WHAT A SWELL PARTY...

It has come to pass. We opened. More importantly, we survived the weeks leading up to opening. The rehearsals. The media interviews. The photo calls. The technical issues. The exhaustion. We lived through it all. We climbed the mountain and triumphantly planted the flag.

We actually had more than one opening. The night before opening was 'media night'. You could call it our 'soft opening', but there was nothing soft about it. The crowd was wild, raucous and vocal and we gave them a hot, HOT show. The actual opening night crowd was a bit more typical for an event filled with that many corporate-types, more reserved and not quite as willing to let the hair down. We got them loosened up eventually and it was clear that they loved the show, and the buzz after the show reached epic proportions.

I have never been to an opening night party quite like this one. Because it was a black tie, red carpet, invitation only affair, the company turned itself out in it's very best glam and haberdashery. The music was loud, the energy in the room was atomic and the champagne flowed like water. The media were waiting at the top of the escalators to nab us for post-show interviews so it took me a good 15 minutes just to make my way to the nearest bar, but the cameras didn't stop, not for the whole night. Eventually, I even gave up trying to make it to the food because I couldn't go five feet without being stopped by someone.

I spoke briefly with the television host whom a few of us had spent the day with when we filmed segments of the 'making of..' program. His assessment of the night was that we had blown Singapore away and that we will be running here for a long time.

It turned out to be another one of those nights where I didn't get to bed until 4 a.m. When you're riding on the kind of a high, why would you want it to stop?

Me with Veronique (wardrobe), Sienna (cub-minder) & Tim (Stage Management Office)

Anuar (our dresser) with my friend and dressing-room-mate, Lyall (Zazu)

Lion cubs

Jamie (Timon)

Lou (who does my make-up and wig) and her husband Pollycarpus (ensemble)


Mon ami Veronique qui a travaillé à la production de Paris.


Our elegant stage management team (Minette, Charlie, Kristin & Karen)
with Warren (the littlest Young Simba)


Vero with Jee-L (Mufasa)

After the craziness of opening week, we then had to settle down to the business of doing the show eight times a week. Our opening night was a Thursday so, partied out as we were, we still had five more shows to do before our Monday day off.

On Sunday afternoon, I experienced, firsthand, the kind of mechanical mayhem that puppet technician German-Mike had warned me about very early on. Because the movement systems for Scar's mask are both delicate and complicated, many things can, and do, go wrong. Just before I was about to make my entrance for "Be Prepared", my big number, my mask became possessed by a demon and started sliding up and down my face all on it's own. Puppet techs. were summoned and I was surrounded by people trying to fix the problem in the 2 minutes we had before I had to be on stage. (Not unlike emergency room triage) They ended up turning off the mechanicals and securing the mask to it's support boom with string. I was a bit late for my cue and the poor hyenas, who knew nothing about what was going on, were starting to get a bit worried. I could tell that they had run out of dialogue and were carrying on with their laughter that I usually interrupt, but their was a certain note of desperation beginning to creep into their cackling.

On a completely different note...

Sometimes, the subtle nuances and slang applications of language are lost on people who may not be the native speakers of that language. Give yourself a pat on the back if you get why these signs are funny....