PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Academy of Music will become the Pride Lands when the touring production of “The Lion King” comes through Philadelphia this month.
The Disney musical has enraptured audiences for more than 25 years with its unique costume design, using African-inspired puppets that flow with the actors' movements.
“We knew that the humans had to deliver the songs and to tell the story from their own voice, or in a way, their own face,” says Michael Curry, who worked in tandem with director and costume designer Julie Taymor to design the puppets and masks back in the mid-’90s.
“We were already making Simbas and hyenas that looked like the movie for the theme parks. And in fact, [in] early discussions where Disney approached Julia and I, she said, ‘Well, we don't want to do that’.”
They took a risk in making masks that revealed the actors’ faces and intricate puppets that mimic the way the actors move and dance.
“People were very nervous about, ‘ooh, puppetry’, because they saw it through a juvenile lens,” Curry says.
But the risk paid off, creating a show that won six Tony Awards (including Best Costume Design) and has been seen by over 112 million people worldwide. It opened the door for puppetry in shows like “Beetlejuice” and “Frozen” — both of which Curry designed — and others like “Life of Pi” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”.
Curry has a team that trains the actors on how to use and interact with the puppets. Upper Chichester native Donovan Bazemore is currently playing Young Simba on Broadway, and he says it took some adjustment.
“In rehearsals, we were taught to not look at the actors’ faces, but to look at the masks,” Bazemore says, “because the mask is the actual lion, right? So it was tough at first, because I'd be looking at Scar’s face, and then I’d think, ‘Oh, right’, and look all the way up. And he'd be like, ‘What are you doing?’”
The 12-year-old Bazemore has also performed in “The Lion King” on tour, though he’s not part of the cast coming to Philadelphia this summer. He says it's very different from performing on Broadway — every city brings a unique experience.
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“The show itself is beautiful — the puppetry, the acting, costumes, the lights, the sets — but the way that it can adapt in every city in every theater is incredible.”
Bazemore even got the opportunity to run sound while on tour.
“My first show I got to run sound from the sound booth… And then for the second show, I got to run sound backstage, like putting mics in the wigs and taking them out and running all these tools, and it was really cool to see how everything works.”
“The Lion King'' will be at the Academy of Music from Aug. 16 - Sept. 10. Tickets and more information can be found on the Kimmel Cultural Campus website.
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