The ‘Lion King’ Effect: How a Broadway Smash Changed South African Lives


Adapted from the hit animated film set in the fictional Pride Lands, the stage adaptation is rooted in South Africa by its music, much of it by the composer Lebo M., using South African languages and choral stylings. Almost every cast — and there have been many — has included eight to 12 South Africans among approximately 50 performers.

 Over the last two decades, 263 South Africans, many with little formal training in singing or acting, have been dispatched all over the planet to “Lion King” productions staged in Dutch, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese and Spanish.

 “I felt very strongly that we had to have South Africans in it from the beginning” said the show’s award-winning director, Julie Taymor while in Durban in June. She was there for a round of auditions, which continued through the summer, to assemble a largely South African-cast tour that will begin in Manila in March 2018 and then set out across Asia.

 Follow this link below to the full fascinating article with pictures and video found by tour committee member, Tom Weisand. 

 Highlight the link, then Right click and choose "Go to".

 https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/15/theater/the-lion-king-south-africa.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Farts&action=click&contentCollection=arts&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

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