The Lion King Odyssey

The blockbusters of my 2026 summer began a vacation for the ages. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and the Log Art Theatre Academy's performance of The Lion King Jr. swept across the screen and stage in what can only be remembered as an epic July weekend. I had the endurance and honor to experience both of these reimagined, classic tales before traveling with the lionesses that are my wife and daughters in my own, real-life odyssey. 

When I think back to my childhood, my recollection of Homer is more Springfield and less ancient Greece. While I appreciate a wide variety of writing and artistry, The Simpsons has a profound edge over The Iliad in my conquests of enjoying storytelling. However, the previews to The Odyssey had me on the edge of my couch, believing I had to navigate a date night to the big screen with the woman who plays my real-life Marge. 

Meanwhile, my 11-year-old had five days - less than a week - to learn, create, sing, dance, and perform one of the greatest animated stories and soundtracks our world have ever known. 70+ kids united on a stardom savanna @ Westmont Hilltop High School and they were amazing. I am absolutely biased, but I enjoyed the two performances those kids gave this Saturday maybe more than any other stage performance I have ever seen - and I saw The Lion King on Broadway many suns ago, and my daughters have been in a number of excellent ensembles over the years. Call it recency bias. Call it Pride Rock, Dad sentimentality. Call it, Dad is taking a deep dive before leaving on vacation - Lion King Jr. was the best. 

It was an astounding achievement to pull off what those kids did. So, the first typed applause goes to the adult directors who dedicated their time, energy, and talent to give my daughter her cheetah chance. To organize and execute a theatre camp in that short of time boggles my brain. From the costume design, to the sets, to the musical numbers, The Lion King Jr. took me back to the thrill I once had when The Circle of Life opening sequence jaw dropped me as a 10-year-old. There has to be millons of people like me who can still sing the wrong words to The Circle of Life and it feels so heart poundingly right. 

Less than 48 hours earlier, my wife and I heard the waves crashing @ Westwood Plaza Theatre for the opening night of The Odyssey. The heart thumping in this arena was due to the 10-year-old excitement running through my veins and the sheer volume decible. If you are one of those people who still "goes to the movies", you are in it to get blown out of the water. The Odyssey did that in scale, sound, and sensational sequences. Allegedly, The Odyssey was shot in just over three months in five different countries. 

What?!?!?

From a cyclops shepherd to an oceanic whirlpool to the Trojan Horse, The Odyssey was a barbaric and bonkers circle of staying alive and impossible to understand how it was made. It is almost three hours long so my finest achievement was maintaining my theatre position without peeing my shorts. Take that, Odysseus (Matt Damon). I was sipping on water like it was the last gulps of my life. Outside the theatre, Canadian wildfire smoke was engulfing our community and the entire evening was quite apocalyptic, which is the best way to describe a date night. 

A Midsummer Nght's Dream?  I think not, Shakespeare. 

Damon is the clear star of The Odyssey flanked by many other well-known Hollywood faces with hundreds upon hundreds of other humans, running and swimming for their lives. The star of The Lion King Jr. was the entire ensemble - every elephant, zebra, jungle cat, and hornbill - every alligator wheeling across the stage in semi-aquatic glory and the hyena trio, meerkat, and warthog filling the auditorium with laughter. The Odyssey will surely get some Oscar buzz, but the best acting I saw all weekend came from Scar and Rafiki - incredible performances by those girls. It will probably take me a few weeks to not talk in a Scar accent or tilt my head like an all-knowing primate. 

In the end, The Odyssey and The Lion King Jr. told the same story. 

It is the story of what it is to have a home; to have something to return to and worth fighting for; the against-all-odds epic that pulls at our heart strings. It is the story of youth, wisdom, and family. It is geography and heritage. It is the song and dance that beats generation to generation, often led by talented kids reminding adults of what is truly important - community, coming together, and never giving up. 

Cheers to all creators and performers, far and wide. Cheers to the Dads like me who will sing Can You Feel the Love Tonight as a personal anthem until August. Standing ovation to The Lion King Jr. ensemble. You, boys and girls, brought it home. 

Nice work, Matt Damon. 

Good day, Johnstown.