By Michael Mahin
No worries, or as the song goes, “hakuna matata”: The Lion King is gracing the Saenger Theatre once again (through November 8) and it remains as fun, family-friendly, and visually stunning as ever.
The Tony Award-winning musical carries both the blessing and burden of its titanic reputation. Its source material, Disney’s 1994 smash animated movie musical, is unimpeachable. An Oscar winner and box office sensation which took in more than $763 million worldwide, the most of any film that year, it still ranks as the second highest-grossing animated movie of all time, even after 30+ years. And Director Julie Taymor’s theatrical adaptation, which debuted in 1997, has gone on to become the highest-grossing and third longest-running Broadway production of all time.
So needless to say, expectations for any production of The Lion King are high. Expectation based on a beloved property, however, can be a double-edged sword: it may help to get butts into seats, but can a production possibly live up to its much-loved, touted, and well-remembered source material?
If the audience’s delighted gasps as the cast descended the Saenger’s two aisles in the orchestra, wearing oversized elephant and other wildly imaginative animal outfits were any indication, the answer is a clear and resounding “Yes!”.
In case you need a refresher, the story is this: set in the Pridelands of Eastern Africa, The Lion King centers on King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi as they welcome the birth of their son Simba, first prophesied by the kingdom’s shaman Rafiki. Raised with the expectation that he will one day succeed his father Mufasa as king, Simba becomes an object of animosity and jealousy for his Uncle Scar, who secretly covets the throne. Scar eventually convinces a trio of hyenas to help create a stampede in the hopes that it will kill Simba and Mufasa. Scar is able to kill Mufasa in the process, though Simba narrowly survives. Scar, seeing his chance at becoming king threatened once again, convinces Simba that he was responsible for the stampede and his father’s death, driving the ashamed Simba into exile. Scar then tells the rest of the kingdom that Simba has died, clearing his path to the throne. Simba, now at the outskirts of the desert, eventually meets and buddies up with a meerkat and a warthog named Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. Years later, an adult Simba has a chance encounter with Nala, his best friend from childhood, who is now all grown up. The pair fall in love, Nala persuades Simba to return home to defeat Scar, and, together, they save the kingdom from the ruinous consequences of the evil lion’s reign.
Peter Hargrave and David D’Lancy Wilson in The Lion King (photo by Evan Zimmerman)
The Lion King, first and foremost, delivers a complete visual marvel. The challenge of adapting an animated movie to the stage is no small feat — how do you translate a filmic medium with limitless visual possibilities through the constraints of one physical theater with real-life actors?
Luckily, under Taymor’s direction and with the help of her vibrant costuming and Richard Hudson’s stunningly graphic, multi-tiered sets, the production invites audiences into a completely alternate world, one both thrillingly alive and abstract at the same time. Even the sequences with sparest sets are breathtaking to behold: long panels with prairie grass against a pale blue backdrop are as evocative as the grander sets, such as the skeletal/sculptural elephant graveyard featured memorably in both acts.
Additionally, Taymor and Michael Curry’s mask and puppet design, including shadow puppetry and large-scale physical puppetry, inspired many “wows” from the mixed-age audience. While the production’s ensemble numbers are undoubtedly impressive, it’s the stranger, smaller-scale stylistic choices that are often the most emotionally affecting. One scene involving the lion pride grieving Mufasa’s death by pulling blue ribbons from their eyes, simulating tears, is an oddly moving, yet highly effective, choice which marries style and substance. The stampede sequence, achieved using both projections and live actors, is very successfully rendered, going so far as to prompt a devastated “No!” from one of the theater’s young spectators.
Adapted by Roger Allers & Irene Mecchi (who also served as one of the original screenwriters), The Lion King wisely underscores the story’s allegorical, almost folktale/Biblical-esque narrative of good and evil, revenge and resolution, particularly in Taymor’s much-celebrated stylistic choices. The show’s visual splendor is far from mere directorial flexing; rather, these stylistic touches give the show an epic and otherworldly quality, like a folktale come to resplendent life. It’s perhaps why, even when Allers and Mecchi’s plotting gets a bit muddy or hard to parse in the second act amidst all the spectacle, the many young audience members remained reliably rapt. Like a bedtime storybook, the images and emotional weight of the story can be felt even when specific details are lost or are more opaque.
If the visuals do a lot of the show’s emotional heavy-lifting, the performances can sometimes feel a little less essential as a result. For their part, Aaron Chao as Young Simba and Marley Gomes as Young Nala (who alternate with Josiah Watson and Journey Compas, respectively) both bring charm and verve to their performances.
Gilbert Domally, as the adult Simba, has a strong voice and an eye-catching set of abs (who knew adult lions were so ripped?), but is less compelling in the production’s more dramatic or reflective moments. In particular, his second act rendition of Endless Night, while well-sung, lacks something of an emotional punch. Adult Nala, played by Syndee Winters, does what she can to enliven what may just be too limited a role, often serving more as a plot device to help push Simba forward than a dynamic character in and of herself. David D’Lancy Wilson as Mufasa brings a regal paternalism to the role which suits the character, while Jennifer Theriot imbues what little we see of Sarabi with an understated grace.
Perhaps being spared the limitations of having to play “noble” allows the production’s supporting cast to have more fun — and their performances are more indelible as a result. Peter Hargrave is deliciously evil and underhanded as Scar, while Nick LaMedica inspired some welcome laughs as Scar’s righthand hornbill, Zazu. Nick Cordileone as Timon and Danny Grumich as Pumbaa are both wonderfully antic, loyal to the film’s original, beloved conception of the characters. Zama Magudulela as Rafiki, however, is the real standout. Bringing a kookiness to what could be a one-note shaman role, Magudulela delivers heart and humor in equal measure. Anytime she’s off-stage, we miss her presence.
Zama Magudulela in The Lion King (photo by Matthew Murphy)
That blend of heart and humor is, of course, part of what has always made any iteration of The Lion King so successful: the satisfying arc of its Shakespeare-cum-movie musical narrative. It’s also why Taymor’s selection as the story’s theatrical interpreter/facilitator was so ingenuous. When Taymor was originally handed the reins for this theatrical adaptation, much was made of what seemed like her unsuitability for the role. Having previously mounted smaller-scale productions of more classical works, including a number of Shakespearean adaptations, Taymor was initially seen as an odd, even inexperienced match for such an enormous, big-budget undertaking. And yet it turns out that a director experienced with the contours of a Shakespearean epic was the perfect match for a Hamlet-like story set in the Serengeti. As a result, watching Lion King at the Saenger often feels like getting caught up once again in a tale as old as time, one that has never lost its narrative thrall.
It turns out that some stories truly are timeless. More than 30 years later, The Lion King is every bit as satisfying as it was back in 1994.
[For tickets and further information, go tohttps://us.atgtickets.com/events/disneys-the-lion-king/saenger-theatre/]
