Posts Tagged ‘Lion King Houston TX Tour’
The Lion King Houston TX Review – A Brilliant Collaboration of Theatrical Geniuses
The Lion King is currently playing on tour in Houston, TX beginning Tuesday July 10, 2012 at Hobby Center. Here is the Lion King musical review by Jim J. Tommaney.
Disney’s The Lion King roars into town with its menagerie of spectacle, stagecraft and human emotions grafted onto a pride of lions, showcasing what inventive minds can accomplish with apparently unlimited funds and unlimited imaginations.
After an opening with the mandrill Rifiki, a quasi-shaman, celebrating the birth of a lion cub to the jungle’s ruler, we are treated to a panoply of animal puppetry brought to exciting life by human actors. Some, like the giraffes and even the elephant, are remarkably realistic, and others more deliberately transparent but convincing because of their movements, such as the prancing oryxes and the singularly menacing and seductive cheetah. And there are solitary singers in the higher loges and birds fluttering in the sky and drummers on African tom-toms in the lower loges, and the animals parade down the aisle and enter to crowd the stage with delight. The spectacle grabs the audience by the throat, no, the heart, and almost never lets go.
Read the complete review {Via HoustonPress.com}
Lion King Tour will play in Houston, Texas through August 12, 2012. Lion King Sarofim Hall Tickets are in full Demand! Avail $15 OFF on Lion King Sarofim Hall Hobby Center Ticket Orders of $350 or more by using code SUMMERTIXTN at Checkout!
The Lion King Review – Musical Continues its Reign
North American tour of Lion King returns for its third visit to Houston, beginning Tuesday July 10, 2012 at Hobby Center. The Broadway musical continue performances at Sarofim Hall – Hobby Center through August 12, 2012. Here is the Lion King musical review by By Everett Evans.
Disney Theatrical’s megahit stage adaptation of the 1994 animated film logged another milestone in April, becoming Broadway’s top-grossing production ever. Its box-office total of $853 million surpassed that of “Phantom of the Opera,” now in its 25th year and still Broadway’s long-run champ.
But the Broadway production and North American tour (which has played to 14 million people and grossed $928 million) are only the beginning of this show’s worldwide success. To date, 19 productions of “The Lion King” have played to 64 million people in 15 countries across five continents, grossing $4.8 billion.
Besides the Broadway run and the tour seen here, there’s a company traveling in Japan, a U.K. tour that starts next month and open-ended runs continuing in London, Madrid, Hamburg and Tokyo.
Additions to the score by South African musician Lebo M and others injected authentic world-music influences alongside the Elton John-Tim Rice songs. Richard Hudson’s bold settings were influenced by African textile design, while Garth Fagan’s choreography mixed African dance moves with ballet and modern.
Yet it was Taymor’s extensive use of puppets and masks from various world-theater traditions that proved most crucial to the stage show’s unique visual profile. The techniques featured include: stylized African masks, most worn above the head rather than over the face; Bunraku puppetry, with large figures manipulated by teams of puppeteers in full view; and Indonesian shadow puppetry, with moving figures of wood and animal hide silhouetted on a muslin screen.
Taymor and Curry devised a different means for depicting each animal – as prominently displayed in the celebrated “Circle of Life” opening sequence.
The giraffes are performers on stilts that extend their arms and legs, with the tall neck and head worn atop the actors’ crown.
The cheetahs are puppets whose hind legs are worn like trousers, while the performer manipulates the puppet torso and front legs with sticks.
The zebras reverse that format. The performer wears the neck and head attached with shoulder straps, pulling the back end behind. The zebra neck and head is attached to each performer with shoulder straps, pulling the back end whose hind legs are manipulated with sticks.
The success of “The Lion King” helped pave the way for other hits showcasing various forms of inventive puppetry, from “Avenue Q” to the current “War Horse.”
As technical director of the Broadway production and this tour, David Benken supervises all technical aspects of the complex production, making sure they mesh.
Even though the actual load-in of the production to each theater takes four days, the tour manages to close one engagement on Sunday and begin the next two days later. Benken explains how.
“We use two complete duplicates of settings and equipment, so we can open in one city just after closing in the previous one. Otherwise, we’d need a week’s break between engagements. The things we do carry from each city to the next, besides the cast, are the wardrobe and puppets.”
‘The Lion King’ by the numbers
* 134 people in this touring company – 49 cast members, 19 wardrobe people, 18 musicians, 11 carpenters, 10 electricians, 5 hair and makeup artists, 4 props people, 4 stage managers, 3 puppet craftsmen, 3 sound people, 2 creative associates, 2 company managers, 2 merchandise associates, 1 child guardian and 1 physical therapist.
* 200 puppets used in the show depicting 25 species of animal
* 18 trucks (14 of them 53-foot semitrailers) to transport sets, puppets and other materials
* 7 days prep required to set up the show at each new venue (3 days of advance prep, 4 days of on-site technical preparation)
* 6 African languages heard in the course of the show: Swahili, Zulu, Xhosa (the click language), Sotho, Tswana, Congolese
* 45 wigs
* 3,000 stalks of grass required for yearly upkeep of the 20 Grasslands headdresses
* 100 Ants on the Ant-Hill Lady costume
* 12 Bird Kites in Act 2 opener, “One By One”
* 13 feet long, 9 feet wide – the elephant, largest animal in the show
* 5 inches long – trick mouse on Scar’s cane, smallest animal in the show
Read the complete review {Via chron.com}
Lion King Play at Sarofim Hall – Hobby Center through August 12, 2012. Lion King Musical Houston TX Tickets are in full Demand! Avail $15 OFF on Lion King Sarofim Hall – Hobby Center Ticket Orders of $350 or more by using code SUMMERTIXTN at Checkout!
The Lion King Musical Comes to Houston Starting July 10
The Lion King Musical will come to Houston, Texas Starting Tuesday July 10, 2012. Casting has been announced for the Houston engagement. The Lion King performances at Sarofim Hall – Hobby Center will continue through Sunday, August 12.
The Lion King’s eight-week Houston premiere engagement in 2002 was a big hit with the Sold-Out performances. Similarly at the Hobby Center was a sold-out six-week engagement in 2006.
Lion King Houston Cast Update:
The sardonic and deviously cunning “Scar” is played by Brent Harris. Dionne Randolph is “Mufasa,” the great warrior and ruler of the Pridelands. Buyi Zama is the wise baboon shaman “Rafiki.” Mark David Kaplan portrays the prim and proper hornbilled bird “Zazu.” Adam Kozlowski is the carefree warthog “Pumbaa” and Nick Cordileone is the wisecracking meerkat “Timon.” Mufasa’s son, “Simba,” the lion prince born to be king, is played by Jelani Remy and Nokubonga Khuzwayo is the loyal lioness “Nala.”
The three evil hyenas are played by Keith Bennett (“Banzai”), Rashada Dawan (“Shenzi”) and Houstonian Robbie Swift (“Ed”). The role of “Young Simba” is alternated between Zavion J. Hill and Adante Power and the role of “Young Nala” is alternated between Sade Phillip-Demorcy and Kailah McFadden.
The Lion King Sarofim Hall – Hobby Center Performances:
Tuesday to Thursday – 7:30 PM
Friday – 8:00 PM
Saturday – 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Sunday – 1:00 PM and 6:30 PM
Lion King at Sarofim Hall – Hobby Center will perform through August 12, 2012. Lion King Houston TX Tickets sales is in full swing. Book your Lion King Houston TX tickets in advance, Save $10 on Lion King Sarofim Hall Hobby Center Tickets Orders of $250 or more by using Code #SUMMERFUNTN at Checkout!
Lion King Tour Will Play at Sarofim Hall Hobby Center July 10 – August 12
The Disney sensation, Lion King will take stage at the Sarofim Hall Hobby Center this summer July 10, 2012. Lion King Musical national tour will make a stop at Houston, TX for a limited engagement of five weeks. The musical will perform at Sarofim Hall – Hobby Center from July 10 through August 12.
Lion King Tour Sarofim Hall Hobby Center Performance Schedule:
Tuesdays to Thursdays – 7:30 PM
Fridays – 8:00 PM
Saturdays – 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM
Sundays – 1:00 PM and 6:30 PM
The North American touring production of “The Lion King” has been seen by more than 13.5 million theatergoers and grossed more than $875 million to date. The Lion King won six 1998 Tony Awards, including Best New Musical. For more than 15 years, The Lion King has continued as one of Broadway’s greatest legends, where it still plays at the Minskoff Theatre. It has currenly played over 5,300 performances, making it Broadway’s seventh-longest running musical.
Lion King play at Sarofim Hall Hobby Center through August 12, 2012. Buy Lion King Houston TX Tickets Online, Use Code AFF$10 to Get $10 OFF on Orders over $350!
