The Lion King, A Review (Also titled, I believe my mother thinks I'm blind)

For Hannukah, my mother bought tickets for she and I to see The Lion King at the Bushnell in Hartford. Here is the play by play.

My mother came to our house at about 5pm. She came barring biscuits and rawhides in an attempt to win over Penny (Rex has been long since won over, but she brought him stuff too.) Penny gets a bit scared in new situations, so when my mom walked in, her tail went between her legs and she went into full defense mode. She came to my mom for treats (thumbs up) and then my mom gave her the rawhide and she chewed away, but whenever my mom looked at her she growled. Yes, just looked at her. So I said to my mom, who was walked over to Penny, "I wouldn't do that". "Seriously mom, leave her alone". "We don't have time for an ER visit". Finally we had to leave and she left Penny to chew in peace.

We decided on Max Burger in West Hartford for dinner. I'd been there before, I knew it was good, I knew it was a safe choice. And then in mom fashion she read the menu to me. "They have sweet potato fries, Stace, you like those." "They have a burger with brie." "They have a beer called Arrogant Bastard". I know mom, I read it too. We ate and she deemed it better than Plan B, previously her favorite burger place in all the land. And then in mom fashion she tried to talk me into a dessert that neither of us needed. "The have whoopie pies". "The have an ice cream with bacon in it." All through dinner never failing to remind me that she hopes our seats are good for the show. She hopes the seats aren't too far to the side. The beginning is really the best part of the show, Stace. Its worth it to see the show just for the beginning.

We left Max Burger and headed to the Bushnell. We got there way too early and stood around for a while because they wouldn't even let us into our seats yet. "I really hope the seats are good." "If they are too far over I'm going to be so pissed".

We finally get to our seats and THANK ALL THAT IS GOOD they weren't too far over. The beginning of the show really was amazing. Very intricate and imaginative and wonderfully done. "Stace, did you see that?" "Look over there" "Isn't it amazing?" The actors were really wonderful. Usually there's a least one that I could do without, but this entire cast was really great. The only thing I didn't like (and Dee, this is the part where you can stop reading cause I know you are seeing it next weekend) aside from the beautiful costumes and scenery, the story was, almost word for word, from the Disney movie. I knew every joke before they said it, and that made them way less funny. (Even less when my mother would elbow me in the side, telling me to get a sense of humor). I guess I was expecting more of an adaptation of the movie and not retelling of the movie by actors.

Be it known also that I am not someone who laughs out loud at theatre or movies or TV. I never have been. I blame something obscure from my childhood. So, when the show was over and my mother turned to me and said "Did you like it?" My response was, "Yes, it was really good." "But you didn't look like you liked it" "I did." "Are you sure". "If you ask me again, the answer is going to change." Keep in mind too that it was now 11pm, about 2 degrees outside, I was tired and a bit annoyed that my husband was leaving for Miami in 5 hours and I wasn't going with him.

To recap, Penny has a bit of food aggression, as well as being greatly scared. Max Burger is excellent and does have both a beer called Arrogant Bastard and some sort of ice cream that had bacon in the title. The Lion King was very good and our seats were not too far over. And I only teared up a little seeing the adorable kids all dressed up, all excited watching the show with their parents.