Sunday, December 29, 2002

The Play Is The Thing


Saw a play tonight at the Charlotte Martin Theatre in the Seattle Center. It was a musical version of "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe".



Let me first point out that I haven't read all the Narnia books. Very few of them, in fact. But I have read the book this play is based on, so none of what happened was a surprise. What was a surprise was how closely the play followed the story from the book. It followed as closely as it could without sacrificing itself. The biggest departure was the songs, of course. In the book I don't recall anyone breaking into song.

Even with those distractions, which seemed to entrace the children in the audience more than most of the adults, the play was quite good. The White Witch was gleefully evil, the Beavers were wonderful, Mr. Tumnus was delightful, and the children were decent. Aslan was noble as he ought to be. The scary death scene was appropriately frightening. Overall, it was quite a nice Christmas present from Hubby-Eric's parents.

Definitely worth a watch if it comes to a theatre near you... but bring along a small child to enjoy the songs.

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