The Journey of Lion King Musical from Broadway to Subway

The impromptu performance by Lion King Musical cast’s on the subway train was a pleasant surprise for those present at the time, giving them a memory to cherish forever. It was a moment they will remember for more reasons than one. You know what we are talking about, right? Just in case you somehow missed out on what happened at the New Yorker City subway in late June, here you go.

Lion King Musical

The Lion King crossed the magical $1 billion revenue mark last year, becoming the highest grossing Broadway musical to date. The New York City cast of this fabulous play decided to commemorate the milestone a little unconventionally. They appeared at the busy New Yorker City subway all of a sudden during their short break. About thirty cast members boarded an A class subway train and serenaded the straphangers by a cappella performance of The Circle of Life, making their mundane commute an interesting one.

The subway suddenly came to life! A lot of people there joined in by tapping their feet and singing along with the actual Broadway cast of The Lion King. The commuters got their cell phones out and started to record what turned out to be a really special performance. Those lucky souls got to see the cast of a Tony Award winning musical perform a live rendition of The Circle of Life. Just imagine that for a second.

Not surprisingly, the video was up on the internet pretty fast. It made its way to every major entertainment channel and went viral across different social media platforms. The video uploaded on YouTube by Jamal Lee Harris surpassed five million views in no time at all.

Wondering what got into the cast members? This isn’t the first time The Lion King cast has done something of this sort. Earlier in April, the Australian cast of the musical decided to give a bit of a free live performance for everyone on board a Virgin Australia Airlines flight, taking the passengers to the wild African savanna.

Flying back to Sydney after the launch of The Lion King Brisbane season, the members were so elated that they performed The Circle of Life before taking off. Fans that weren’t lucky enough to be a part of the in-flight entertainment were glad that they live in a time when cell phones with cameras exist. Someone made the video and uploaded it.  It went viral, exceeding two million views within 24 hours.

The latest Subway performance was probably inspired by history, their own history. But whatever it was, we are just glad to have yet another unforgettable video to watch over and over again.

Image Courtesy: By Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)This image was made by Loadmaster (David R. Tribble)Email the author: David R. TribbleAlso see my personal gallery at Google Picasa (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Categories: Theater

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