At long last, The Lion King—one of the biggest hits Broadway has seen in decades—has come to Las Vegas! The show begins as you enter: On both sides of the large, comfortable Mandalay Bay Theatre, in alcoves above the audience’s heads, musicians are already playing the heavily percussive soundtrack. The children in the audience will already be tingling with anticipation by the time the performers launch into the stunning opening number, which will not disappoint. “The Circle of Life,” with its dazzling pageant of ingeniously designed animals, from darting birds to loping giraffes to herds of antelope, some of them leaping through the aisles to the stage, is a theatrical marvel.
Almost every child coming to The Lion King will already know the story of Simba, the young heir to the crown of the lion pride, who flees his home because he thinks he’s responsible for his father’s death...when in truth, his uncle is the murderer. (Adults may recognize the rough outline of Shakespeare’s Hamlet lying underneath the bright colors and talking animals!) Disney’s animated movie, a gigantic success in theatrical release, continues to thrive on dvd. The inspiration of the stage production is that it marries this popular, easily accessible story with puppetry—an artform that’s simultaneously ancient and modern.
From the simplicity of the shadow puppets that show Simba and his friend Nala running through the fields to the technical complexity of the wildebeest stampede, puppetry engages the mind in a radically different way than cartoons. In The Lion King, the golden sunrise, the grass of the African savannah itself, and even a mound of termites whirl and dance. Children explode with delight as the entire world moves, from elephants, fish, and fireflies to rocks and trees. Puppetry isn’t complete until the audience infuses these constructions of wood and cloth with imagined life.
Every story of good vs. evil is really defined by its villain—who would Batman be without the Joker?—and Scar, the cruel and wily lion who craves the royal throne, gives The Lion King much of its drive. The good guys like Simba and his father have to be staunch and forthright, but Scar gets to toss off sardonic jabs and snide jokes. He drips with personality. The actor playing him (Thom Sesma) clearly relishes the part, lounging with disdain and pouncing with pent-up fury.
Several spectacular new songs have been added to the stage production (along with a few in-jokes about Las Vegas), but all the popular elements of the movie remain. The borscht-belt comedy team of Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog emerge in the second act to wild applause from their fans. And as rousing as some of the new musical numbers are, it’s the classics that get the most response. At one performance, during the hyaena dance, a little boy was so filled with enthusiasm he jumped out of his seat and danced in the aisle. This may not happen every night, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it did!
—August Evans
