By now Disney has adapted almost a dozen of its animated movies into stage musicals, but “The Lion King” is in a class by itself.
Reconceived by visionary director Julie Taymor, who became the first woman ever to win a Tony Award for direction of a musical with this show, the 1997 musical is full of dazzling part-puppet animal costumes and a visual style heavily influenced by traditional African art. It’s a breathtaking spectacle that elevates the story into something much grander than the well-regarded 1994 film. You’ve still got “Hakuna Matata,” of course, but also so much more.
Now playing San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre courtesy of BroadwaySF, the musical originally premiered in 1997 at another Orpheum Theatre, in Minneapolis, before heading to Broadway that same year. Running continuously on Broadway ever since, minus the obligatory pandemic pause, it’s the third longest-running show in Broadway history and the highest-grossing Broadway show ever.
Its book is adapted by the movie’s co-director Roger Allers and co-screenwriter Irene Mecchi, and it features some new songs by the film’s songwriting team of rock legend Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice. But what really shines musically is all the African vocal harmonies added to the mix, with additional music by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Taymor and Hans Zimmer.
This is of course a return visit to San Francisco, and to the Orpheum specifically. “The Lion King” played a 10-month run there in 2004, followed by tour stops in 2012 and 2016. As is often the case after a few times around, the energy is slightly muted compared to earlier visits, with a few significant lulls. But the production now onstage still has plenty of razzle to dazzle.
Taymor’s costumes remain a wonder, with giraffes on stilts, dancers as flocks of birds and a bicycle-like contraption of leaping gazelles. The animal masks by Taymor and Michael Curry evoke grand headdresses.
Demanding elaborate puppeteering from the actors, the comic-relief characters hew closest to the animated versions in design and characterization, especially Simba’s fun-loving pals Timon the meerkat (wonderfully wry Nick Cordileone) and Pumbaa the flatulent warthog (amusingly laid-back John E. Brady). Santa Rosa native Drew Hirshfield provides plenty of comically flustered shenanigans as stuffy hornbill royal advisor Zazu, the role originated on Broadway by veteran Bay Area clown Geoff Hoyle.
“The Lion King” boasts one of the great Disney villains, the lion Scar, the king’s scheming brother who craves power for its own sake and hasn’t really thought things through beyond that. Filling in for Peter Hargrave, William John Austin imbues Scar with ingratiating charm barely concealing sneering contempt as he plots to get his brother and nephew out of his way to the throne.
Gerald Ramsey is a stoic Mufasa, warrior-king of the lions. Julian Villela (alternating with Mason Lawson) bursts with boisterous energy and curiosity as Young Simba, nicely matched by Darian Sanders as the adult Simba. Alternating with Aniya Simone, Jaxyn Damasco makes a worthy sparring partner as Young Nala, Simba’s playmate, who only becomes more formidable as Khalifa White’s full-grown Nala.
Mukelisiwe Goba is magnetic as the jubilantly animated mandrill shaman Rafiki who opens the show and ritualistically steers the hero’s journey on its way.
Throughout the show the design just keeps offering wonderfully innovative ways of evoking the action theatrically, whether it’s with shadow puppets or dancing stampedes of wildebeest masks of different sizes to suggest distance in concert with Richard Hudson’s spare, adaptable scenic design. Garth Fagan’s dynamic choreography turns chases, battles and even foliage into spellbinding dances.
It’s a show whose many elements are so intricate and involved that it still sometimes feels like a wonder that it even tours, even in a somewhat pared-down version.
The “Lion King” musical has been with us with 26 years now, longer than some of the people in its audience, so by now people have a sense of what to expect. But it remains a marvel of theatrical magic that still enthralls viewers with its ingenuity and visual opulence, even at the price of getting the jaunty “Hakuna Matata” stuck in your head all over again.
Contact Sam Hurwitt at shurwitt@gmail.com, and follow him at Twitter.com/shurwitt.
‘THE LION KING’
Music and lyrics by Elton John, Tim Rice and Justin Paul, additional music by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer, book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, adapted from the Disney animated film, presented by BroadwaySF
Through: Dec. 30
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, one intermission
Tickets: $66.50-$268.50; www.broadwaysf.com
By now Disney has adapted almost a dozen of its animated movies into stage musicals, but “The Lion King” is in a class by itself.
Reconceived by visionary director Julie Taymor, who became the first woman ever to win a Tony Award for direction of a musical with this show, the 1997 musical is full of dazzling part-puppet animal costumes and a visual style heavily influenced by traditional African art. It’s a breathtaking spectacle that elevates the story into something much grander than the well-regarded 1994 film. You’ve still got “Hakuna Matata,” of course, but also so much more.
Now playing San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre courtesy of BroadwaySF, the musical originally premiered in 1997 at another Orpheum Theatre, in Minneapolis, before heading to Broadway that same year. Running continuously on Broadway ever since, minus the obligatory pandemic pause, it’s the third longest-running show in Broadway history and the highest-grossing Broadway show ever.
Its book is adapted by the movie’s co-director Roger Allers and co-screenwriter Irene Mecchi, and it features some new songs by the film’s songwriting team of rock legend Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice. But what really shines musically is all the African vocal harmonies added to the mix, with additional music by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Taymor and Hans Zimmer.
This is of course a return visit to San Francisco, and to the Orpheum specifically. “The Lion King” played a 10-month run there in 2004, followed by tour stops in 2012 and 2016. As is often the case after a few times around, the energy is slightly muted compared to earlier visits, with a few significant lulls. But the production now onstage still has plenty of razzle to dazzle.
Taymor’s costumes remain a wonder, with giraffes on stilts, dancers as flocks of birds and a bicycle-like contraption of leaping gazelles. The animal masks by Taymor and Michael Curry evoke grand headdresses.
Demanding elaborate puppeteering from the actors, the comic-relief characters hew closest to the animated versions in design and characterization, especially Simba’s fun-loving pals Timon the meerkat (wonderfully wry Nick Cordileone) and Pumbaa the flatulent warthog (amusingly laid-back John E. Brady). Santa Rosa native Drew Hirshfield provides plenty of comically flustered shenanigans as stuffy hornbill royal advisor Zazu, the role originated on Broadway by veteran Bay Area clown Geoff Hoyle.
“The Lion King” boasts one of the great Disney villains, the lion Scar, the king’s scheming brother who craves power for its own sake and hasn’t really thought things through beyond that. Filling in for Peter Hargrave, William John Austin imbues Scar with ingratiating charm barely concealing sneering contempt as he plots to get his brother and nephew out of his way to the throne.
Gerald Ramsey is a stoic Mufasa, warrior-king of the lions. Julian Villela (alternating with Mason Lawson) bursts with boisterous energy and curiosity as Young Simba, nicely matched by Darian Sanders as the adult Simba. Alternating with Aniya Simone, Jaxyn Damasco makes a worthy sparring partner as Young Nala, Simba’s playmate, who only becomes more formidable as Khalifa White’s full-grown Nala.
Mukelisiwe Goba is magnetic as the jubilantly animated mandrill shaman Rafiki who opens the show and ritualistically steers the hero’s journey on its way.
Throughout the show the design just keeps offering wonderfully innovative ways of evoking the action theatrically, whether it’s with shadow puppets or dancing stampedes of wildebeest masks of different sizes to suggest distance in concert with Richard Hudson’s spare, adaptable scenic design. Garth Fagan’s dynamic choreography turns chases, battles and even foliage into spellbinding dances.
It’s a show whose many elements are so intricate and involved that it still sometimes feels like a wonder that it even tours, even in a somewhat pared-down version.
The “Lion King” musical has been with us with 26 years now, longer than some of the people in its audience, so by now people have a sense of what to expect. But it remains a marvel of theatrical magic that still enthralls viewers with its ingenuity and visual opulence, even at the price of getting the jaunty “Hakuna Matata” stuck in your head all over again.
Contact Sam Hurwitt at shurwitt@gmail.com, and follow him at Twitter.com/shurwitt.
‘THE LION KING’
Music and lyrics by Elton John, Tim Rice and Justin Paul, additional music by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor and Hans Zimmer, book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, adapted from the Disney animated film, presented by BroadwaySF
Through: Dec. 30
Where: Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, one intermission
Tickets: $66.50-$268.50; www.broadwaysf.com