience but because of my Grandmother’s inspiration, hard work and exceptional gift in poetry, I knew that I needed to do this for her, as well as for myself. Having spoken in front of a crowd like this has boosted my self confidence remarkably, it made me come out of my shy shell and become more outspoken. I felt that if I could overcome that fear, I could overcome anything making myself prepared for everything that came my

Joseph Campbell is a leading mythology expert and philosopher who studied all myths from around the world and found the “Hero’s Journey,” a pattern or algorithm that appears in common in myth, religious ritual, and storytelling. The Hero’s Journey has three elements, separation, initiation and return. If I think about myself, coming to Hawaii by myself was a separation from my comfortable zone where I was surrounded by my supportive family. First time when I came here, I could not say anything and became quiet because I thought people would think I was a stupid and not understand me. I was afraid of how people think about my language skills. However, I tried to speak from myself, asked people to collect my mistakes, accepted what I cannot do

What musical theatre does best is to be abstract, not literal reality. Julie Taymor director

My favorite part of the entire play, which may seem weird is that face that the scene changes were in character. As Jean put on her jack, she was in character looking out into the crowd. That was just such a nice touch that they added and should be applauded. Secondly, the fact that they had the performance in the upstage rather than in the large auditorium. It was such a minor thing, but I actually had to move me feet because I was worried that I would accidentally trip an actor. That was amazing! It made the play feel more intimate and like I was actually in the rooms, experiencing what they were.

In the history of Broadway there is one musical that stands above the rest and for many generations will be loved and adored. That musical is The Lion King. The musical retells the beloved Disney animated movie’s story on the stage, but it also brings new and exciting elements to the stage which has helped to inspire and push other musical creators in their approach of storytelling. Not only did the musical have the talented Julie Taymor (who was the first woman to win a Tony for directing) with her talented creative team, but the musical also has the rich African influences, and inventive/creative use of puppetry. The Lion King is a story about birth, life, love, death, rebirth, and ancestry. The heart of the show is truly African and Julie

The acting was very natural. It’s what drew me in the play the most. In previous plays, I was always usually distracted with the pretty lights, attractive costumes, and the loud catchy music in the background. If summed up into a couple of words this play was just dialogue between two characters. It was a wonderful story. They were able to get across the theme across in a very subtle way which I thought was cool. It wasn’t that obvious either. As the story moves along and the communication between the uncle and niece increase, they both start realizing their fault along with the audience. The only thing that drew me out was that I sort of felt cramped in the theater. We were very close to the actors and it did create a connection, but it was too close. I needed some space so I could the entire stage and what movements the actors were doing. My favorite moment was the night scene in which the iguana scratches on the roof and really disturbs Becky. It was hilarious and needed to light up the mood. The atmosphere of the play started out funny and then drops to very serious. We find out about Sterling who has a depressing life himself at the Labyrinth scene. Becky introduces her issue which in a sense was pretty serious. Her childish attitude surprisingly wasn’t annoying at all to watch. In fact, it was adorable. The only thing that really irked me was the random kiss. It kind of ruined my impression on Becky who I really liked. I failed to

My Family and I were at home eating dinner. After dinner I told my mom that I had left something on top of the mountain, so she said “‘go up to get it Mary. But she didn’t want me to go alone so I went to go see if my friend was home but he wasn’t so I disobeyed my moms rules and went up by myself anyway. And it was starting to get dark so I had to get the base fast but I couldn’t find it. Now it was really dark and 2 hours had already passed and I couldn't my way off the mountain because it was so dark. And with my luck my phone died so I couldn’t call anyone for help, so I just started walking and walking after a little bit I realized I was getting nowhere so again I walked eventually I just fell and went to