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'The Lion King' Story and Characters | The BSB Podcast · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome back listeners!
• 0:01
  Today is a Circle of Life moment as we're discussing the North American touring production of Disney's The Lion King.
• 0:07
  But before we adventure into the savanna, like, follow, and subscribe to us @bsb.insider on all social media platforms.
• 0:13
  Spoiler warning, we are talking about the story and characters of The Lion King.
• 0:17
  So if you wish to remain Hakuna Matata
• 0:19
  about this production, pause this episode and return once Scar's been defeated.
• 0:24
  RJ, I think that this is a really interesting show because this is one that has been around FOREVER.
• 0:30
  and yet I've never seen it live, which we've gone to New York quite a few times.
• 0:35
  It's interesting that we've never seen this one, but I also am wondering if it's because it's been such a staple for Broadway and or it's always touring that we just figured that
• 0:44
  it's always gonna be there.
• 0:45
  So why see it when we are in New York?
• 0:49
  But you have seen this before, correct?
• 0:52
  I have seen it before in the facet of I worked the show multiple times.
• 0:57
  So like I've never seen it fully sitting down as a patron.
• 1:04
  Interesting.
• 1:04
  always forget I shouldn't say I always forget.
• 1:07
  I do sometimes forget though that you were an usher for years of your life So you like saw shows?
• 1:16
  kind of
• 1:17
  Yeah.
• 1:18
  And usually the parts that you miss most as an usher are the beginning and the end because you're getting ready for people to either come in or leave and guiding people to their
• 1:29
  seats.
• 1:30
  So, that like same thing with like end of act one, beginning of act two, especially with shows like this that have big holds because you have to stay on the outside.
• 1:39
  Um, now sometimes like if you had some friends that were ushering with you, you
• 1:47
  would swap, so like one of us would be inside and one of us would be outside.
• 1:51
  So you could, for this show specifically, like we knew that cool things were gonna happen, so we would like swap who got to see him.
• 1:59
  um But yeah, but you still, like you're standing and you're wandering and you're looking for people on their phones, so you're not like completely paying attention to the show at
• 2:11
  hand.
• 2:12
  I do have to say I think this is interesting before we jump into the story and the cool effects and all those cool things about The Lion King.
• 2:17
  This is one show that they really truly were adamant about cell phones, which again, all shows should be adamant about cell phones.
• 2:24
  Please don't have your cell phones out and be on them.
• 2:25
  Don't text on them.
• 2:27
  But not only did they have signs at the beginning, those ushers, if they saw a phone, there was a flashlight in your face.
• 2:33
  Like they were very adamant, but it's because there is so much going on with The Lion King and there's a part of it that does feel very interactive.
• 2:42
  in a way that you truly do not want this to be ruined.
• 2:46
  So I can imagine as an usher, like, it's a tough job to probably run the Lion King.
• 2:51
  Well, and honestly, depends on the production.
• 2:53
  Disney is known for being very strict, so any time a show like Disney or that was produced by Disney came through, we knew it was go time.
• 3:04
  Disney will let the front of house staff know very early on what the holds are and they will, as they should, as if they're right, like they will hound what we call the front of
• 3:18
  house staff for the management if they see a phone.
• 3:21
  Cause typically Disney has, and big productions like Wicked, Hamilton, those big name ones have people of course on stage and right behind the curtain.
• 3:32
  Usually stage manager or whoever else.
• 3:35
  And if they can see a phone, they alert our front of house team and basically say like, Hey, we can see a phone in orchestra, like the seventh row back.
• 3:46
  And we will have to go in and climb over.
• 3:51
  However many people.
• 3:52
  And we don't confiscate the phone, but we do.
• 3:57
  I speak as if I'm still working there.
• 4:00
  We had to.
• 4:01
  watch them erase the video or photo or whatever it was.
• 4:06
  And if they refused to do that, they were removed.
• 4:08
  And we did have times where I mean, people would bring cameras like at like back in the day where it wasn't even that long ago, but like big cameras and try to be discreet about
• 4:22
  it, like under a coat.
• 4:23
  And yeah, it was, it was a mess.
• 4:28
  And just again, like, why are you recording something when
• 4:31
  You're paying the money to see the thing.
• 4:34
  Not anybody else.
• 4:36
  But that's my soap box.
• 4:38
  but I do feel that.
• 4:42
  I feel like, again, I think I've had a lot of time with like concerts too.
• 4:47
  And we're gonna go back to Lion King very quick, but like I'm like, all these people that are filming the videos of concerts, like the whole concert, I'm like, but then you're not
• 4:53
  experiencing the concert.
• 4:54
  You're not like there to experience it.
• 4:56
  And like you're at the Lion King, you paid a gazillion dollars for these tickets.
• 5:02
  You wanna experience it the way it's supposed to be experienced.
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  You don't want a recording of it really.
• 5:07
  What is that gonna do for
• 5:09
  And like, why are you texting people on there when you should be present with those that you are there with at the show?
• 5:15
  this actually happened during the Lion King, where we had someone on their phone and another patron kind of leaned over from pretty far away and was like, Hey, can you like
• 5:26
  put your phone away?
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  It's distracting.
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  Um,
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  just curious from an accessibility standpoint.
• 5:32
  So some theaters had started leaning into like ah potentially finding alternatives to ah
• 5:43
  What's the word I'm looking for?
• 5:45
  Basically the option to read the script or audio description on your phone rather than if you've ever been to one of those shows where they have it, it's usually just like a
• 6:02
  rolling screen on the far end of the stage.
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  And I'm curious, I haven't seen because we haven't attended a show where that's been the case, but
• 6:13
  I'm curious.
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  If that is a thing, like how people would manage that because if someone truly is using their phone in order to enjoy the show, how can we take that away from them?
• 6:27
  But also how do how do an audience, how do audience members monitor that fairly?
• 6:33
  Like, cause I don't like, can't see what she's doing on her phone.
• 6:37
  Um,
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  But if anyone has any ideas, I've been out of the industry for a little bit, so I'm not sure, uh usually I think it is publicized.
• 6:48
  Like, and usually there's one specific performance in which that's occurring.
• 6:51
  So I understand maybe the rules are a little bit different for that.
• 6:55
  think that there is one specifically for the lighting that they had mentioned was like for, I think it was like sensory issue, like the lights are up, know, it's a little
• 7:04
  different, you know, it's known that it's gonna be a little more like loud and stuff like that, specifically for kids who do have maybe some cognitive disabilities and or some
• 7:13
  social issues, they're able to still enjoy the show.
• 7:17
  But like it was known way ahead of time.
• 7:19
  Like it's known that like this show is gonna be slightly different and that's okay.
• 7:23
  But I am excited then to talk about the show because this means that this is first time you get to see it as an audience member.
• 7:30
  And a big spoiler alert right now, if you are still with us and you don't want to have the spoiled.
• 7:38
  This show opens up probably the coolest bit of theater magic we've ever been in.
• 7:43
  And this does tie into what's going to be a part of conversation too.
• 7:47
  But opening up to the circle of life with all the animals down the hallway, it's not only just like a great feat of like
• 7:53
  theater brilliance, but really, really starts this show off strong.
• 7:59
  There's only like one way that like there's only one trajectory for the show to really go like that is such a cool moment.
• 8:05
  And as an audience member, as I'm sitting there and you hear the music start to build, you see the sun kind of rising.
• 8:12
  And I was like, my god, we're in the Lion King, like we're in it.
• 8:15
  Like it's not just we're observing it, we are in the Lion King.
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  And what a cool moment.
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  I'm sure it's very different for you to be able to see that as an usher and being able to sit in the audience because listeners we're in the orchestra pit like that orchestra pit
• 8:28
  we're in the orchestra area what a cool way to start the show
• 8:32
  Yeah, was something, it's different viewing it as an audience member, but actually surprisingly equally as cool as an usher because of the audience reaction.
• 8:46
  So oftentimes, especially, man, apparently I'm really gonna lean into my usher roots right now.
• 8:52
  A lot of times because I saw a show over, you know, nine to 12 times a week,
• 8:59
  The show can get a little bit old, like when you're seeing it back to back to back.
• 9:04
  um The thing that didn't get old though was the way in which the audience responds and the joy that it brings people.
• 9:13
  And this is one of those shows that every single time, it doesn't matter.
• 9:17
  Like people will say they've been to it multiple times.
• 9:20
  It could be a first time.
• 9:21
  Everyone tends to respond the same and it is just level of like awestruck.
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  uh
• 9:29
  and it is the only show that I know of currently that is that powerful.
• 9:36
  Yeah, because I am not saying anything negative about any other Disney productions I've seen.
• 9:41
  I've seen Frozen.
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  I've seen Beauty and the Beast.
• 9:44
  I'm waiting to check off Aladdin still because Aladdin is one of my favorites.
• 9:47
  But there was nothing.
• 9:49
  There was like no responses to any of the other shows I've been to like this one when those animals are walking out right between you and people just like everyone almost felt
• 10:02
  like a little kid in that moment.
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  everybody felt like they were again like this movie.
• 10:07
  The movie's over 30 years old.
• 10:08
  I remember growing up on this film.
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  And so like to see that I felt like a little kid again.
• 10:13
  I was like my gosh the wonder of this story that the importance of the Lion King is alive right in front of our eyes.
• 10:21
  like what a cool testament to the show.
• 10:24
  Yeah, and interestingly, the parallels between that and if you've ever visited Animal Kingdom, um they have a Lion King show and it's I'll say similar in the effects way.
• 10:39
  It's definitely, it's different in regards to the show itself.
• 10:42
  It's technically not the Lion King.
• 10:43
  It's like the celebration of the Lion King, I think it's called.
• 10:47
  And it is a celebration, but the cultural and...
• 10:52
  like the setting up of the show itself are very similar.
• 10:55
  And I thought that that parallel was kind of cool.
• 11:00
  that, you know, if someone is a fan and they're experiencing that in Florida, they get to experience almost something fairly similar with this production.
• 11:14
  Absolutely.
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  And I mean, I do want to jump into the story of this because, yes, this is the story that we all know.
• 11:22
  But like you said too, like it's also...
• 11:25
  Disney's very good at making sure that all of their stuff is very much the same, like the same experience no matter where you go to.
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  Like no matter what you're doing, where you're going, The Lion King is The Lion King.
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  So like, this is very much like the film.
• 11:35
  You have the story of Simba who um is ousted basically.
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  He runs away, he finds a new life, he comes back.
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  And I think the thing that struck me the most of this one, and I don't remember, maybe I need to re-watch the film, but I know that the idea of legacy was always there.
• 11:52
  but it felt like there was a stronger emphasis on the legacy of a family, the legacy of like who you, what you're leaving in this world and who you want to be.
• 12:02
  And maybe that's because I'm older now and that like appeals to me a little bit more.
• 12:06
  But I really found that this was an interesting kind of narrative, including the songs that they added of this like, like, like Mufasa said, don't forget who you are and like
• 12:15
  where you came from because like this is important to who you will always be.
• 12:20
  And so I did think that that theme really stood out in The Lion King.
• 12:25
  Yeah, I would argue they spend way more time with that theme than the movie does.
• 12:29
  Of course, this is like, I'm not sure how long the film is, but this is a two and a half hour show.
• 12:36
  And so um they spend way more time setting up than I think the movie does.
• 12:43
  And that gives us that time to really slowly breathe in the messaging, uh which yeah, very much.
• 12:53
  has a lot to do with not only legacy of the individual, but I think also the respect and uh interest of that cultural aspect, which obviously this show leans into so, so hard um
• 13:13
  in a, I think, very beautiful and appropriate way.
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  Yeah, because when you look at the movie, the movie's only 88 minutes.
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  It's an hour and 20 minutes to tell the story of what's essentially William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
• 13:26
  It keeps a very tight story, but this one definitely breathes a lot more.
• 13:32
  And what I think is interesting is that it kind of focuses on the legacy of just like you show Simba wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, which we got that in the film, how
• 13:41
  he feels coming back.
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  But also, I think the legacy of what's interesting is Scar.
• 13:46
  We felt that a lot more too of like you really they played up a little bit more with like him being the brother who was left behind Wanting that power.
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  What does that mean for him?
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  And then also in act two they talk about kind of like he wants a wife, which is not something that's really in the film He doesn't really go after Nala.
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  He doesn't like he almost seems uninterested like dare I say slightly like asexual in a way a little bit where he's just like not interested in like he just wants it for himself
• 14:09
  He doesn't really want it to like carry on where this one felt like they really played it off up about like
• 14:15
  What do you leave behind, including the bad guy?
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  Like, what does he leave behind?
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  What's his legacy?
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  How are people gonna remember him?
• 14:22
  And so they did spend a lot, I mean, I would guess at least an extra 20, 30 minutes of the extra hour from the film building up on that specifically.
• 14:32
  Yeah, and I think in regards to the Scar plot line, still arguably his number one priority being power and the power of legacy too.
• 14:45
  uh maybe the asexual thing still isn't far off.
• 14:50
  I think the parts that we see of that in this show are a little bit more performative in regards to I'm just doing this thing so that I gain more power or
• 15:01
  in more legacy, ah not because I obviously, because I want them.
• 15:08
  which also that, that plot line, like always makes me feel a little bit gross.
• 15:13
  Um, there's definitely like, you're going after someone who's the same age as your nephew.
• 15:19
  Um, but familial bonds.
• 15:26
  are just a massive, um I mean, we have the tree of life, right?
• 15:32
  And we have this like really big picture of what that means on a, I feel like.
• 15:41
  That tree in the show feels so massive and huge, but it's such a good representation of how, well, I mean, of the innumerable, I guess, uh points of when we talk about legacy,
• 15:59
  when we talk about...
• 16:00
  uh
• 16:02
  memory and what we're creating versus what we're leaving behind.
• 16:08
  It reminded me a lot of um kind of the conversation in Black Panther 2 where it's just like, you know, the king dies and like, what do you still leave behind?
• 16:17
  But we're all still connected to our ancestors.
• 16:19
  We're all still connected.
• 16:20
  Again, you talk about those cultural roots and this is something that is a theme that we see in shows.
• 16:26
  you know, I've heard clients talk about this, you know, of being like, are, your ancestors are always with you.
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  They're always a part of you.
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  They are the people, the spirits lifting you up.
• 16:37
  And so like, yeah, there's the tree of life, which is a symbol that they even use, like you said, in Animal Kingdom.
• 16:41
  Like this is something that speaks to like, everybody has a piece of this puzzle, but you're never far away from your family.
• 16:47
  Like even when they're gone, they're still there.
• 16:50
  Which is I think why it's so interesting about this show and this story as well is that it does deal with loss and how he almost gets cut off from the, the legacy piece.
• 17:01
  He doesn't feel his, his ancestors there.
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  He doesn't feel his father.
• 17:05
  He thinks that like, because of what happened,
• 17:07
  He's like running away from responsibility, but he's also running away from the legacy of being connected to those ancestors, which is is played up again in this show compared to
• 17:15
  the film.
• 17:16
  Yeah, just like looking at what the original direction for the show was meant to be.
• 17:25
  mean, when you see the show, it's very clear that they are leaning incredibly hard into heritage and celebrating African-American heritage.
• 17:36
  uh And I know that there are like true other...
• 17:40
  um
• 17:42
  languages being used throughout as well as like the costuming and all of those pieces.
• 17:49
  But yeah, that circle of life philosophy where we're talking about the interconnectedness of of life itself, of nature, and
• 18:02
  remembering identity, celebrating the heritage that may have come before you and how that has translated into the now, which visually.
• 18:14
  This story uses a lot of puppetry, which I think also is just a cool way of almost like a look back because puppetry to me kind of feels a little bit, can feel antiquated, but it's
• 18:30
  a good example of taking something that may have been used as an art form a long time ago and making it feel new and.
• 18:41
  I don't know, like almost recycled in a uh modern, immersive way, which just, again, I feel like those things just all align with the themes that they're trying to draw to and
• 18:54
  from.
• 18:55
  You know, when I was writing this face sheet and I was putting down all these different themes, I think the word I was looking for was identity, because you're right, this show
• 19:02
  is about identity.
• 19:04
  It's about Simba finding his identity and through that, taking responsibility, redeeming himself, finding who he is.
• 19:11
  But also this show has such a unique identity too, like the amount of different types of puppetry that's going on, the type of like how they're portraying it, like the light, and
• 19:21
  we'll talk more about this in part two, but like the light puppets.
• 19:23
  like shadow puppets comparatively to like the actual puppets compared to like the body puppets.
• 19:28
  Like there's so much going on that it is distinctly like again, its identity is rooted in the culture piece too.
• 19:37
  I've just been like the where is the story coming from?
• 19:41
  It's coming from, you know, the Savannah.
• 19:44
  It's rooted in African cultures.
• 19:45
  It's rooted in the identity of like, like the collectivistic.
• 19:51
  kind of society of like, we're all in this together.
• 19:54
  We're all a part of that tree of life.
• 19:56
  And that's echoed in the sentiment that Mufasa uses of like, yes, we kill the antelopes, but like, then when we die, we feed the antelopes with our body because of the grass.
• 20:05
  like, we're all, again, our identity is so tied to everybody else that you can't remove a piece of this without losing everything else.
• 20:13
  Well, and that ties pretty well into that theme of responsibility, right?
• 20:20
  Like we are responsible with the resources that we are given and we're responsible with the resources that we take knowing in reference to the circle of life that those things,
• 20:31
  if we do them correctly, will revamp, recycle, um continue to.
• 20:41
  ultimately succeed when it comes to that degree.
• 20:43
  But also touching back on when we talk about the legacy aspect and the familial aspect, what do your actions today mean for the legacy that you're leaving behind or projecting?
• 21:01
  And when you talk about like the resources aspect of it, too, you see see that when Scar has depleted all of those resources and it's kind of showing you that like when you cut
• 21:12
  yourself off from what you where you come from and you are Doing this in a very selfish way.
• 21:16
  There's not life to prosper again There's like you are a hollow empty life in that way But when you kind of accept your role in this life kind of provides Life finds a way
• 21:31
  As they would say in Jurassic Park
• 21:33
  and it's funny, I don't know why, just because of the world that we live in currently, I mean, that's a huge issue.
• 21:40
  And I immediately think of during COVID when stores are running out of toilet paper, such a stupid thing to run out of, right?
• 21:50
  Like something that you don't need mass amounts of, but people were so concerned with me, me, me, me, and I.
• 22:00
  We lost that even on such a, in my opinion, dumb level of ah being aware of the people around us and what our true needs were versus like, of course there's a fear factor there,
• 22:18
  totally get it.
• 22:19
  Not sure I get fear about toilet paper, but to each their own.
• 22:23
  ah And at the end of the day, like those...
• 22:28
  The joke was kind of on the folks who overtook what they should have, right?
• 22:35
  Like when you were paying a gazillion dollars using your resources in a not appropriate way and then finding out, I didn't really need all that.
• 22:46
  um And the others still surviving, still getting by.
• 22:53
  um
• 22:56
  coming out of that and then the cycle starting fresh again.
• 23:01
  It's just a testament to our humanity, unfortunately.
• 23:07
  But sometimes, it may be.
• 23:11
  But you're right though, like you're right, like that is definitely kind of the scar storyline there of just like when you only think about yourself, that's what part of it
• 23:21
  that is what causes issues.
• 23:23
  We're not thinking about the entire population.
• 23:27
  Like he's not thinking of all of the, you know, like Nala and her mother and Simba's mother, like Sarabi he's like not thinking of any of them because he doesn't care.
• 23:38
  they're literally dying.
• 23:40
  They're dying and starving and the water shriveling up, which I can't wait to talk about the water in part two.
• 23:45
  That was such a cool effect.
• 23:46
  I was just like flabbergasted how cool that was.
• 23:49
  But there's a lot of pieces to this where you just are like, if you cared about the, if you cared about the collective part of this, if you care about the family, family is going
• 23:58
  to help solve a lot of problems.
• 24:00
  Family, you know, we can do this all together.
• 24:02
  um So it is really cool piece.
• 24:05
  And I do think that
• 24:07
  This leads to a lot of really cool standout pieces from the cast.
• 24:11
  I don't even know where to begin.
• 24:13
  This is the hard part.
• 24:13
  So I was looking at this list.
• 24:14
  I'm like, where do I begin?
• 24:15
  Like, I think that Mufasa, so David DeLancey Wilson is really a standout for me.
• 24:20
  He did such a good job.
• 24:22
  He sounded just like James Earl Jones in a way that was kind of cool, but super strong performance from him.
• 24:29
  like, I mean, I could go down the list.
• 24:31
  You name a person and they all have something positive about them.
• 24:35
  But also a shout out to Zazu because I did love, I always loved Zazu as a child.
• 24:41
  So to see him performed, like the very dry British humor, very funny, Nick Lamedica did a great job.
• 24:49
  like, mean, this was just, you could tell that Disney puts a lot of time into their cast because again, consistency, they want the same show no matter who's gonna go see it.
• 24:58
  And like, everybody was just phenomenal.
• 25:02
  Well, yes, of course.
• 25:05
  I mean, to be hired by Disney, like literally in any facet, just speaks to the caliber of which you're doing, whatever you're doing.
• 25:14
  Fun fact for those who don't know, like even if you want to go work at Disneyland or World, you have to like go through a full audition process.
• 25:23
  It's not just like I'm applying to be a street sweeper.
• 25:27
  You literally audition as if you were auditioning for a role in a theatrical production, because you are.
• 25:34
  You're a character that is.
• 25:36
  And so I think this also, I remember chatting with some of their production teams when Lion King came through.
• 25:45
  And again, they're usually people who have theater backgrounds or were performing at one point, and now they're producing or managing or stage managing or whatever.
• 25:55
  So I think it brings, it's a, it's a different kind of dance when, when Disney puts a production together.
• 26:02
  And so of course we have the iconic voices that just act and sound like the ones that were very similar to what we're used to hearing.
• 26:14
  But I would say the ensemble for me just is what brings this show full like
• 26:27
  Full circle.
• 26:27
  um
• 26:29
  knew you were gonna say it
• 26:31
  Because the sheer power of the sounds that are happening, it's next level.
• 26:41
  And...
• 26:43
  the percussion sets.
• 26:45
  So for anyone who hasn't seen, Disney puts up basically two different percussion mini stages on either side of the stage.
• 26:57
  And you have a percussionist actively through the entire show working the percussion that is using like a lot of traditional African uh musical instruments.
• 27:13
  And they, I feel like they're the unsung heroes of the show um because it's just, it's next level immersive.
• 27:23
  uh And like also, at least that I could see or that I have ever seen, I never see sheet music.
• 27:30
  never see, like everything they do is memorized and it's in the dark.
• 27:36
  I'm like, some of those scenes are very dark and they've probably got
• 27:42
  I don't know, 20, 30, maybe more instruments in that little space and they're picking up the right one and they're doing it at the right time.
• 27:50
  And I'm, as a musician, I'm like, that's my nightmare, but go off.
• 27:56
  But they're equally, they're playing the part though.
• 27:58
  Like they're very aware of they are being seen.
• 28:02
  They are actually further out than the stages itself.
• 28:06
  it's, yeah.
• 28:08
  So shout out to those guys in our case.
• 28:12
  Truly, you could not have this show without the ensemble and the percussionists.
• 28:18
  The percussionists were making the rain sound, the sun sound, the creaking of the bones.
• 28:25
  And then truly the ensemble, you feel so...
• 28:31
  The show becomes so full as they're coming onto stage and each one has a different personality.
• 28:38
  Each personality, like some of them are interacting with the audience members and some of them were not and like, and some of them are doing dances and stuff like that.
• 28:45
  There was just so much life to their performance that like truly, you're right, they are the unsung heroes of this show.
• 28:55
  You could have the entire main cast there and it would not be the same without.
• 29:00
  the antelopes in the background, know?
• 29:02
  The wildebeests that are just prancing through, you know?
• 29:07
  There's so much power to this ensemble.
• 29:11
  Truly just...
• 29:13
  Yeah.
• 29:13
  Yeah.
• 29:14
  And I mean, and again, obviously no shade to the main characters because they all, you just, sit there and you're basking in vocal glory.
• 29:26
  it's just, it's, they're made different.
• 29:30
  and they're also acutely aware of what they need to be doing.
• 29:35
  Like every mannerism, which obviously that's why you have rehearsals.
• 29:39
  That's why you are doing what you're doing, but it's just.
• 29:43
  I've seen and read quite a few interviews for the lion king just over my entire life.
• 29:52
  And I just remember them talking about, okay, even though I am a puppet or even though, you know, whatever my costume is, like I, every way I sit down, I am an animal.
• 30:06
  Like how does, how does a lion lie down?
• 30:09
  How do they, you know, it's not like,
• 30:12
  As a human, we might put our arms down first, but as a lion, I'm sweeping my leg behind this leg and then I'm sitting down this way.
• 30:19
  Like it's just those things I caught maybe because I kind of seen it a few times, but those are the details that I caught this time where I was like, okay, like they have
• 30:31
  studied and they've practiced and it, and it makes a difference.
• 30:36
  I will say that watching Nick Lamedica as Zazu, the way he would also turn his head very bird-like, or even like, and then when he would put Zazu's body on his head and the way he
• 30:49
  changed his head went from face movement to body movement, it was like you knew every inch of the bird, like you knew every inch of his responses and his actions and you knew how to
• 31:00
  modulate that.
• 31:01
  There was one performer who was the cheetah.
• 31:05
  that walked across the stage multiple times.
• 31:08
  And the way she moved her hands, it was very specific.
• 31:12
  You could tell.
• 31:13
  was, every piece had been so well thought out, and these performers have to know every inch.
• 31:21
  And God, anybody who's a swing in this, my gosh.
• 31:25
  I could not imagine knowing multiple roles in this show because you would have to know how every animal moves.
• 31:32
  Well, yeah, I mean, again, the ensemble just absolutely insane.
• 31:36
  I can only imagine how many costumes on average they each have because they're all turning into people at least twice.
• 31:45
  They're all like, I'm assuming they have like a primary character.
• 31:49
  Then they have like a plant character for certain scenes.
• 31:53
  Then they have a uh person for act two.
• 31:58
  Then they have a hyena character.
• 32:02
  Each track must have at least a dozen costumes and characters on it, if not more.
• 32:09
  And if you're not aware, like oftentimes you're knowing multiple tracks.
• 32:15
  That's what being a swing is.
• 32:17
  You know, track this, this, and this, which really means, you know, like 40 to 50 roles and costumes and expressions and
• 32:31
  While we were in the orchestra and so with, with in the Fisher or sorry, in the opera house, it's a little bit harder to see because the overhang for the, uh, mezzanine is so
• 32:42
  far out, but on these immersive parts, like they don't just have people on the first and sub levels.
• 32:51
  They have people all the way up to the top floor.
• 32:57
  And so just again, not only are you learning up
• 33:00
  a character, every time they go into a new building, they have to, and I'm sure this is all thought out well in advance, and then they're just given the instruction, but they
• 33:13
  have to know, okay, by this measure of this song, I have to run from floor four all the way down to the stage.
• 33:26
  And by the way,
• 33:27
  I also hope that I'm not running into patrons, the doors aren't locked.
• 33:32
  Like there's just so many things in this show that could actually go very, very wrong, but I've never seen it.
• 33:38
  Like it's always flawless.
• 33:41
  But as an, an, that is a nightmare.
• 33:44
  I would not, I, that's terrifying to me, but obviously like Disney does the work beforehand to make sure that it all works out.
• 33:53
  So you heard it here first listeners, RJ is never auditioning for the Lion King on Broadway.
• 33:58
  Thanks.
• 34:01
  Which I think that does you right.
• 34:03
  That does add a level of difficultness for the touring production because you have to know the theaters.
• 34:10
  It's not like it's the same theater in Broadway that you go to do it every single night.
• 34:14
  Granted, they're doing it for a month here, but you have to then go to the next stage, and you have to figure out that stage on how to do this.
• 34:21
  And granted, it was such a cool performance, such a cool show.
• 34:25
  Everyone killed it.
• 34:27
  But yeah, that's a level of difficulty that I don't think anybody...
• 34:30
  really wants to deal with other than these people that are killing it every single night.
• 34:34
  So many prowls, so many things.
• 34:37
  And so with that, we're currently running out of time, but stay tuned for part two of our The Lion King discussion.
• 34:42
  Thanks again for joining us here in our box seats until next curtain call.