Lion King – Orpheum Theater – Minneapolis MN – March 28th 2024
Hennepin Theatre Trust presents The Lion King
Review by Kyle Hansen
I am always excited when this production comes to town. This is the third time I have seen the play. This time around the production was a bit smaller than the other ones I have seen but still amazing. So I will try to sum it up as best I can but I am also going to add the rpess releases at the end so you can ready about the play. It tell so much about wehat is going on.
The intro has been amazing on all three of the productions.I am saying this cause if you are not in your seat before it starts there is a hold of about ten minutes so if you are not there you will miss it. The actors in this production are amazing. Every single one of them due it justice and make the story incredible. Tonight the role of Pumbaa normally played by John E. Brady was played by John Austin. I had no idea until I got home but he was hilarious. The costumes are out of this world. I am going to let the production note tell you about them. I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. Now the songs are there also but Circle of Life is cut a bit. Can You Feel the Love Tonight is included, and there are some new ones added too. Here is the list.
MUSICAL SELECTIONS
music by Elton John; lyrics by Tim Rice
(Unless otherwise noted)
Act 1
Circle of Life ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Rafiki and Ensemble
The Morning Report…………………………………………………………………………………………………..Zazu, Young Simba and Mufasa
I Just Can’t Wait to Be King………………………………………………………… Young Simba, Young Nala, Zazu and Ensemble
Chow Down………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Shenzi, Banzai and Ed
They Live in You ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Mufasa and Ensemble
(music by Lebo M, Mark Mancina
and Jay Rifkin; lyrics by Lebo M,
Mark Mancina and Jay Rifkin)
Be Prepared…………………………………………………………………………………………………….Scar, Shenzi, Banzai, Ed and Ensemble
Be Prepared (Reprise) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Scar and Ensemble
Hakuna Matata……………………………………………………………………..Timon, Pumbaa, Young Simba, Simba and Ensemble
Act 2
One by One ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Ensemble
(music by Lebo M; lyrics by Lebo M)
The Madness of King Scar…………………………………………………………………………..Scar, Zazu, Banzai, Shenzi, Ed and Nala
Shadowland……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………Nala, Rafiki and Ensemble
(music by Lebo M and Hans Zimmer;
lyrics by Lebo M and Mark Mancina)
Endless Night………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Simba and Ensemble
(music by Lebo M, Jay Rifkin
and Hans Zimmer; lyrics by Julie Taymor)
Can You Feel the Love Tonight…………………………………………………………Timon, Pumbaa, Simba, Nala and Ensemble
They Live in You (as “He Lives in You”) (Reprise)……………………………………………………….Rafiki, Simba and Ensemble
(music by Lebo M, Mark Mancina
and Jay Rifkin; lyrics by Lebo M,
Mark Mancina and Jay Rifkin)
King of Pride Rock…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Ensemble
(music by Hans Zimmer; lyrics by Lebo M)
Circle of Life (Reprise)……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… Ensemble
This play should not be missed. Now since this is a children’s story there are a lot of young kids. So have patience they maybe talking with their parents about the show. Click the Hennepin Theater link above to get tickets.
MASKS AND PUPPETS
Tony® Award-winning director and designer Julie Taymor, along with designer Michael Curry, hand
sculpted and painted every prototype mask that now appears in the iconic “Circle of Life” opening of the
show. Their department of skilled mask makers, sculptors, puppeteers and artisans spent 17,000 hours to
build the anthropomorphic animal characters for the original Broadway production.
With the masks, Taymor created what she calls “the double event,” which enables the audience to see the
characters as animal and human at the same time.
Mufasa’s mask weighs 11 ounces, Scar’s mask weighs seven ounces and Sarabi’s mask is just four ounces.
The masks, along with many others used in the show, are extremely lightweight (just under one pound)
and are comprised of silicone rubber (to form the mask imprint) with carbon fiber overlay – the same
durable material used to build airplanes.
Over 750 pounds of silicone rubber were used to make the masks.
Scar and Mufasa each wear two different masks: one moves and one is a stationary headdress.
The tallest animals in the show are the four, 18-foot exotic giraffes from “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King.” The
two giraffes in “Circle of Life” are 14 feet high. Two actors trained in stilt-walking, climb 6-foot ladders to fit
inside the puppets, mount stilts and enter stage left to cross the stage.
The largest and longest animal in the show is the Elephant (nicknamed “Bertha” by the back stage crew
when the show premiered in 1997). At 13 feet long, 12 feet high and 9 feet wide, the puppet requires four
actors to carefully walk her down the orchestra aisle. When not occupied by the actors, the puppet can
collapse down flat for convenient backstage storage.
The smallest animal is the trick mouse at the end of Scar’s cane at just five inches.
Zazu is the last animal to make his entrance on stage in the “Circle of Life” opening number.
The Timon meerkat puppet weighs 15 pounds.
COSTUMES
Worn like a back pack, the Pumbaa puppet is the heaviest costume, weighing in at 45 pounds.
The yearly upkeep and maintenance of the 20 Grasslands headdresses requires over 3,000 stalks of grass
(roughly 60 pounds).
Every ensemble member plays a hyena.
The Bird Lady and Bird Man costumes represent a flock of birds
FUN FACTS
Since launching in April 2002 at the Buell Theatre in Denver, CO, The Lion King North American touring
productions have employed hundreds of theater professionals, played over 9,000 performances during
more than 220 engagements in over 90 cities to an audience of more than 21 million theatergoers.
The tour has driven over 155,000 miles between stops, which is enough to travel the circumference of the
earth more than six times.
Pride Rock travels approximately 745 feet per show. Over twenty years of touring, that’s 1,050 miles: the
distance between New York to Miami.
More than 17,495,750 measures of music have been played by the touring orchestra during performances.
Stage Managers have called over 2,367,510 lighting cues during the tour.
There have been 48 babies born to members of the tour while they were on the road.
The waterfall into which Timon falls is 17′ per show, or 126,565 feet over the course of the tour’s 20 year.
This is the equivalent of stacking the Empire State Building on itself 87 times.
It takes 5 hours and 10 minutes per show for all cast members’ make-up to be done. Over 20 years, that is
over 38,465 hours of make-up.
The words “Hakuna Matata” have been said over 223,000 times while performing on tour.
QUICK FACTS
Disney’s THE LION KING returns to Minneapolis March 27 to April 28, 2024 as part of the Bank of
America Broadway on Hennepin Season.
The show’s return marks the sixth time THE LION KING has played the historic Orpheum Theatre.
Following its sold-out, pre-Broadway world-premiere in 1997, THE LION KING has returned in 2005,
2007, 2012 and 2016.
THE LION KING remains one of the most popular stage musicals of all time. Since its Broadway premiere,
21 global productions have been seen by more than 112 million people around the world.
THE LION KING won six 1998 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Costume
Design, Best Choreography and Best Direction.
The show’s director, costumer designer and mask co-designer Julie Taymor is the first woman to win a Tony
Award for Best Direction of a Musical.
The Broadway score features music by Elton John and Tim Rice.
Additional musical materials inspired by the original film is a fusion of Wester popular music and the
distinctive sounds and rhythms of Africa, ranging from the Academy Award-winning “Can You Feel the
Love Tonight” to the haunting ballad of “Shadowland.”
THE LION KING is unique in that we see how the magic works on stage with seeing the human beings
that control the puppets and wear the animal masks.
Director Julie Taymor was very inspired by African masks – which are much more abstract and stylized than
traditional costume masks.
Winner of more than 70 major international awards, THE LION KING has topped the list of Tony Awards,
Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critic Circle Awards, Drama League Awards and won the Grammy Award for
Best Musical Show Album.
The department of skilled mask makers, sculptors, puppeteers and artisans spent 17,000 hours to build
the animal characters for the original Broadway production.
The tallest animals in the show are the four, 18-feet exotic giraffes from “I Just Want to Be King.” Actors
trained in stilt-walking climb six-foot ladders to get inside the puppets.
The largest and longest animal in the show is the Elephant (nicknamed “Bertha” by the backstage crew)
measuring 13 feet long and 9 feet wide. The puppet requires four actors to carefully walk her down the
orchestra aisle.
The smallest animal in the show is the trick mouse at the end of Scar’s cane at just five inches.
Worn like a backpack, Pumbaa the Warthog is the heaviest costume weighing in at 45 pounds.
The yearly upkeep and maintenance of the 20 Grasslands headdresses requires more than 3,000 stalks of
grass (roughly 60 pounds).
The most complicated set piece is Pride Rock, which appears five times during each performance. It
expands out like an accordion to 18 feet wide at its fullest position onstage and compress to just 8 feet
when it is offstage.
There are nearly 700 lighting instruments used to create the show’s Tony Award-winning lighting design.
THE LION KING has been translated into eight languages including: Japanese, German, Korean, French,
Dutch, Mandarin, Spanish and Portuguese.
Worldwide, nearly 1,100 people are directly employed by THE LION KING.
On tour, there are 135 people directly involved with the daily production of the show.
The North American touring production uses 17 trucks to transport the show with its puppets, set pieces
and other materials from city to city.
The tour requires four days of on-site technical preparation and installation to set-up the physical
production in each new city.
SENSORY FRIENDLY PERFORMANCE
THE LION KING is presenting a sensory friendly performance on Saturday, April 20 at 2 p.m.
This performance is specifically designed for individuals with sensory, social and learning disabilities, and
their families.
Modeled after a successful performance on Broadway, this sensory friendly experience provides a
supportive environment for the audience.
Slight adjustments will be made such as the reduction of jarring sounds and calming of certain lighting
effects. Additionally, house lights will remain at half level.
The Orpheum Theatre will offer quiet spaces and activity areas for families, standing and movement
accessibility throughout the theatre and trained staff and volunteers to offer assistance to patrons.
The Trust is working closely with Disney Theatricals and Fraser (Minnesota’s largest provider of autism
services) to offer patrons a welcoming and supportive environment to enjoy this world-class production.
Patrons will receive illustrative guidance materials and have an opportunity to become familiar with the
theater and seat locations before they attend the show.
This effort is made possible by an access grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board.
For tickets and more information, visit HennepinTheatreTrust.org/sensoryfriendly
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