By many standards, one show is the king of musical theater.
Disney’s “The Lion King” is the highest-grossing Broadway production of all time, with over $1.9 billion in revenues.
The hugely popular musical returns for two dozen performances over a three-week run Sept. 11-29 at the Peace Center.
The coming-of-age story centers on the young prince Simba and the challenges he faces to becoming king amid political turmoil and environmental imbalance.
The expansive production, perhaps the largest on tour, guarantees a strong season opener for the Peace Center’s 2024-25 Broadway Series.
“The Lion King” tour enjoyed sold-out performances on its previous visits to the Peace Center in 2012 and 2017.
With familiar songs by Elton John such as “Circle of Life” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” the show famously features hundreds of masks and puppets that represent 25 species of animals, birds, fish and insects.
The Tony Award-winning musical appeals to multiple generations of theater goers, said Nick LaMedica, who plays the role of the king’s advisor, Zazu.
“Everyone in the audience has a different avenue into the show, whether it’s the music, the story, the choreography, the puppetry, the masks or the costuming,” LaMedica said, speaking from a tour stop in Columbus, Ohio.
“There’s a universality to the show,” he said, “and it borrows from many different traditions.”
Homage to Africa
It took Michael Curry and director Julie Taymor more than a year and a half to design the more than 200 masks and puppets used in the show.
“We knew we really wanted to pay homage to African art, to conjure the beauty and authenticity of Africa,” said Curry, speaking from his workshop in Scappoose, Oregon. “We looked at traditional African art and the masks of traditional African dance.
“The music of Africa also became important for our musical team,” he added. “It’s the spiritual heart of the show. We have popular Broadway tunes written by Elton John and Tim Rice, but we also have traditional African choral pieces.”
In addition to John and Rice, the show features music and lyrics by Taymor, Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin and Hans Zimmer.
The show includes a variety of African languages, such as Swahili, Xhosa and Zulu, in addition to English.
Curry and Taymor designed the masks to allow the audience to see the characters as both human and animal at the same time. The “animals” range from 18-foot-tall giraffes to a tiny mouse.
LaMedica described the puppet Zazu as an “anxious, frenetic, stodgy old hornbill bird.”
“As the right hand to the king, Zazu is tasked with making sure everything goes to plan, but pretty much every plan that Zazu makes goes wrong,” LaMedica said. “But he’s a blast. There’s never a boring moment playing Zazu. On an energy scale of 1 to 10, Zazu is rarely below an 8.”
“The Lion King” opened on Broadway on Nov. 13, 1997, and is currently Broadway’s third-longest-running show. It has toured for almost 22 years and LaMedica said “every new city injects a freshness into the show.”
What to go?
What: “The Lion King,” the musical
When: Sept. 11-29
Where: Peace Center
Tickets: $30-$140
Info: 864-467-3000 or peacecenter.org
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