Lion King, Jr.

Last year David participated in his school drama club, Kids in Action (KIA) and was excited to audition again this year for the production of Lion King, Jr.  The auditions were on November 12th and he found out right before the Thanksgiving recess that he got in again.  Part auditions happened in December and before Christmas he was cast as the goofball hyena Ed.

He was excited to be cast in this roll, and was called in for a second audition to try out his laugh for his music teacher before the official rolls were announced. He wouldn't practice the laugh for us throughout the 3 months of rehearsals so we were going to be surprised.  It wasn't until the first show when he was mic'd that I heard him and it was perfect and hilarious!  And it was confirmed for me when I heard the audience reactions to him.  My heart swelled with pride!

I thought Seussical, Jr. was amazing last, and the Lion King, Jr. did not disappoint.  The kids were amazing and they completely transformed into these characters.  It got me right in the feels each show.  The amount of hard work that went into this show was astounding.  Not only did the kids work their butts off in rehearsals, but we had an awesome team of parents who stepped up to help with set building, painting, costume design and make-up.  I was honored to be able to capture all these memories for everyone.  Looking forward to seeing what KIA brings for us next year!

Last rehearsal before show week:

Yeah, it's dinner time, and we ain't got no stinkin' entrees. 

Groan!

Show week - Costume rehearsal:

Shenzi: Well, well, well, Banzai, what have we got here? 
Banzai: Hmm, I don't know Shenzi uh, what do you think Ed? 
Ed the Hyena: Oo ehehe, oh hahahaha 

David nailed his facial expressions.  This was right after Mufasa knocks them down.

Banzai: Yeah!  You hear that?  If you ever come back, she'll kill ya!

Groan!

Opening Day:

Thursday morning the kids do a show with full costume and make up for half of the school and then on Friday morning they preform for the other half of the school.  It's a great way to get a practice audience before the real opening.  Once all the kids were costumed and made up, I snapped a portrait so that they could have something that shows their character!  I was so glad to have the chance to capture the hard work the costume design team did!

Ed the Heyena

Full costume!

And because they ask the audience to refrain from photographing during the performance, I snapped images of all the kids for the parents to have during the two morning performances.

Ed the Hyena: Ahahahahahahaha!

Thursday night I sold tickets and worked on editing all the images I had taken during the various rehearsals and shows.  I could hear the laughter from the audience and the clapping!  I knew the show as a hit!

I also had the chance to photograph the Lion King Wall of Fame!  Each year they create a wall showcasing the cast and directors.  It came out awesome!

David's head shot!

After opening night, with his first flower of many!

Friday Morning Show:

On Friday morning, Evan convinced me to sit in the front row and it was a good call, because I was able to get even better pictures for the parents!

Just can't wait to be King!

His famous laugh!

So prepare for the coup of the century!

Long live the King!

Friday night I was in the audience with my parents, aunt and cousins!  It was really the first time I got to see the show without a camera up to my face.  It was just amazing and eyes were definitely a little misty and my heart was full of pride - these THIRD, FOURTH, & FIFTH graders are amazing!

Closing was interesting because Friday night one of our directors who was due to have her baby the following week, started having contractions and was not going to be up for being at the show.  An SOS went out to a few of us who really knew the show, asking if one of us could help with the music cues and I answered the call.  I got a crash course in the system and managed to not totally screw it up.  Only one miscue, and of course I felt awful about it, but considering I hadn't ever practiced before, I was pretty happy with my performance.  It think it really helped that I knew the show so well after all the time I had spent in the Show Week rehearsals.  It made for an interesting day and I was so happy to have been able to help.

Show flowers!