DAY 3

 

Copyright of all photos by Heinz Joergen Hafele

April 6th

Today it was really exciting because we went to London, the capital of Britain. We got up very late. We quickly packed our things for the day and ate our breakfast fast. We thought that we had missed the bus but suddenly we spotted the bus behind a big house. At the moment we felt very happy. Thirty minutes we arrived at the railway station just on time. There we met our teachers and we went onto the train. One hour later we arrived at London Kings Cross, a huge railway station and a modernised tube station. We took the Picadilly Line to Green Park. There we walked to Buckingham Palace where we could watch the Changing of the Guards. It was really cool because firstly, it is the home of the Queen and secondly, we all know the Royal Guards from TV. And today we saw them live! After this special hour we went to Leicester Square where we had lunch. Michael and I felt so happy because London is a really great city. After lunch we went to see the musical Lion King. It is a very famous musical, which has been on in many different countries so far, even in the USA. The musical was very amusing. the actors performed very well. It was really entertaining. Three hours later we went to nearby Covent Garden, but we did not have enough time to explore the area. In the early evening we went back to Kings Cross and then home to Cambridge. When we arrived at Cambridge we were all happy because it had been an exciting day.

by Manuel Kandler and Michael Federspiel 4a

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martina and I got up very early. The day before our teachers had told us to arrive at the railway station on time, which was 9 o’ clock. After arriving Ms McConnell handed out the tickets for the train and the underground.  We discussed some rules of safety. Then our first trip to London started. I felt a little bit nervous but that was gone by the time we arrived at Green Park.The suns was shining and there were no clouds in the sky, so it was really hot. We strolled through the park and there was a big surprise waiting for us, Buckingham Palace.  I have never seen such a huge building before. So we took many photos of the palace and the Changing of the Guards:  Men wearing red clothes and huge black hats. To me that looked very weird. After that experience we walked to Leicester Square and on the way we saw the London Eye in the distance. Half an hour later we arrived at a Burger King restaurant. There I ate a bit before we went to see the musical Lion King. I had seen the film before, but the musical was much better. The music was great, the songs really good and I sometimes thought I was in Africa. That’s where the story takes place. It is about a small lion called Simba who loses his dad, the King. He runs away and almost dies. But Timon and Pumba save him. From now on the three live in paradise until one day their peaceful lives change. Simba’s old friend, Nalar, comes to tell him what has happened back home. There is no food and nothing to drink, which is all Skar’s fault. He is Simba’s evil uncle. So Simba goes home again after many years in order to fight his uncle. Of course, Simba wins this fight. The whole musical lasted nearly two and a half hours. Afterwards I felt very tired,  so immediately after arriving in Cambridge we went home . I fell asleep on the spot.

What a nice day!

by Martine Zirngast and Sophie Grienberger 4c

 

 

The Lion King Musical

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the most amazing musical I’ve ever seen. It was phenomenal. You saw these people trained hard to make that musical into something special. I think the people do not do it only as a job, they love to do this.

All the costumes are made by hand in a typical African style. The singing and the music also had an African style, except for one song. So the actors were also maybe African.

So first I’ll talk about the technology. You saw that there are many lights in the big theatre, at the front, the back and on the side. With the lights they are able to produce a different atmosphere but also day and night.

There was also an orchestra under the stage. At the left and right there were two African drummers. For the visual effects they don’t use any computer tricks, because it is a musical which you see live. So they had to use simple tricks like visual illusions, putting smaller things in the background so they look as if they are further away. On the stage you saw some black lines. These were hollows like tracks to move things left and right easily, e.g. big chunks of grass.

One of the most important things of a musical is the music. With the music you can also produce different atmospheres and show the feelings of the characters, e.g. happy music for happy feelings, slow music for romance or sadness. Another important thing is the singing. As the plot is set in Africa the music should be African. There is also dancing to the music. I think that there were ballet dancers, but in one scene when the hyenas appeared, there was a little bit of B-Boying (Breakdance). That was the scene I liked best.

Special report fresh from the musical by Enrico Valcinov 4c