A shining new era is tiptoeing nearer…
And where does it feature? Just listen to teacher…
It’s the main stage feature of The Kennedy Center’s Opera House stage. Disney’s The Lion King, one of its most spectacular touring productions to date (and that’s saying something considering all of the fantastical magical enchantment that’s rolling around the country with Aladdin and Frozen), has arrived in the nation’s capital for a month-long summertime engagement! It’s a natural part of THE CIRCLE OF LIFE! Directed by the visionary Julie Taymor with Choreography by Garth Fagan, this living spectacle of childhood come home is a fantastical theatrical experience that will stun, awe, and fill the heart to bursting of audiences of all ages. A remarkable sensation— truly the pride of the Disney pack, The Lion King is as majestic as it is marvelous and is not to be missing this summer.
The parade and pageantry is second to none in this Disney spectacular; they pull out all the stops. If you’ve never seen Disney’s The Lion King as a full-length stage musical production, you are in for a delectable treat. From the very moment the sun rises on the Pridelands with Rafiki screaming out that iconic riff that launches “The Circle of Life” you are hypnotized with wonder. (I can’t spoil the majesty and utter stunning magic for those yet to experience it but let’s just say that the opening number happens all around you and fills the house with a great deal of that divine miraculous sorcery that only Disney can do.) The show’s opening— and truly, the majority of the show itself— hinges upon the brilliance of Director Julie Taymor who is the show’s co-puppet & mask designer alongside Michael Curry. (If you think the bouncing snowman and reticulated reindeer trekking through Arendelle are the zenith of Disney’s puppetry prowess, you’re gonna have to let that go…) The wonders never cease in the unending procession of full-bodied, larger-than-life Serengeti puppets. Everything from giraffes to elephants, the Antelope-cycle to high-soaring birds, and of course hyenas and lions. It defies description and is one of those imprinting memories that you will recall to the end of your days.
Of course it isn’t enough to have these extraordinary, magical puppet and mask creatures coming to life right before your very eyes; Disney has to one-up itself with a jungle-gym-playground of a set by way of Scenic Designer Richard Hudson. Pride Rock itself may appear simple— a mere rotating spiral staircase built out to look like the iconic rock from the film— but it serves as so much more than just a spinning piece of scenery. The elephant graveyard ignites the passion of every ornery kid (and kid at heart) giving you that undeniable yen to leap out of your seat and go play on its skeletal framework (please don’t; the Hyenas will eat you) and that particular set-piece includes steam geysers that erupt from the floor with precision execution. And sometimes the set comes to life. Because the grasslands or the lush oasis jungle scenes are expressed by the ensemble members wearing grass-body-suits or swaying grassland headdresses. It’s wild beyond your wildest imagination. (Costumes also flawlessly and magically conceptualized and designed by Julie Taymor.)
The spirit of the Prideland is captured most effortlessly and effectively in Garth Fagan’s choreography. With the Dancing Ensemble (Iman Ayana, Layla Brent, Sasha Caicedo, Gabriel Croom, Lyric Danae, Marquis Floyd, Samaree Lawson, Christopher L. McKenzie Jr., Sayiga Eugene Peabody, Maia Schechter, Jordan Nicole Willis) performing their hearts out in numbers like “Be Prepared” where you get a dance break of acrobatic-level tricks thrown into the mix and literally anytime the lionesses are on the dance/move-hunt. The level of seamlessly fluidity that the dance ensemble brings to Fagan’s choreographic routines is nothing short of astonishing. It gravitates far from the traditional kick-lines and pinwheels of splashy Broadway musicals but moves in earnest to its own rhythm and beat and is unquestionably amazing.
Songs, both beloved from the iconic 1994 animated full-length feature and written specifically for the stage show, find themselves carried to the rafters on exquisite voices both from the principal cast and the Singing Ensemble (Isaiah Bailey, Thembelihle Cele, Camille Eanga-Selenge, Mukelisiwe Goba, Joel Karie, Gabisile Manana, Nhlanhla Ndlovu, Aaron Nelson, Jeremy Noel, Sicelo Ntshangase, Christopher Sams, Jennifer Theriot.) The haunting number “Shadowland” and effervescent number “Circle of Life” (anytime it is sung, be it the opening or the finale) are delivered to the audience with such gusto and heart, earnest feeling and true soul that you feel as if you’re right there in the middle of the Prideland, bowing as a zebra at the majestic presentation of baby Simba. It’s glorious and undeniably memorable.
While Disney seems to have lost a little something (specifically nine minutes of action from the musical in June of 2010, which included the hilarious number “The Morning Report” performed by the one and only Zazu), they have found quite a bit of plucky humor in Zazu (Nick LaMedica), the major domo to the king. While much of his flapping and bandying about involves the wildly graceless puppet attached to LaMedica’s arm, you get a keen sense for his dry English humor frequently throughout the performance. Hands down, Zazu’s best moment on stage is when he’s caged by Scar in the second act and told to sing something cheerful. (In the 1994 film it was “Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” and has been other things in years leading up to 2013…) LaMedica belts out, much to Scar’s growling chagrin, a quick chorus of the earworm “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen, which is currently also on tour all across North America.
Almost complete replicas from the film, the shows’ ne’er-do-well stooges Banzai (Forest VanDyke), Shenzi Martina Sykes), and Ed (Robbie Swift) are the stumbling, bumbling trio of comedic doom, lurking and laughing and doing all those nefarious things that Hyenas do when it comes to finding their footing in The Lion King. Their vocals are featured during “Chow Down”, “The Madness of King Scar” (arguably a creepy and cringy villain song if ever there was one) and of course, the villainous-anthem, “Be Prepared” which features a great deal of the iconic Disney-Villain green-glow lighting (by way of Lighting Designer Donald Holder.) VanDyke, Sykes, and Swift get their chuckles in for both the kids and the adults and make for a despicable trio to carry out Scar’s dirty business.
Speaking of the stain on Pride Rock, the delectably vicious, sinfully evil, and horrifically heinous Scar (Peter Hargrave) is every bit the classical Disney Villain you’d expect from one of their most successful musicals. Catty, cunning, and perfectly sarcastic, Hargrave checks all the boxes from the ‘how to successfully be a Disney Villain who ultimately fails at villainizing because this is a Disney show’ checklist. His voice, rich and unctuous, leads a harrowing revolution during “Be Prepared” and his belted-blast (albeit not as belty or blasty as one might expect) at the end of that number gives the audience both the willies and the shivers. And Hargrave’s quick-zippy comebacks, particularly when dealing with Young Simba are simply to die for.
At this performance, Young Simba (Mason Lawson) and Young Nala (Aniya Simone) are the cat’s meow, the bees’ knees, the splashy flashy surprise at the watering hole and a bag of grub-flavored potato chips! Lawson and Simone are chock-a-block with pluck, spunk, and talent. Lawson gets significantly more stage time (Disney wrote it that way) as Young Simba but you really get a chance to see and feel his stage presence come to life, first as the eager young future-king and then as a cast-out finding his footing among new friends. Lawson’s voice is a powerful blast that would blow away a whole heard of hyenas, particularly when he’s belting his way through “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King.” And he finds the balance between precocious youngster and scared kid; it’s a delight to watch him perform. Aniya Simone also lends her vocal prowess to “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and it’s hilarious watching her tackle-pin Young Simba when they start tussling around on the ground.
As King of the Prideland, Mufasa (Gerald Ramsey) is a true force to be reckoned with. There is a raging temper ever present under the surface of Ramsey’s portrayal, but it is always held in reserve, unleashed only when mangy hyenas need dealing with or when Scar needs a good verbal lambasting. Ramsey has a stellar voice, the deep, emotional sounds of which deliver “He Lives In You” in a truly touching and deeply moving way. Watching Ramsey’s versatility, particularly when it comes from being the brave leader to confessing how terrified he was of losing Simba, whilst sagely dispensing advice to his young son is a truly wondrous thing to behold.
Nants ingonyama bagithi baba! The iconic cry that starts the show. That starts the journey. That (somewhat less than majestically translates to ‘here comes a lion’) moves us all to the circle of life. Those iconic words blasted at the top of one’s vocal capacity signal the beginning of The Lion King and are delivered reverently and powerfully in the capable hands of Gugwana Dlamini in the role of Rafiki. Balancing humor with wisdom, Rafiki has only a few moments in the show but makes them impactful and lasting. Particularly when Rafiki thwacks Simba with the stick in the iconic lesson of “it is in the past. You can run from it or you can learn from it.”
Anyone ever notice how The Lion King very, very loosely followed along the lines of a certain British Bard’s big whiny tragedy where a jilted uncle killed the king and sent the young son into exile? With his two buddies? (The Disney film franchise even made The Lion King 1 ½ telling the tale from the sidekicks’ point of view… not unlike a certain Tom Stoppard play…) The two buddies, who are there solely for comic relief and sidekick support, the way only Disney sidekicks can be— are the living, breathing epitome of Hakuna Matata! Timon (Nick Cordileone) and Pumbaa (John E. Brady) are a comic pair that really have a keen sense of timing and great vocal rhyming, particularly when it comes to their most recognized number “Hakuna Matata.” Cordileone is flawless in his puppetry of Timon, which is a 2/3rd body-height meerkat puppet attached to the front of his body (and he’s in a full green body suit, green hair, and face paint!) Brady manipulates the wearable costume-puppet of Pumbaa with a clumsy finesse, making the pair of them perfect for all of the ‘jungle’ shenanigans.
It’s quite the feat to show up in the last second of the Act I Finale and make a hyper-lasting impression the way that Darian Sanders does as Simba. He literally swings into the scene and BAM there he is, huge vocal blast and all. Sanders gets a stellar moment to truly showcase those vocals during “Endless Night” later in the second act and fully grows into the Lion King he was always meant to be. Accompanied by Khalifa White, as Nala, the pair bring remarkable similarities to their movements and gestures as delivered by their younger halves (Lawson and Simone, respectively) from the first act. White really tugs at the heartstrings with her rendition of “Shadowland” and the pair both come together beautifully during their sections of “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.”
It truly is the circle of life! And it moves us all! Hopefully it is moving you to The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts this summer to see the magnificent, magical production that is Disney’s The Lion King.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 35 minutes with one intermission
The Lion King plays July 29th 2023 in The Opera House of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC. For tickets call the box office at (202) 467-4600 or purchase them online.
