So much has changed on Broadway in the last 30 or so years in the ways big, live theatre productions push boundaries to transform theatre into artful spectacle unique to live performance. However, Disney’s The Lion King remains the same, for better and for worse.
The touring show currently at DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids is every bit as beautiful and stunning as well as predictable and pedestrian as it ever was. The very family-friendly Lion King, it seems, will always have an audience as long as parents and grandparents who love the show want to introduce it to their little ones.
“The Circle of Life” is how the show refers to it—in the book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, based closely on the 1994 animated film, as well as in the familiar song written by Elton John and Tim Rice. The story follows lion cub Simba as he faces his fears about losing his father and inheriting the throne by encountering truths about himself and the connectedness of all things while coming of age among the bold characters—both silly and sinister—throughout the “Pride Lands” of his origins.
It’s a largely sweet and sentimental tale complete with conflict and resolution, and what’s most compelling and memorable is the visual story telling, particularly how the African savanna springs to life with uncompromising artistry—from Richard Hudson’s inspired scenic design to Garth Fagan’s lovely choreography that runs the gamut from classical ballet to African dance, to Director Julie Taymor’s exquisite costume and puppet design (with Michael Curry) that allow humans to become animals and those animals to become fully embodied.
In fact, the first 10 minutes of this two-and-a-half-hour show—in which birds fly overhead, giraffes and zebras march, leopards glide, rhinos and elephants lumber, and antelopes leap and dance down the aisles to inhabit the stage at the hands of expressive and acrobatic actors who become one with the puppets they master to create a glorious living display—is by far the most exhilarating part of the show.
Though most of the songs and numbers are so well-worn as to be lackluster, the performers are quite excellent, and the fact that a show with such an enormous cast of people of African descent has had such longevity is an unfortunate rarity worth celebrating. Zama Magudulela is a vibrant Rafiki; David D’Lancy Wilson is a commanding Mufasa; Peter Hargrave is a campy, melodramatic Scar; Nick LaMedica is a delightful, nuanced Zazu; Nick Cordileone and Danny Grumich are a dynamic “Hakuna Matata” duo as Timon and Pumba, though some of their comic relief was thwarted by sound problems on opening night; and Gilbert Domally has real star power as the transformed adult Simba.
The orchestra, conducted by Dean Balan on opening night, complete with visible percussionists one either side of the stage, is flawless, and the music, a blend of Elton John-style pop songs with rhythms and tunes from South African composer Lebo M with call and response, is highly original and, at times, quite moving.
With nearly 30 years in performance, having entertained more than 124 million visitors worldwide, playing over 100 cities in 24 countries on every continent except Antarctica, with a worldwide gross that exceeds that of any film, Broadway show, or entertainment title in box office history, there’s no stopping—or likely changing—The Lion King. And it’s here to stay in Grand Rapids for two and a half weeks of likely sold-out performances.
The Lion King
Broadway Grand Rapids
Apr. 8-26
grandrapids.broadway.com
