Few shows have as spectacular an opening as "The Lion King," with its huge red sun rising through heat waves and its parade of larger-than-life stage puppets in a celebration of color, light and dancing to soaring music.

Adults as well as children swivel in their seats, trying to see everything at once. Whether observing it as panorama from balcony seats or immersed in it on orchestra level, audiences are invariably entranced — a reminder of the power of live theater.

That first scene alone is worth the hefty price of a ticket.

Incredibly, "The Lion King" has been around for 20 years; the animated Disney film debuted in 1994, the Broadway show in 1997. The stage version remains the highest-grossing Broadway musical of all time.

It has been seven years since the show last visited Hono­lulu, and this could well be the last time Hawaii will have the opportunity to see "The Lion King" live, impressive even in its scaled-down touring version.

"The Lion King" opened at Blaisdell this week to enthusiastic applause and standing ovations. Those familiar with the show clapped at all their favorite parts, even mid­scene, and newcomers smiled in wonder.

"The Lion King’s" revolutionary stagecraft still delights. Best known for its stage puppets designed by Julie Taymor and Michael Curry, the production introduced a technique that made it possible for animated tales to be staged live and sparked a new genre of animated musicals, including Disney’s "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid."

An especially nice touch is the characters’ relationship to their puppet heads: the hyenas’ comically dangling heads, powerful Mufasa’s and Scar’s detached, extendable heads, and innocent Simba’s firmly attached "good head on his shoulders."

The puppetry work by Nick Cordileone as Timon the meerkat and especially by Andrew Gorell as Zazu the red-billed hornbill was mesmerizing. Physically separate, actor and puppet kept merging into one character so that it took effort for the audience to see them separately.

Richard Hudson’s phenomenal visual design captured both the feel and spirit of Africa: the rising sun, bright colors, dark clouds heavy with rain, arid deserts and lush jungles. And clever details abound: a baobab tree with symbols for leaves; rays of sun slanting across a ribbed curtain; giraffes, seemingly all neck, bending to drink; a shadow-puppet mouse scurrying across the ground; a water hole drying up, disappearing into the stage.

Garth Fagan’s choreography is delightful, still novel in its melding of contemporary dance with moves idiomatic to the animals portrayed — from trotting zebras to leaping antelope, the face-rubbing greetings among lions to the almost violently wild hyenas.

At Thursday’s performance many of the dancers were excellent, and a core of top-notch dancers provided sparkle throughout, especially in the elephant graveyard as the group of front-and-center hyenas.

Animated musicals, with their total-body costumes and makeup, necessarily shift the focus from individual performers to their characters and the story line, but some performers nonetheless stood out. Brown Lindiwe Mkhize as Rafiki the mandrill, ever a favorite character, was riveting each time she came on stage, and Jelani Remy as Simba delivered a moving "Endless Night."

L. Steven Taylor as the wise Mufasa and the children, Young Simba and Young Nala, played by Jordan A. Hall and Zyasia Jadea Page, charmed. Patrick R. Brown made for a more snide than menacing Scar, the villain everyone loves to hate.

Musically, animated musicals are by nature part live, part production. Heavily miked and frequently backed by off­stage singers, soloists play an almost kara­oke­like role, embedded in the soundscape rather than carrying it.

The ensembles were struggling to mesh their intonation, and several solos had rough edges or backup choruses, but there were also lovely moments, such as the dirge trio between Mkhize (Rafiki), Page (Young Nala) and Tryphena Wade (Sarabi).

Rick Snyder expertly and seamlessly conducted the orchestra, which was large for a touring Broadway show and included two big percussion balconies as well as several local musicians, so the pit and balconies are worth checking out during intermission.

A generation from now it will still mean something to say, "I saw ‘Lion King’ live." Take the kids for the excitement. Go twice to catch the details.