No musical has weathered the past two decades as well as The Lion King , which brings its 2020 North American Tour to Milwaukee. And no musical can rival Lion King in its grandeur, its creativity or its financial impact (see below). The North American Tour alone has been seen by 20 million theatergoers. Globally, the show has been seen by more than 100 million people. The Broadway production is still going strong, and the show is also doing well in London’s West End, Hamburg, Tokyo and Madrid. Touring versions can be viewed in North America (the tour now playing in Milwaukee), Japan and the UK and Ireland. The Lion King has roared in every continent except Antarctica, and its worldwide gross proceeds exceed that of any film, Broadway show, or other entertainment title in box office history.
No wonder that Milwaukee is so pleased to have been selected as a stop on the latest tour. While most Broadway musical tours play here for barely a week, The Lion King is luxuriously extending its stay for a full month. The theater management, agreeably, has removed some theater to create two aisles for the show’s animals to make their introductory entrance. This seems to be true: when the Lion roars, the rest of the food chain does whatever is necessary to please him.
It's almost impossible to imagine that anyone is unaware of The Lion King’s story, which first exploded onto the entertainment scene in a 1994 animated feature. The film’s success was followed by the musical and, in 2019, a live-action film that used digital creatures that could “talk” and “sing.” All of these properties tell basically the same story, although the musical does have a few extra songs and extra scenes to further engage the audience. In addition to the pop tunes by Elton John and Tim Rice, the authentic African songs by Lebo M help transport the musical’s audience to the savannas of Africa. It is here, in the shadow of Pride Rock, that lion king Mufasa (Gerald Ramsey) governs with a gentle paw and an elegant queen, Sarabi (Chante Carmel). Their offspring consists of a male cub, Simba (played at alternating performances by two young boys and, later, by Brandon A. McCall as the adult Simba). Young Simba plays, innocently unaware that his existence is threatened by an evil uncle, Scar (Spencer Plachy). Disaster is averted early on by a quick-thinking hornbill, Zazu (Jurgen Hooper), who manages to ward off harm towards Simba and his childhood friend, a young lioness named Nala (like Simba, two youngsters alternate as the Young Nala. They are eventually replaced by the adult Nala (Kayla Cypers)).
The secondary characters, in addition to Zazu, include a monkey named Rafiki (Buyi Zama), and two of Simba’s pals, a meerkat named Timon (Nick Cordileone) and his sidekick, a warthog name Pumbaa (Ben Lipitz).
One element of The Lion King that always stands out is the marriage of costumes and make-up. Julie Taymor’s costumes are so striking that one need only consult the musical’s TV advertisements. They consist only of costumed characters coming together in various ways. Sometimes they are leaping, sometimes fighting, sometimes stomping, etc. The visuals are illuminated in rich African hues, and African songs can be heard in the background. There’s no sets, no sense of a plot. The whole experience, it seems, revolves around the costumes, the makeup (Michael Ward) and the animal puppets (also by Julie Taymor, along with Michael Curry).
On a final note, in seeing at least six productions of The Lion King over the years, this reviewer could not recall even one weak performance in any of them. The Disney organization has maintained its reputation for quality entertainment for all these years, which also might explain part of The Lion King’s ongoing popularity. The original sense of joyful exploration is still apparent, 21 years after the King’s debut, and this hard-working cast seems dedicated to capturing all the joy, the wonder, the sadness, and the happy ending that this show has to offer.
