Disney fairy tale comes full ‘Circle’ with Broadway adaptation

By TERRI SWAN

Copy Editor

Talk about an adaptation. When the Disney animated classic The Lion King was turned into a Broadway show, the creators really broke the mold; in fact, they shattered it.

The award-winning adaptation is a truly wonderful spectacle, and the audience becomes mesmerized by what is happening on the stage from beginning to end.

It is easy to see why the musical has won so many awards—six Tonys, including Musical of the Year and Director of the Year in 1998, making director Julie Taymor the first female in history to be recognized.

The show is housed on West 42nd Street in the New Amsterdam Theatre, which is a treat in itself with intricate carvings on the walls and ceilings.

The show starts as the movie does, with the birth of Simba, the lion who will be king, and the singing of “The Circle of Life.” It is arguably the best and also most meaningful song in the production since the cycle is the main theme of the story.

The opening may be one of the most amazing parts of the show because it is when Simba is introduced to the creatures of the kingdom.

For this scene, all the animals must be out on the stage. Their animal costumes surprise and impress viewers because they are so intricately designed. Those on stage include lions, zebras, cheetahs, gazelles, giraffes and a huge elephant that comes down the aisle on the floor and garners a collective gasp when the audience sees it. It is hard to believe that they are actually actors.

“We wanted to create puppets and masks that allowed the energy to come directly from the actor, so when we started to design, we began with the human figure,” said Michael Curry, mask and puppet co-designer. “An actor’s movement to be articulated through a puppet may sound like a simple concept, yet it took a team of hundreds of people over 34,000 hours to achieve our goals.”

Although the show follows the story of the original movie, some additional scenes were included. For example, Simba’s friends Timon and Pumbaa are in the show to make people laugh, so there are some extra scenes with the two that serve as comic relief.

In addition to the added scenes, there are many new songs in the production. One of the best ones is “He Lives In You,” which is sung twice during the show. It is powerful and serves to make Simba realize that his father’s spirit will always be with him and that he must go back to his kingdom to reclaim his destiny.

The score itself is composed of many different sounds that blend together to make a beautiful listening experience.

“The Lion King music represents a huge range of ‘world music’—from Western scoring techniques to African chorales,” said Mark Mancina, who wrote additional music and lyrics for the show and produced the score.

Take this into consideration: according to Mancina, over 19 types of wood flutes alone were used. This shows how much goes into the music of the show to make it sound the way it does.

The cast of The Lion King did an exceptional job of portraying their animal characters. However, the best part of the show was 9-year-old Jeremy Maleek Leggett, who played the young Simba in his Broadway debut. He was an excellent singer for such a young age and really seemed to act just like a lion cub would, bringing an excitable and curious quality to Simba.

The audience included everybody from young children to senior citizens who either brought their grandchildren, or were simply there to enjoy a great show. This proves that, just like the movie, The Lion King has a strong message and is entertaining to people of all ages.

As Taymor said, “The challenge was to take this epic film, to find its essence and to make it theatre.”

The creators of this magical Broadway show have done just that, finding the movie’s essence and turning it into a truly wonderful production.