The Lion King Rules!

Last weekend, as I spent my lazy days @ "Rancho Relaxo", I got a call from the other half. He had been pushing "The Lion King" since it was first here 2 (?) years ago. I was not totally against seeing it, but my previous experience w/ staged Disney (Beauty & the Beast) left me w/ a bit of apprehension. You see, I hated that show. I am not sure why, but it did absolutely nothing for me. Well, "The Lion King" will be leaving our fair windy city soon, so the other half insisted we get our butts over there to see it. He found us 2 third row center seats for last night. We decided to make an evening out of it, cabbing downtown and eating a nice light dinner @ the Park Grill in Millennium Park. We then did some shopping and headed over the Cadillac Palace. I was really stuck between a rock and a hard place. I did not want to purchase show merchandise before the show, cuz what if I hated it like I did "Beauty & the Beast"? If I waited until after the show, there would be too many people bombarding the retail stands. So, we went ape and bought 50 bucks of stuff before the show. I kept my fingers crossed that I would like it.
The Show...
It was all about the waterworks. I had to have cried at least 7 times. The opening # had me immediately reaching for a tissue from my purse (if I had a tissue and if I had a purse). The show really blew me away. The costumes and masks and puppets were unreal, and after only a few moments, I would stop seeing the people behind them. They really sold that these characters were acting and moving on their own. The best example of this was Timon. Timon was completely there physically, and a man in green was his puppet master. I first saw them and was not sure how this would work. Within a few seconds, the man in green disappeared (not literally) and Timon remained...moving and wisecracking all by himself. Amazing! In fact, since I know the film quite well, I was anxious to see how they would do each scene. The wildebeest stampede? The elephant graveyard? The "I Just Can't Wait to be King" number? How could they possibly do this? They did, and the standout scene was Mufasa's appearance to Simba as a cloud/weather. Breathtaking. This was one of the multiple moments in which I squeezed the other half's knee, in disbelief and utter joy. When I wasn't genuinely into the story (very few sporadic moments) I was marveling @ the technical aspects of the production. It was flawless.
The performances were all quite good. Among the best, Little Nala (you go girl!), Scar (the nastiest of nasty; new from the movie was his "love" for Nala...ugh), the trio of hyenas (amazing costumes and unreal movement), Zazu (we picked up a stuffed Zazu @ the retail stand) and Rafiki. The woman playing this role had an incredible voice, and great presence. Once she entered the stage, little else was noticed.
I found the first act much more engrossing than the second. Was it the intermission, cutting off the momentum? I don't know. By the end of the second act, it was back to the waterworks, so any loss of excitement in the second half was quickly forgotten.
A few down moments. The dream ballet in the middle of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", was a bit overdone for me, and sadly, I was quite distracted by the "larger" gentlemen in the center stage couple (look @ me, being so petty). I found this moment quite hokey, and could definitely have done w/ out it. I found the final fight a bit lacking in craziness and spectacle, but only for a brief moment. I was not in love w/ adult Simba. He was fine, and did nothing particularly annoying, he just did not jive w/ my own tastes (although he did have a hot body....so many of those male dancers did...yowza...I am sure they are all just flaming bitter stage queens, so that ruins this droolage somewhat).
In the end, I was about 97 % transported to Pride Rock and its surroundings. I would definitely return there for another safari.
Memorable moment: the disco section of "Be Prepared". Well, I wasn't. Who would have thought to put in a disco dance # in the middle of this Nazi recruitment song? What can I say? It worked.
The three most touching #s: Nala's preparation to leave the prideland; Mufasa's scolding of little Simba following the elephant graveyard; and Rafiki's "Within You" #, opposite Mufasa's "cloud head". Tissues. Tissues.