A roaring success
Tickets go on sale next week for The Lion King’s return visit to the Wales Millennium Centre next summer. With work already under way at Cardiff-based Bay Productions to get the set ready, Jenny White pays a visit
THE upcoming return of Disney’s The Lion King to Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) has created a flurry of activity at Bay Productions, the Cardiff Bay-based studio that provides the set for the show.
Located in an unassuming warehouse building in the Bay, the studio has more than 20 years’ experience producing scenery for opera, theatre, stage drama, exhibitions and films.
Its team has produced scenery for many world-renowned production companies, so The Lion King is in safe hands – and when I visit, it seems to have totally taken over the extensive studio space.
Instantly recognisable pieces of set are laid out on the floor, where they are being worked on in a process overseen by scenic art manager James Charlton.
He liaises with Disney Theatrical Group’s production technical manager Spencer New to ensure everything fits the vision laid out by scenic designer Richard Hudson and the show’s creator Julie Taymor.
Here James and Spencer give an insight into their roles.
Q: Preparations for The Lion King are well under way. Can you tell me a bit about your roles?
Spencer: It’s my job to take care of the logistics of the production and work with the creative team to make sure we are putting together the show that they are asking for, and that the set builders and artists understand what they are doing.
My role covers budgets, health and safety, logistics and scheduling, getting everything together at the same time to the back door of the theatre so we can load in the show and put the Lion King on.
Ahead of all this we have a serious visit to the venue and a site visit and talk about what our show needs, how we’re going to lay out the dressing rooms, where the power is coming in, how many trailers we need and what the venue might need from us.
James: We’re making the show here – fabricating and painting cloths. It’s our job to produce the scenic elements we been asked to do, deliver them on time and fit them up in the theatre.
After that, it’s handed over to the Lion King production team – but we are on hand in case of any problems; for example, we’ll come to theatre to fix and paint stuff, or reproduce items.
Q: What’s unique about this show?
Spencer: Julie Taymor’s vision is quite specific and also absolutely brilliant.
The reason this show is 20 years old in London this October is because Julie Taymor had this brilliant concept of how to do the Lion King on stage – including all the puppetry and how she wanted it to look.
She designed all the costumes and worked really closely with our set designer Richard Hudson on the overall feel of the piece, and then of course she directed it, so we are clear about the elements she wants.
We have a tight brief in terms of what we are expected to deliver but the way these guys carry that work out, it’s up to the as artists to produce those things to fit the vision of Julie Taymor.
Q: What are the best things about your jobs, and the biggest challenges?
James: Every show we work on at Bay Productions is completely different; every show is completely bespoke.
Problem solving is a really important and enjoyable part of the job – I like working out how we are going to do things and what we are going to use to make these things.
I also love just seeing it through to the end and seeing the results.
Spencer: I have the challenge of giving the audience this brilliant, enormous spectacle.
The technical challenges of my role are deadlines, budget and logistics – we have 23 45-foot trailers full of scenery and light and sound equipment, so it’s a matter of getting all that all to the right place at the right time.
The best bit for me – speaking as a fan – is seeing that moment when the cloth comes up.
I remember the first time I saw it, in New York 21 years ago, and I still remember that mouth-open-wide moment, not really being able to take in what a massive project it is.
It crosses borders: it has wonderful elements of puppetry, beautiful moments of ballet, wonderful contemporary dance, great scenery – and it looks beautiful.
James: For us as well it’s a very prestigious thing to work on. You have to recreate the Lion King look and you have to get it right, otherwise it’s not going to work. That’s quite daunting in itself but we break it down, work out how to make the elements and it’s a nice achievement when they all come together.
Q: What does it mean to have the show to Cardiff again?
James: It’s like a homecoming – this show tours all over Britain and all over the world so to have it here on our doorstep is great.
We employ 40 to 50 staff so they can all go and see it with their families. We have people from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama working here, we have work experience people coming in.
It’s good for Cardiff – it supports the local arts scene and local suppliers.
Spencer: Speaking for Disney, we are really happy to come to the Bay – these guys build sets internationally, and Cardiff has a massive amount of talent when it comes to scenic art and fabricating ability.
And then you have the WMC, which is a perfect spot for this show – it’s such a lovely place. I was part of the production team that opened the WMC – I did a Royal Gala – so I’m biased: I love the WMC. It’s a really well-built modern building – all the challenges you might see in any of the older theatres you don’t see here.
It’s a really good, adaptable space so we don’t have to make any technical changes to our set to come here.
Q: What can the audience expect from the show? Will it be any different from previous productions?
Spencer: We don’t compromise on the type of show we put out – you’re going to see a great show.
The actors will be different, but the puppetry will be the same.
For the lighting we are using far more LED rather than tungsten this time so it’s more ecologically sound; plus the led lighting is great for the lighting designers.
Ultimately though, what you are going to see is the same fantastic show as before.
Sun image
How it’s made:
The sun is an iconic scenic element of the show and represents a key motif within the production – the circle.
This is the first piece of scenery that the audience sees, as the sun rises after Rafiki’s call in the opening number Circle of Life.
The sun flies in combination with the lifting of fabric cloud borders, evoking a morning mist.
The sun is formed from more than 40 aluminum ribs with silk strips running along each.
The ribs are connected by hanging each rib off the one above, so there’s natural movement as the sun rises.
Each piece of silk is carefully hand cut to length, attached to its rib then delicately spray painted in several layers to create the warm glow of colour.
When it rises at the back of the stage the silk ripples and ribs sway slightly, creating a mirage effect of the heat of the Savannah.
Rafiki’s Tree
How it’s made:
Rafiki’s tree is a large set piece that is set on a large net cloth, which covers the full width and height of the stage.
The audience sees the tree at several key moments in the story, when Rafiki paints onto the tree trunk and the image of Simba emerges in a warm glow.
This is a work-intensive piece that takes several weeks to assemble.
The main raw material that is used to build the tree is erosion cloth. This cloth needs to go through these steps:
■ break it down into string;
■ make it into rope;
■ dye it black;
■ plait the rope;
■ shape the plaits into the African symbols that surround the tree;
■ and apply them to the net along with tree trunk itself
All of the shapes and symbols are made to specific patterns that Richard Hudson created when the show was first created; each one must match the pattern in shape, size and placement.
The shapes that Richard Hudson uses throughout the set are inspired by African folk art, specifically paintings by women of the Mbuti tribe of South Africa.
Simba shades
How they are made:
These feature when Rafiki paints the form of Simba on the Rafiki tree.
They appear within a warm glow on the trunk of the tree.
The shade are made from a lightweight canvas.
There are two shades – one depicting an image of young Simba and one of adult Simba.
The shades are swapped during the interval of the show, with adult Simba being seen in the second act.
Both are hand painted by one person using detailed guidelines.
Jungle borders
How they are made:
These are canvas leaves that are applied to a netted cloth.
They appear in key scenes that take place within the jungle, for instance when Simba and Nala perform Can You Feel The Love Tonight surrounded by beautiful jungle plants.
The leaves start as white material which are:
■ cut into strips;
■ dyed a specific shade of green;
■ painted over the top by troweling on a darker green paint to give texture;
■ then painted with PVA and ruched up so they become 3D and crinkly
The way they are painted makes them slightly translucent so they become beautifully lit on stage.
Because they are on netting back cloth they appear to float in the air weightlessly.
Front cloth
How it’s made
This is the first thing the audience sees when they enter the auditorium, hanging in front of the stage.
It is a painted cloth, painted onto “filled cloth” – a gauze that you can’t see though – and it starts off white.
Firstly, the team spray the whole cloth with orange colour.
They then draw on all the shapes and the symbols that Richard Hudson designed.
The team then carefully paints around each of the symbols with a black paint.
Finally they go over each shape and symbol with an orange spray.
This takes approximately five to six people working on this item at any given stage to keep it moving.
King curtain
How it’s made
The King curtain is a colourful curtain that spans the full width and height of the stage.
When it appears in the performance it unfurls quickly and dramatically from the ceiling for a high impact moment!
This curtain starts off as a piece of white raw silk.
The broader patterns are drawn on first in accordance with Richard Hudson’s designs.
Then some shapes are handpainted on with black paint.
Colourful backgrounds are then painted by hand around the black shapes, taking care to keep the integrity of those shapes intact.
The width of the fabric is double the width of the set, to allow for a very full curtain with lots of thick folds, and it is weighted at the base and made to swag.
The Lion King is at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff from July 9 to August 29, 2020.
Priority tickets go on sale on Monday, September 16, 8am online only at www.wmc.org.uk
General tickets go on sale on Tuesday, September 17, online at www. wmc.org.uk at 8am and via phone on 029 2063 6464 and in person at 9am.