There's a new king in Vegas
By Caroline Fontein
Adapted from the popular animated movie, Disney’s The Lion King is a visually-stunning masterpiece that takes audiences on a spectacular journey through the African pridelands and into the life of a young lion, Simba.
Just as Simba is beginning to embrace his role as the future king, his father, Mufasa, is killed as part of his uncle Scar's evil plot. Scar tricks Simba into believing that he's to blame for Mufasa's death and convinces him to run away from his home at Pride Rock. Simba ends up meeting Timon, and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, who live in the jungle. They teach Simba that the best thing in life to do is not worry about anything or dwell on the past when you can’t change it. Meanwhile Scar, the real culprit for Mufasa's death, assumes the role as king and allows hyenas to live at Pride Rock.
Eventually Nala, a lioness and Simba’s childhood friend, discovers him in the jungle. She tries to convince Simba to return to Pride Rock and take his place as the king. After a visitor from his past, Simba decides to return home and confront Scar.
A cast of more than 40 actors and innovative costumes designed by Julie Taymor bring animals and the savanna to life in this Tony-award winning Broadway sensation. Along with the actors there are more than 200 puppets in the show that represent about 25 different kinds of animals, birds, fish and insects.
The puppets and costumes are showcased in a song called “Circle of Life” where Mufasa, Sarabi and Rafiki gather at Pride Rock to celebrate the birth of Simba. As they ascend to the peak of the rock, performers representing a giant elephant, giraffes, antelopes and other animals make their way through the audience. At 13 feet in length, the elephant is the longest animal in the show. The elephant stands just over 11feet tall and is nine feet wide. Guests seated in the aisles can get an up-close view of this amazing creation as the actors march toward the stage.
Instead of having the performers dress in animal suits, Taymor’s unique costume designs include African-style masks with fitted headpieces and other movable costume parts that help physically transform the actors without entirely concealing their faces and body movements. This allows the human characteristics of the characters to be conveyed along with their roles as animals.
Bunraku Puppetry, founded in Japan by Uemura Bunrakuken, is used for characters like Zazu and Timon where both the puppet and puppeteer are visible. Weighing 15 pounds, the Timon puppet is especially impressive to watch. It’s incredible to see the actor playing Timon act, sing and dance while simultaneously manipulating the puppet in response to the storyline.
As Simba grows from a young cub into an adult, he travels over various different landscapes. First it’s the grassy pridelands, followed by an elephant graveyard and the gorge. Watching how Taymor interpreted each scene from the animated movie and transformed it into a live production is another exciting part about experiencing this show live.
One of the most thrilling moments in the show is when Simba gets caught in a stampede, and it looks like thousands of wildabeests are running from a distant mountain top toward him and the audience. For this effect, wildabeests were painted on a canvas scroll and different sized rollers were fitted with sculptures of the animals. The sculptures were made increasingly larger to make it appear as though the wildabeests are getting closer to the audience. Creating a stampede on stage seems impossible, but it’s just one of the many astonishing scenes in the show that Taymor was able to achieve.
Aside from all the technical aspects of the show, Disney’s The Lion King has all of the endearing qualities of the animated movie. The highly talented performers bring new life to the beloved characters and their songs like “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” and “Hakuna Matata.”
The incredible imagery paired with the captivating music, including Elton John and Tim Rice’s Oscar winning song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” creates a spectacular revue that has wowed audiences all over the world. Now people in Las Vegas have the opportunity to experience this amazing show live.
