Lion King on Broadway

SHOP MY LOOK:

SKIRT: by self portrait (look for less skirt here & here) (plus here)
TOP: by c/meo (plus here) || SHOES: by modcloth (fit true to size)
BAG: by Mercedes Salazar (similar) (for less here)

So last night I went to see the lion king on broadway for the either the 5th or 6th time, I was trying to calculate. I think the first time I saw it I was young maybe 10 or 12 during a touring production and now that I live in NYC I’ve been lucky enough to go several more times.

Anyways, the show was great per usual. I think I’ve probably seen about 30 or 40 broadway shows and I still think there is nothing like in on broadway. From the costumes, to the puppets and sets everything is stellar. The first half though something was up with the sound, its like the stress were 25% lower than usual, and it made such a big impact! I was really surprised how much it took you out of the element and it made me appreciate the sound team so much more. They fixed the issue in the second half (which was good because I, being nosy, was about to go say something) but it really turned things around.

Over all I’m not sure what I say about the show that hasn’t been said, but I do feel like it is a great celebration of broadway, an iconic film & African culture which is really special to see. I decided to dress the part (obvi) with this yellow top, khaki skirt, vintage African stripe print headscarf & a parrot purse!

Getting a shot in timesquare can be tough but wee manage to do it after every broadway show. Here are a few tips for making it happen:

1: WAIT – if you try to take a photo right when the show is out, you’ll be fighting 100 people and pedi-cabs for a shot. The show ended at 1030 then we went to have milkshakes at shake shack with our family who was in town (that’s who we took to the show) then walked them to their hotel. After that we walked back to the now empty theatre and snapped this around midnight. If you dont want to leave and come back you can usually wait like 15 min after the show and as long as you’re away from the stage door (where people line up to see the actors) you can usually get a good shot.

2: BE EARLY – the alternative is of course to show up early. People start lining up for tickets / to get in about 45 min before the show so if you show up an hour and 15 min early you’ll have a good 15 min to get a shot without people in the background. Then go get a snack or something and come back at 20 till the show, they don’t usually let people in until 30 or so min before and it doesn’t make sense to stand outside in a line for no reason. Go get a snack from cvs and smuggle it in your pocket (they check your purse) to save a little money from the concessions. Being early will also let you use light instead of shooting at midnight which can be tough sometimes, more on that later.

3: RISE ABOVE: so in some cases, you want to take that shot right as your show gets out and then leave times square (Paris hates it here). So in those cases we’ll climb! I’ll stand on the side of a elevated curb, or even a concrete block and Paris will stand back to shoot up at me. This will prevent you from having a ton of people in your shot and still be able to get iconic Times Square billboards. We usually try to get the ones that have the musical we just saw on in the background.

4: GET CREATIVE: we’ve done everything from a shot on an elevated curb, to a concrete block, to red stairs (usually crowded tho), to in the middle of the street (watch for cars please) and even in the theatre lobby itself (dont take shots in the theatre without permission please). Each time we have to walk into it with a nw POV because Times Square is always changing

5: FIND YOUR LIGHT: Times square is cool because it looks like 1 PM at 1AM with all the bright lights – which can really help from a photo. We shoot with our IOS down here, like at 200 or less (100 is the lowest) and still can get a great / well lit shot at night, if you time it right. You need to make sure your face is well lit by facing a shining billboard – and that those colors are flattering for you. For me, a warm light will always do better than a cool one so I go opposite a white / red / yellow / orange colored sign. But some of these change, so there might be a few frames where I have cool blue lighting and that just doesn’t work for me, you just have to be patient.

6: EDIT: if everything else doesn’t work out, learning how to night edit or shoot/edit in raw could really save your photo. I’ve honestly never used a raw edit photo or done extreme edits because I don’t really like to do that to you guys, but I have brought up shadows on snapseed (its free on your phone) and increased ambiance to make a night photo look brighter when need be. Another great app for editing (especially raw) is Lightroom either on the mobile or computer version.