A sneak peek of Broadway's...The Lion King!

Making its debut in Salt Lake City next summer is...The Lion King! Can I tell you how excited I am, oh man! Well a few weeks ago, my mom brought in her mail and opened a letter with the emblem above on the card. It was an invitation to a preview of the show. I was shocked as to why she received the invite. I'm the one who cares about it! The invitation said she was allowed to bring one other person and I was determined to be that one. No one else in the family fought me on this, so I was able to go! So today we showed up to the preview, checked in, and found ourselves treated to a small gourmet bar before the show began. My mom and I were so shocked, we don't know how we ever got invited to it. We felt like royalty, and if we drank we would've enjoyed the bar, I guess! :) But we grabbed our free water bottle and took our seat.

The President of Broadway Across America in Utah came out and educated us on the history of putting The Lion King on Broadway. It was so interesting! He then showed us a video showing Julie Taymor, the genius behind it all, and how she created the masks, props, etc! The preview included three broadway cast members who flew in to perform 4 numbers including "Shadowland", "Can you feel the Love Tonight", "The Circle of Life", and "Endless Night". It was so awesome, a little taste of broadway just for us! The lady who plays Rafiki was dressed up in the entire costume! And...I think it was the same woman I saw play Rafiki in NYC! So you can pretty much imagine me on cloud nine! Right?

Oh man, and then to top off the night, they told us they had goodie bags for us as we leave the theatre. Well I thought it would just be some papers and stuff, but it included a bean bag of one of the characters, the musical soundtrack, a book of pictures from the musical, and a preview dvd of the show! I was pulling the stuff out of the bag like it was Christmas, I told my mom I could cry! Not really, but I was that happy! We really felt treated like Queens and now we just need to find out who to thank! We walked back to our cars feeling pretty good! Now my mom is stoked for The Lion King, and I can't wait!

It's so cool! The giraffe actors are on stilts via hands and feet. Amazing, huh! This photo is of the opening act, the Circle of Life!

Simba! I just can't get enough of how cool all the props are. Julie Taymor sculpted them all in an African design. She wanted the actors and actresses faces to still be seen and allow the audience to use their own imagination to put the whole play together! A movie is so realistic, but in a play, she wanted to give the audience credit for putting it all together!

Simba & Nala! Can you feel the love?

He's going back! Simba realizing what he needs to do!

It's on! Mufasa and Scar going at it...brothers!

This is the soundtrack from my goodie bag! It's my favorite! Elton John and Tim Rice...amazing job!

And this is the cute Simba bean bag I got! I had a great time and am so thankful my mom and I were given the opportunity to attend this event!