Mega Music Talent

Archive for the ‘Musicals’ Category

The award winning musical The Lion King, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, has now made it to the White House. On September 15, 2008 in the evening members of the cast performed before a group of dignitaries at a Whitehouse State Dinner’ hosted by President and Mrs Bush, in honor of Ghana’s President John Kufuor and his wife Mrs. Theresa Kufuor. The numbers being performed by the cast include “One By One,” “Shadowland,” “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” and “He Lives in You.” Written from the beautifully animated Disney film, The Lion King, the musical has been winning renown and praise since it first began to appear on stage almost 11 years ago.

The musical tells the tale of a young lion cub, following his epic adventures as he travels into adulthood trying to understand his past and where he stands in the Circle of Life. The movie was excellent, going on to win the Oscar Award for Best Music, Original Score by composer Hans Zimmer. It also won the award for Best Music, Original Song for the song “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” composed by Elton John with lyrics by Tim Rice. But some have argued that in visual beauty, the musical is even more fantastic.

With actors in wonderful costumes, with beautifully designed masks depicting the animals they represent, there is not much that Lion King the Musical can be found to be lacking in. The fact that the masks and puppeteers are not hidden, as the actors and puppets together present this wonderful story to the audience, actually seems to add a level of charm to the performance. With both the presentation of the animal and the brilliant actors revealed together, the melding of imagination with lack of pretense creates a world that is in some ways even more wonderful than the movie.

The idea for the masks that are worn on the head, rather than in front of the face, is taken from traditional African masks, which are meant to be functional rather than decorative. The puppets are Bunraku puppets, operated by a three-man team. The name is taken from the creator, Uemura Bnrakuken, who created the Japanese theatre form at the start of the 16th Century. Shadow puppetry is also used in this production, an art form that may have been around for as long as 2000 years, originated in either Greece or China. The art form uses flat wood puppets behind a screen to create scenes and backgrounds to the musical. All in all, this is an enchanting event, and a must-see production.

The September 15th Whitehouse performance will only include a remnant of the cast: Tshidi Manye who plays Rafiki, Dashaun Young who appears as Simba, and Kissy Simmons will be performing as Nala. Along with them, there will be eight members of the ensemble performing as well. This musical, already famous and gaining more fame during its ten years on stage, will now be known as one of the few such performances to take place at the White House.

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Over a decade has passed since two Irish dancers, Michael Flatley and Jean Butler were drafted in to fill a 15 minute spot at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. Who would have thought that the stage where some of the great controversies of Europe are played out and settled would be the same stage that gave rise to the international phenomenon that is The Lord of the Dance. The show that has made him famous, and brought this previously little-known dance form to the forefront of public consciousness premiered at the Point Theatre in Dublin in 1996. The dancer, who celebrated his 50th birthday this year, made his last appearance in the starring role for the performance in 1998, but he continues to breathe life into the show.

Now a resident of Ireland, Michael Flatley is coming back to America once more bringing Lord of the Dance on tour across Canada. The show will be visiting theatres in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The show that was once unheard of is now enjoying international fame. The video and DVD have made sales worldwide, and tickets are constantly being sold out for the show no matter what town it is in. The first year that it was performed it was the most lucrative touring group of the year.

As the vision of Michael Flatley lives on, there is little doubt that it will go down in history as one of the best loved dance shows of all time. Now, the show has become so well-established that there are two troops touring the globe at any given time. There is no stopping the vision and brilliance of Michael Flatley.

Michael Flatley was born on July 16 is the child of Irish immigrants who grew up in Chicago, IL. He was inspired from childhood by his incredible imagination and his dearly loved grandmother, to aspire to being the greatest Irish Dancer in the world. At the age of 17 he brought in the title of All-World Irish Dancing Champion, he was the first American to bring down the title. While he was training to be a dancer, he also studied traditional Irish flute, becoming the All-Ireland Flute Champion as well.

The first show that Michael Flatley gave his energy and vision to was called Riverdance and though he did not remain a part of the show there is little doubt that his genius can still be found. Loosing Riverdance proved to be a fortunate occurrence as this amazing dancer went on to direct his own production, Lord of the Dance. Giving every available resource to this show, he created something that is otherworldly, ancient and completely relevant in its presentation and general appeal. His rendition Feet of Flames, which he first performed in 1998 was taped live and went platinum almost overnight. He continued performing Feet of Flames in 2001. Even though he retired that year, he still continues to fulfill his role as director and creator. His most recent venture, Celtic Tiger, premiered in 2005 and is a culmination of a lifetime of dreaming and creating that has lead to this controversial and utterly spectacular production. Keep looking out for more to come from Michael Flatley, as he predicts that the fun is just beginning.

This article is sponsored by http://www.stubhub.com and was written by Phoebe Bradley. StubHub is a leader in the business of selling http://www.stubhub.com/lord-of-the-dance-tour-tickets/ sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.