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The Lion King In 1999 I sat in the second balcony of the New Amsterdam Theater on Broadway soaking in all the majestic beauty of The Lion King. When the intermission arrived, I turned to my friend and said, "There is NO way that this show can tour!" Almost four years later, I sat in the Bass Performance Hall about to watch the unfolding of the Dallas stop of the national tour of this six time Tony Award winning musical based upon the mega hit Disney animated film. Tours can really change the emotional structure of an original production from the Great White Way. One excellent example is the horrific national tour of Titanic. What was seen at the Lunt-Fontanne on Broadway was completely altered for the tour, and the end result was an embarrassing snore fest. Another with better results was the Ragtime tour. Many of the gorgeous sets, some special effects, and the reduction of cast truly did harm the overall experience for those having seen the musical at the Ford Center in New York, but the quality of the cast saved the production. I am thrilled and extremely relieved to write that the national tour of The Lion King is 90 percent true to its original production in New York. The Lion King the musical is the winner of 24 major awards: six Tonys, eight Drama Desk Awards, six Outer Critics Circle Awards, the New York Drama Critics Award for Best Musical, a 1998 Theatre World Award, and even a Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album. Its director, Julie Taymor, made Broadway history by becoming the first woman to win the Tony Award for Best Director of A Musical. Elton John and Tim Rice's score mainly comes from the animated film, with three additional songs written for the stage. The score is a fusion of Western popular music and the distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa (some of the lyrics are even sung in Zulu). My personal favorites within the score include "Circle of Life" and "They Live in You," which in act two becomes "He Lives in You." In the film the character Rafiki was a male baboon-shaman; for the stage it is now a half cracked, all-wise woman who wears the totemic markings of a baboon. Taymor has also given the women characters, such as Nala and the female lionesses, more substance on stage. The costumes by Taymor and the masks and puppets by Taymor and Michael Curry are masterpieces in design and execution. African-inspired textiles that include the graphics of Kuba cloths and the fine beading on elaborate corsets that symbolize fur, feathers, and skin all combine to create the animals of Pride Rock. The cut of the fabrics, their decorations, tones and patterns, conjure up the animals' contours and surfaces brilliantly, but do not hinder or sacrifice the actor or character's human qualities; in fact, they enhance them. The masks are devised from a totally new concept utilizing animatronics. Each mask is attached to a harness and worn as a headdress above the actor's head. Via a cable control hidden in the sleeve of the costume, each mask can move forward and backward or side to side. These masks preserve the vertical lines of the human actors when worn above their heads and provide the horizontal shape of the animal when lunging down and forward, suggesting a lion's arching spine and neck, for example. Alton Fitzgerald White (phenomenal on Broadway in Ragtime) is Mufasa, and he delivers a powerful performance. White has a regal aura that carries past the footlights. His tall frame and elegant speaking voice are perfectly suited for the King of Pride Rock. Fredi Walker-Browne (the original Joann in Rent) portrays Rafiki, the all-knowing baboon. By sight, Walker-Browne is almost unrecognizable, but the booming and gorgeous voice is unmistakenly hers. She has the difficult task of singing many of her lyrics in Zulu and creating odd staccato cadences, but she pulls this off with finesse and ease. The role of Scar is played with evil delight by Patrick Page, who relishes in presenting the nasty, sinister, backstabbing schemes that Scar is plotting in overtaking the throne from his brother. The actor's take on the role is a mixture of Vincent Price, Dracula, and Darth Vader all rolled up into one iniquitous cat. Page is a decadent pleasure to watch onstage. As the adult Simba and Nala, Josh Tower and Kissy Simmons are charming and enjoyable. They possess nice voices that do the songs justice, but somehow they don't have quite the innocent, romantic overtones that the roles need. For comic relief we have some solid vaudevillian work done by a bird, a trio of hyenas, a warthog, and as Nathan Lane called it, "that rat thing" (Timon, the meerkat). Blake Hammond (Pumbaa) and John Plumpis (Timon) are reminiscent of Abbott and Costello with their perfect chemistry and comedic connection. Both actors play off each other like a well oiled comedy machine. Plumpis gives Timon a voice that sounds like a Jewish/New Jersey cab driver on his way to the Ba Da Bing Club to do his stand up shtick act. Wayne Pyle (Ed), Jacquelyn Renae Hodges (Shenzi), and James Brown- Orleans (Banzai) are Scar's three pernicious henchmen. All three thespians are scene stealing hyenas that will leave you in fits of laughter. My personal favorite is Pyle's acting creation of the dumbest of the three, the lunkhead Ed. Jeffrey Binder is another comic delight as the major domo to Mufasa. Binder's Zazu speaks a hoity toity British dialect with a matching attitude that fits perfectly with the character. But Binder's rapid rushing of lines and not being crisp and clean with his diction cause him to lose laughs. At various times throughout his performance, in particular in his song "The Morning Report," there is difficulty in understanding him. But he still is wonderful in the role. Overall, The Lion King is still a monumental achievement in theater. It is a thrill to see how creative minds, talents, imagination, and passion can work together to bring an animated film to the stage with the emotional core still intact. I had tears well up in my eyes in New York during the "Circle of Life" number as a reaction to its grandeur and beauty, and I again wiped tears from eyes as the number opened before me in the Bass Hall. The Lion King is not just a musical for the kids and tots, it speaks to the human heart of any age. The Lion King CAST Rafiki.......................................Fredi Walker-Browne |
