Long-Running Show The Lion King Retains Freshness
The Lion King is currently performing on tour in Ottawa, ON Canada. At National Arts Centre Southam Hall from Sunday, July 14 to Sunday, August 7, 2011.
When Julie Taymor’s musical production of Disney’s The Lion King opened in 1997, it was immediately hailed as a theatrical game-changer. Taymor’s adaptation of the popular animated film used animal puppets, exquisite masks, African-inspired costumes and traditional South African choral music, creating a visually astonishing, emotionally stirring spectacle that, nearly 15 years later, has lost none of its freshness or power.
The show’s lifeblood is its music. There are all the well-known hit tunes from the film, of course—Circle of Life, Can you Feel the Love Tonight, Hakuna Matata. But if you’re not a fan of Disney pop (guilty as charged), you can console yourself with the marvelous supplemental music by South African composer Lebo M. At the risk of offending countless Elton fans, the show would have been even better if it had been scored entirely with Lebo’s rich vocal harmonies and uplifting rhythms.
As young Simba and Nala, Niles Fitch and Kailah McFadden held their own with plenty of charm and charisma (along with out-wrestling her pal, McFadden is the better singer of the two). Nick Cordileone and Ben Lipitz, playing comic-relief duo Timon and Pumbaa, were the most similar to their cartoon counterparts.
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