Disney's The Lion King

Lion King roars into Vegas

By Kristine McKenzie

There’s a new king reigning over the Las Vegas Strip and his name isn’t Elvis.

It’s Simba, king of The Pridelands, in Disney’s The Lion King, a visually stunning stage adaptation of the popular animated film, playing at Mandalay Bay.

The Lion King tells the story of Simba, a cub born to the lion king Mufasa and his wife Sarabi. Although Simba is next in line to throne, Mufasa’s evil brother Scar wants the title for himself and will stop at nothing to get his way, including killing his own brother and sending his nephew into exile.

While Simba is in exile in the jungle, he grows from a cub into a young adult lion and along the way encounters some comedic characters including Timon, a sarcastic meerkat, and Pumbaa, a friendly warthog.

The Lion King culminates with Simba’s triumphant return to his homeland to assume his rightful place on the throne and his love story with Nala, the lioness who was his childhood friend and playmate.

While the plot is captivating, it’s the intricate costumes and other unique visual elements of this show that truly make it stand out.

There are 143 people directly involved with the daily production of The Lion King, including 53 cast members, 21 musicians, 17 wardrobe personnel, five hair/make-up artists, three puppet craftsmen, 13 carpenters, 10 electricians, eight administrative employees, six creative associates, four props people and three sound technicians.

The creative mind behind the massive production is Julie Taymor, director and costume designer, who was given the 1998 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and for Best Costumes for her work on the show.

There are more than 200 puppets in the show, including rod puppets, shadow puppets, and full-sized puppets.

To create the elaborate African masks and the puppets in the production, Taymor worked with Michael Curry, one of the country's leading puppet experts.

Many of the animals portrayed in The Lion King are actually actors in costumes and masks using tools such as stilts to move their costumes. The audience can clearly see the actors and the mechanics of how they control the puppets – it’s up to the imagination to fully visualize the animal.

The characters of Mufasa and Scar actually feature mechanical headpieces that can be raised and lowered to make it look like the cats are crouching and moving.

The Timon character is one of the more expressive puppets that requires the actor to move the animal’s head and arms. The role is also a very physical one for the actor – the puppet weighs 15 pounds.

There are a few points in the show where the actors and puppets walk down the aisles of the theater, giving the audience a chance to see just how detailed the costumes are.

Woven throughout all of the exciting visual activity on stage is a very familiar soundtrack filled with hit songs written by the powerhouse duo of Elton John and Tim Rice. Although the stage show adds a few songs that aren’t in the original movie, fans will still hear all of their favorites like “Circle of Life,” “Hakuna Matata” and “Can You Feel The Love Tonight.”

The musical experience is complete with a live orchestra beneath the stage and the tribal African feel of much of the music is enhanced by drummers positioned along the sides of the theater.

The Lion King is a bit long by Vegas standards – it runs two and a half hours with an intermission. Those with children will definitely want to consider one of the matinee performances.

After the show, kids will also want to visit the gift shop outside of the showroom where they can take home a souvenir featuring their favorite character.

With its engaging story, haunting music and extravagant sets and costumes, it’s safe to say this king will be ruling in Vegas for awhile.