There have been only three performances of Disney's "The Lion King" at the Milwaukee Theatre Downtown, but already the buzz and roar -- if you will -- has been loud.

As this joint Marcus Center for the Performing Arts and Milwaukee Theatre engagement is currently one of only nine productions running worldwide interest is high. How do I know? We'll it's easy from where I live in Downtown to gauge the city center's heartbeat. And, Monday night it was beating loudly. Sure, there were an additional 18,000 in town for the Marquette /Louisville game but I found it interesting and very cool that there were traffic tie-ups and people walking several blocks to get to their events.

In fact, many "Lion Kingers" seemed to be parking at the Marcus Center and walking to the Milwaukee Theatre. This warmed my heart and gave me more hope that visitors to our Downtown are getting more and more savvy and less and less inclined to want to park only right in front of their destination or as humanly close as possible.

It's a Downtown, people ... you park your car once and walk, that's the beauty of cities. And, it certainly appears that "The Lion King" is a big enough event to get people out and about and even force them to walk a few blocks to their destination. I love it, and thank you "Lion King" fans for adding your energy and activity to my neighborhood.

Maybe, though, the local hooks are drawing the early big crowds. The show features two local guys, Bob Amaral and Michael Dean Morgan. Amaral plays Pumbaa, the warthog and Morgan is the crazy Zazu (he recently was Marlin, Nemo's dad in Disney's "Finding Nemo").

Whatever the hook, "The Lion King" already has Downtown roaring. I've seen it in San Francisco and will see it twice during its four-week Milwaukee run. I'll blog my reactions after the show. In the meantime, get Downtown, park safely, enjoy your walk to and from the show and, of course, "Hakuna Matata."