"The Lion King, A Brothers' Tale"

[Panpardus]

It looks like someone's finally taking a major crack at the prequel we all want to see, only this time it's a spinoff of the Broadway version of The Lion King with more of a focus on dance as a means of telling the story than anything else. It's not Disney official (probably just licensed in a similar manner to Six New Adventures) and it's only set to show in Maine at this point, but I wouldn't mind seeing it; despite its more sympathetic take on Scar* - here named Chokwadi, the Shona word for 'truth' - it seems interesting enough and the director/writer/choreographer expresses how moved she was by the original Broadway show and seems to be very invested in carefully crafting a story that does the established story and characters justice while still introducing her own spin on things. Who knows, maybe it'll be a breakout hit and they'll get to bring their show elsewhere.

Anyway, you can read about it at the dance company's website: http://kineticenergyalive.com/events/

*This is a storyline that I've never really been sold on despite all the fanfic, at least not for the cartoon version. Scar has always struck me as someone who always had some amount of jealously and resentment towards his brother and the way things were run, so even if he didn't start out as that openly sadistic kid who you just know is going to become a villain because of his non-secret hobby of torturing small animals, he wasn't this little angel that a lot of fanfics I've seen often start him as. There was still something there that was exacerbated by both outside events and his own failings, and honestly, the Guard is actually a pretty good plot thread to this end. The Broadway version is a bit more workable to such a sympathetic treatment in my opinion; it's openly stated by Scar that for whatever reason, he never perceived that anyone loved him, and he suffers from nervous breakdowns and seems to be racked with guilt over killing Mufasa, even if he doesn't openly admit it. His power trip seemed less about jealously and hatred and more a vain attempt at gaining validation from his pride and kingdom. That sort of jealous underdog angle could definitely translate well to this new show and story.

[Panpardus]

An update: the show has since premiered, and I happened upon a single review: http://hotstove.bangordailynews.com/201 ... hers-tale/ Fortunately for them, it's a good review, though I'll warn you that there are some spoilers if you ever hope to somehow see the show on the off-chance that it ends up being exported to other locales for repeat performances; just know that it's very much an adaptation that isn't in the Broadway continuity.

[TheLionPrince]

Since I'm not going to be seeing the play, I didn't mind being spoiled. Anyway, it looks like it would be a treat to watch.

[Gaze]

woah.....that's really, really cool. I would have loved to see it. it's good to hear that it's not just us superfans on the internet who are compelled by the idea of a Scar/Mufasa prequel, lol.

[zerodix]

that looks interesting! I hope it becomes a success and comes to europe so i can go see it