(Disney recommends the show for ages six and up). This may be disturbing stuff for very young children. Not only does Scar cause Mufasa’s death in a wildebeest stampede he also convinces young Simba that the cub is responsible for his father’s death. Allied with the hyenas, Scar sets out to eliminate both Mufasa and Simba, heir to the throne. Hall, while Simba’s friend Nala was portrayed by Nya Cymone Carter).īut uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, even in the savanna: Mufasa’s sinister brother Scar (Patrick R.
(The role of young Simba will alternate at the Opera House on opening night it was spunkily played by Jordan A.
Simba’s father is the noble Mufasa (an imposing L. (The Shackleton Project),’’ presented in Boston by ArtsEmerson two years ago, with its four-foot-high marionettes.įor all of its colorful trappings, some heavy-duty issues percolate through this musical: fratricidal rivalry, filial obligation, the use of power, the responsibility of royalty, the question of an afterlife. To see “The Lion King’’ today is to be impressed anew by Taymor’s innovative approach to storytelling and to be reminded of how much in her debt are the creators of works as varied as “War Horse,’’ with its life-sized steeds, and “69° S. The creatures who swarm, scamper, or lumber across the stage and through the aisles of the Boston Opera House like ambulatory works of art in “The Lion King’’ include giraffes, an elephant, a rhinoceros, antelopes, ostriches, and wildebeests. Seldom have the words “masks’’ and “puppets’’ seemed so puny and inadequate. Taymor exercised comprehensive control over the look and feel of “The Lion King’’ by not only directing the production but also designing the costumes and co-designing (with Michael Curry) the masks and puppets. The same cannot be said of the dutiful stage versions made from some of Disney’s other animated gems from the 1980s and 1990s, such as “The Little Mermaid’’ and “Beauty and the Beast.’’ Those adaptations do not reflect the stamp of a singular artistic vision in the way “The Lion King’’ does.
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