Now, this is creative ... a handful of Clubhouse users put on a live production of 'The Lion King' -- complete with a full cast and choir -- and THOUSANDS of people dropped in to listen live.
Organized by executive producer and director Noelle Chesnut Whitmore -- along with the assistance of a full crew, including voice actors/singers and others -- the performance is a two-show event that kicked off Saturday ... which entailed a matinee at 12 PM PT, and a later show at 5 PM PT. It appears to be free ... but ya gotta have Clubhouse to catch it.
3400 people listening to a live performance of the Lion King musical...in Clubhouse. This is emergent culture pic.twitter.com/pBfB3TeUf9
— Josh Constine -SignalFire (@JoshConstine) December 26, 2020
Word is, auditions were held organically on Clubhouse itself ... and a ton of super talented people prepped for a live reading of the Disney animated classic, including those famous numbers we all know and love. And as it turns out, it sounds pretty decent too!
It’s official this Lion King room is my favourite clubhouse room ever #TheLionKingCH pic.twitter.com/fnkkvSJHOS
— 🥛🥃 (@MilkHenny) December 26, 2020
One such actor, Lee-Lonn (one of the guys playing Simba), posted a video of him rehearsing for 'I Just Can't Wait to be King' -- and it's obvious these folks are taking it pretty damn serious ... it comes off almost movie-like. So yeah, they're pros here at work.
The afternoon show is over, but like we said ... there's an encore coming up in just under an hour. At one of its peaks, there were reports of upwards of 5,000 Clubhouse users listening in live (on mute, of course) ... including tons of kids and families.
rehearsing “Can’t Wait To Be King” before the Lion King on clubhouse. #LeeLonn #SingingSimba #EvolveDaily #TheLionKingCH pic.twitter.com/M413EXOycD
— Lee-Lonn (@LeeLonn) December 26, 2020
The problem -- if you haven't signed up for Clubhouse yet (which appears to still be in the beta phases of development), ya might have to wait until next time ... because the admin team has to approve you and your username before you can hop on, and that takes a bit.
The good news ... some people are capturing parts of the performance and posting (which is technically against their rules) -- so we can all at least get a taste of the treat in play. Not only that, but there's talk of other famous productions that might get the Clubhouse treatment -- like 'A Raisin in the Sun' for example, so more shows are on the horizon, it seems.
It might be worth your while to sign up -- Clubhouse is all the rage these days, and a ton of celebs are constantly dropping in and chatting with folks about a variety of topics. Celebs like Kevin Hart, Damon Dash, Joe Budden, Tyrese, Bow Wow and countless others have accounts and have made appearances ... with complete strangers tagging along for the ride.
#TheLionKingCH event is extremely creative, and took a quite bit of work! If you would like to donate: pic.twitter.com/HfkXrfEqGX
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) December 26, 2020
One last thing about this 'Lion King' rendition ... the team went to great lengths to put it on, and they're taking donations from anyone who's feeling generous. Their handles are above.