I saw Lion King within the first year of its run at the New Amsterdam. I thought visually it was stunning, but couldn't be completely pulled in due to a few "Disney on Ice" type characters. That broke up the beautiful African art look of the piece. The other thing that annoyed me was how unprofessional the cast was. Every time they had to process down the aisles of the theatre, they were laughing, talking, loudly carrying on in the back of the theatre. I couldn't believe it! Finally, the actress playing young Nala saw someone she knew in the audience and waved at them from the stage.