Lion King (2007 Paris Cast Recording)

Ladies and Gentlemen,
a first time listen-through I am truly excited about. Elton John, Lemo M, Zimmer, and Julie Taymor’s masterpiece Lion King from 1997 took over internationally in the late 90s, much to the pleasure of everyone everywhere. In 1998, Lion King beat out Stephen Flaherty’s Ragtime for Best Musical, which most people say was a given, but let’s not forget that Lion King lost to Ragtime and Honk(!) in the Drama Desk and Oliver awards, respectively. In retrospect Julie Taymor and co were probably robbed of those. This is biased of course because I’ve never seen a professional production of Ragtime. And don’t worry everyone, Flaherty’s “Once on this Island” will go on to win the 2018 Tony for Best Revival.

I can’t believe Honk beat Lion King for the Olivier Award … 😦

Anyway, Act 1:
The Paris recording captures the perfect Circle of Life energy during it’s opening number. Rafikii is slightly more articulate with story telling diction than her American counterpart, but it’s a near flawless representation of the original production. Literally my only annoyance is the added syllable count in the French translation of “Circle of Life” (4) to Cercle De La Vie (5). I am not an expert in libretto translations though, so don’t mind me. The African chants of the first 10 minutes of the show come to an end with the ever annoying, and now cut, “Morning Report” or “L’Echo Du Matin.” We then remember that the first act of Lion King is more happy and G-Rated and the songs are catchy and silly and the Adults in the audience are awaiting the drama of Act 2.

Although some liberties were taken with various vocal lines, as well as syllables, the underlying score remains faithful to it’s original incarnation. The Paris cast does it’s duty well in preparing us for the overwhelming Act that is to follow.

[Intermission] (Only thoughts so far is: I can’t wait for He Lives in You, Shadowlands, and Endless Night)

Act 2
The African chanting at the beginning of act 2 remind me that there are some great songs are ahead after not understanding the jokes in Morning Report, Can’t Wait to be King, Hakuna, Hyneas songs, etc. In fact, we begin act two with Scar’s slightly creepy, slightly rape-y song Madness of Scar, where Scar tries to “Wed(!?)” Nala and our French actor does a great job convincing us that he, and his little hyena servants, are completely nuts and obviously pose a threat to the protagonists. Hearing it in French makes me equally uncomfortable and intrigued by this song, musically, and lyrically. After this nightmare (in a good way?) opening number, the show ascends into adult ballads with haunting African tribal chants interwoven with the melodies. Shadowlands and Endless night hit me hard back to back, and they really did well with these ballads. Adult Simba deliver’s Jason Raize’s (the original Simba on Broadway) emotional and desperate cry for help in a very beautiful way. After Raize’s unexpected passing in 2004 at the age of 28, this song has a deeper meaning for a lot of theater enthusiasts, as the song speaks so many words to so many people’s spiritual journey. I am pleased with this recording, so far, and I think Raize would be proud of this production.

A french sounding accordion leads us into Can You Feel the Love Tonight and I’m left wondering if there was an accordion in non-French productions. Cheesy a little bit, but Timon and Pumba are supposed to be, so it’s fitting I think. As we come to the end of the show we are left with one last song before the finale: Il Vie En Toi!, or He Lives in You, a song that even atheist theatergoers will attest to it bringing them closer to God. I’m being hyperbolic, of course, but I can’t emphasize enough the beauty and almost perfection of this song. The reprised version of the Act 1 “They Live In You” brings Rafikii in to offer some encouraging (French) words to our protagonist, and soon the chorus joins in and Simba finally exclaims “Il Vie En Moi!” indicating the spiritual song has done its duties in helping Simba understand his role.

As “Simba Se Confronte A Scar” plays a couple minutes of intense instrumental battle music, I can’t help but appreciate the quality of musicianship put into this recording. Everything sounds very tight, well rehearsed, and the electric guitar solo in the Confrontation is a nice little showcase of this.

Our last moment of triumph is celebrated with a mixture of African chanting, French words, and the famous Lebo M/Zimmer/John sound. The harmonies are on point in this finale as Simba ascends to the top of Pride Rock.

Concluding Thoughts
Worth noting that this production ran for almost 3 years and won the 2008 Molière Award (French Tony) for Best Musical. It is absolutely one of my favorite foreign cast recordings and will always bring me back with its almost incalculably gorgeous second Act and beautiful translation.

9/10 without doubt and if a bootleg of this production ever comes up, I would pay money for it.

Glorious indeed! xoxo -a.b.