T
he Lion King began as a popular Disney animated feature film in 1994, but back then no one imagined that it would become a worldwide blockbuster stage production. In fact, when it was being assembled for Broadway’s refurbished New Amsterdam Theatre, a lot of skeptics wondered what would become of a story about heroic and often cute anthropomorphic characters in the hands of Julie Taymor, a respected but avant-garde director.
No one wonders about that anymore. Since its debut on Nov. 13, 1997, The Lion King has surpassed the global box-office record for earnings. It won six Tony Awards in 1998, including recognition for the season’s best musical and best costume design. In total, the original production earned more than 70 major awards including the 1998 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for best musical and the 1999 Grammy Award for best musical show album. In 1999, its original London production won the Evening Standard Award for theatrical event of the year, as well as two Laurence Olivier Awards.
Now in its 18th year in New York City, The Lion King is often still the top-grossing show in any given week on Broadway. Last summer the Associated Press reported that it passed The Phantom of the Opera with worldwide earnings of more than $6.2 billion. That exceeds any other stage show, movie or work of entertainment.
The Broadway production has grossed $1.1 billion on its own. But additional earnings have poured in from tours and productions in places as far flung as London, Tokyo, Seoul, Madrid, São Paulo, Sydney and Hamburg. It’s been translated into seven languages: Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese. Since 1997 it’s had 22 global productions attended by more than 75 million theatergoers — adding up to a cumulative 112 years.
More than 15 million people have seen touring productions of the show in more than 70 North American cities. It has returned to Cincinnati’s Aronoff Center for a four-week stop (through April 26) presented by Disney Theatrical Productions and Broadway in Cincinnati.
This is the show’s third time in town: In 2003, when 69 performances were presented during a record-breaking seven-week stay, total attendance was 175,225; in 2007, its second Cincinnati engagement saw 103,418 people attend 46 performances.
For 2015, The Lion King will have “only” 32 performances (four weeks is double the length of time that most tours are presented at the Aronoff), likely meaning total attendance for these three stops could top 350,000 people — more than the population of the city of Cincinnati!
These are staggering numbers for a show about wild animals in Africa. In truth, it’s a more universal parable told by people brilliantly outfitted as lions, elephants, giraffes, antelopes, hyenas and birds, as well as a comic meerkat and warthog. Taymor’s imaginative costumes and puppet designs invite audiences to see the performers within them in a way that adds drama to the story.
“When the human spirit visibly animates an object,” she says, “we experience a special, almost life-giving connection. We become engaged by both the method of storytelling as well as the story itself.”
The Lion King is fable of family, pride and courage. It’s set in Africa, where lions rule. A young prince named Simba is born to King Mufasa, whose wicked brother Scar schemes to usurp the throne. When the king dies in an antelope stampede, Scar persuades Simba that he is responsible; he leaves the kingdom in shame. Scar takes charge with his minions, the hyenas, and things go downhill. After years away, Simba returns to reclaim his kingdom, supported by his childhood friend, the lioness Nala, and their comic companions.
The show’s score blends five Pop numbers created by Elton John and Tim Rice for the animated film with music and lyrics reflecting the sound, mood and rhythms of South Africa by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin and Hans Zimmer. The result is mesmerizing.
Taymor was a respected director and a creator prior to The Lion King, but she surprised many with her reinterpretation of the movie. The MacArthur Foundation “genius grant” recipient combined her skills as director and designer of costumes, masks and puppets to establish a wholly innovative and imaginative stage production, a result many thought impossible. Taymor’s past experience with works of mythic aspect and proportion served her well in creating a stage spectacle that appealed to audiences of all ages.
The spectacle is built on a staggering foundation of creative stagecraft. The Lion King uses more than 100 people to make it go: dozens of cast members and musicians, plus supporting workers for wardrobe, hair and makeup, props, sound, lights and so on. There are more than 200 puppets in the show representing 25 kinds of animals, birds, fish and insects — including 39 hyenas and 52 wildebeest. The second act opens with 12 bird “kites.” The tour needs two semi-trailer trucks to transport the puppets from city to city.
It took 17,000 hours to build the puppets and masks for the original production. The tallest animals are the 18-foot giraffes; the tiniest is a five-inch mouse at the end of Scar’s cane. The elephant that lumbers down the aisle in the show’s awe-inspiring opening parade is 13 feet long, more than 11 feet high and nine feet wide at the ears; to fit down the aisle it collapses to 34 inches wide.
These creatures sprang from the inventive mind of Taymor, who continues to play an integral part in The Lion King’s ongoing success. The first woman to win a Tony Award for direction of a musical, she has in recent years supervised new productions of the show around the world.
At 18 years and going strong, The Lion King is a cultural phenomenon. We’ll be saying, “Long live the king” for years to come.
THE LION KING, presented by Broadway in Cincinnati, continues at the Aronoff Center through April 26. More info: cincinnati.broadway.com.
This article appears in Mar 25-31, 2015.
