Though “The Lion King” came out more than 20 years ago, the movie remains a favorite Disney classic. “The Lion King” is one of the few animated Disney films that has been brought to life on Broadway.
From Jan. 7 to Feb. 1, the Broward Center for the Performing Arts will host the highly popular Broadway musical, “The Lion King.”
The show opened with Rafiki, played by Tshidi Manye, chanting the introduction to the well-known song “Circle of Life.” This familiar tune brings back memories of an innocent childhood in which this movie played on the big-screen living room TV. During the opening song, the stage was filled with elephants, giraffes, gazelles, birds and other African wildlife. It was impossible to watch the opening act and not feel as if you were completely engulfed in the African culture.
While the opening song was breathtaking, the one thing that caught the audience’s attention was the incredibly imaginative, elaborate and meticulously detailed costumes. Some performers were clad in camouflaged outfits, riding bikes ordained with leaping gazelles; others were on four stilts gracefully walking as a giraffe would. And the lions were regally dressed in golds, burgundies and greens, with capes and a lavish mask as a headdress.
After being absolutely immersed in the show for half an hour, it was impossible to not notice how incredibly similar the show is to the actual movie. It’s common for Broadway shows to mix and match a few lines here and there, but this performance was spot-on. The were lines verbatim from the movie, down to the infamous “Uuuuuuuuuglyyyy” said by the vapid hyenas played by Rashada Dawan, Keith Bennett and Robbie Swift.
However, while there were a considerable amount of small gestures and expressions taken from the original movie, there was a small part of the second half of the performance that wasn’t in the original film. Luckily, the minute changes don’t take away from the film at all, and they actually add to the uniqueness of the show and make it its own performance. But the one thing that didn’t change, and still sets heavy in viewers’ hearts, is Mufasa’s death.
Witnessing Simba try to revive his dad in real life is much more difficult to watch than in animation. This musical produced a whirlwind of emotions in a much more dramatic way than the movie ever could. Physically seeing the actors show their emotions of happiness, sadness, courageousness, pride and many others, allowed the audience to connect with the characters on more emotional level.
While the actors did an incredible job portraying their emotions to the audience, they also managed to woo with their flawless singing. Elton John’s timeless “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” sung by Timon (Robbie Swift), Pumbaa (Ben Lipitz), Simba (Jelani Remy) and Nala (Nia Holloway) was mesmerizing to watch and showed much more affection than most productions are able to capture these days.
Throughout the musical, the actors were also surrounded by graceful dancers in flowing costumes. The dancers appeared in 12 out of the 20 scenes, and each time they graced the stage, they left the audience speechless.
The Broadway musical of “The Lion King” is one of the most creative, emotional and dynamic shows to grace the Broadway stage. Within two and a half hours, it was easy to recognize that the only thing better than “The Lion King,” the movie is “The Lion King,” the musical.
Photo Credit: newyork.com
