The Lion King was in Des Moines for a three week run this May. We were so excited to attend!
I had seen The Lion King in Chicago when I was in college (2002?) when I went on a little trip with my parents and sister to see it. It was really fun and I was wowed by the show. It was in a beautiful theater and I had never seen anything like it before. It also ran for six weeks in Des Moines back in 2005/2006 (not sure when- eek! This is why I record things in my blog!) when Scott and I saw it with his parents and I was blown away yet again. So to see it a third time...wow!
We saw it on the last day it ran, May 17th, which is also Trace's birthday. I was happy we were able to see it on his birthday because it felt extra special to me. Sitting quietly in the theater watching the musical with Trace on my mind really felt like he was close to my heart. It ended up being kind of an emotional, healing, introspective thing for me...which I absolutely didn't go in expecting. I just thought hey, this would be a neat thing to see with Michael and then bam! It sneaks up on you. A testament to the power of the arts for sure...where words fail, music speaks- am I right? :o)
Michael loved the show and did so well sitting quietly and still. The first act got a little long for him but he did so good. It is a long time to sit for anyone, let along a 5 year old. His favorite animals were the "ones with the curly horns" who came out at the beginning. He was also very good at telling which characters were which by their different masks- we quizzed him afterwards and he passed! :o) We are very thankful to Scott's mom for getting the tickets for us as it was quite a treat. She wanted to come with us but was out of town the weekend that worked best for us. Hopefully she can join us the next time a kid friendly musical is in town!
Afterwards we walked to Spaghetti Works for an early dinner (even beating a busload of retired folks!) and had a lovely time. It was nice to spend some time as a family playing tic tac toe and hangman while waiting for our food to come. We then stopped by the cemetery on the way home with balloons for Trace's birthday.
It was a great afternoon and one that will stick in my memory forever. Hopefully we have a theater lover in the making with Michael...I am excited for our future adventures together!
Here are a few clips of my favorite songs from the musical if you want to listen to them!
Endless Night:
He lives in you:
we thought it was a wonderful production, too, and even more special to know your experience. so powerful - i like how your phrasing about the arts and how they heal and go beyond words.
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