Playwright: Roger Allers & Irene Mecchi (book), Elton John, Tim Rice & others (music and lyrics)
At: Cadillac Palace Theatre
Phone: (312) 902-1400; $18-$82;
VIP tickets $122-$127
Runs through: Nov. 23 at least
Disney's The Lion King may be the most consistently brilliant musical I've ever seen, with one enormous reservation. That caveat is the two-dimensional, cliché story in which an exiled prince comes of age to revenge the murder of his kingly father, and claim his rightful throne. And all of it in animal drag. It's how the drag is done that's so glorious. Under director and co-designer Julie Taymor's high concept, every detail of design is flawlessly integrated with movement and music to enlarge the little plot, and create a joyous, colorful and consistently theatrical kaleidoscope of visual and aural astonishment. In other words, it's a minnow of a story but a whale of a production. It's the telling, not the tale, that makes The Lion King a must-see.
Taymor decided the show needed to look and sound far more authentically African than the animated film upon which it is based. She also needed to create visual effects that were inherently theatrical, yet would be equivalent to the film. And she needed to do it with real, live people.
For the look, she and her co-designers turned to the shapes of jungle leaves and veldt grasses, to African textiles, and mask-and-dance rituals. For the sound, she supplemented the eight Elton John-Tim Rice songs from the film (cutting some back to just a single verse) with tribal chants and African-flavored new songs thrillingly arranged by co-composer Lebo M. Acts I and II immediately engage the audience with opening chants that send shivers down the spine.
For visual effects, Taymor created elaborate make-up and costumes, a panoply of world puppetry (232 shadow, stick, hand, body puppets), and innovative masks that fix the animal figures without concealing the faces of the actors. She also employed an astounding range of scenery mechanics to create sunrises, streams, a stampede, and falling or flying figures. Most of the theatrical devices are modern versions of very old tricks, many dating back 2,500 years to Greek theater. The old is new again and captivating.
As in the New York original, Taymor has assembled a large (53) company of incredibly handsome, gifted and mostly young performers, including a number of Chicagoans. Three locals—Larry Yando, Derek Hasenstab (Zazu) and Melvin Abston (Banzai)—have principal roles, with Yando (who may be the troupe's oldest actor) receiving top billing as the villainous Scar, who combines the worst traits of Richard III and Hamlet's Claudius. He carries it off with unctuous aplomb. Under Taymor and choreographer Garth Fagan, the entire cast displays a velvety and easy athleticism in which one cannot tell where walking ends and dance begins, so muscular yet elegant is the whole.
The Lion King is rare proof that high art can flourish within commerce. It's jungle fever worth catching.
PICTURED: Adia Ginneh Dobbins as Nala and Brandon Victor Dixon as Simba in the Chicago production. TOP: Larry Yando as Scar. RIGHT: Circle of Life. Photos: Joan Marcus; ©Disney
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