The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Brace for even more of ‘The Lion King’
Enduring musical stage adaptation returns to Cleveland hot on heels of movie remake
The summer of “The Lion King” continues.
First, the world received the recently released bigscreen remake, which earned $185 million in its opening weekend.
And now comes the return of the Tony Awardwinning stage musical adaptation to Northeast Ohio. The popular Disney production appears Aug. 7 through Sept. 1 at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace.
“The world is going ‘Lion King’ crazy,” said James Dodgson, music directorconductor of “The Lion King,” calling from New York City. “It’s a big time for ‘The Lion King.’ The new movie aside, the theatrical show does amazing business still — 20-plus years on — everywhere it goes.
“That said, it will be interesting to see what effect the new movie has on the show. I guess maybe it’ll introduce another new audience and generation to ‘The Lion King.’ Also, I’m sure it’ll be cool for some folks to see the movie and the show back to back.”
Having debuted in 1997, “The Lion King” stage musical has been seen by more than 95 million people. In fact, there are nine productions around the globe being performed in eight languages: Japanese, German, Korean, French, Dutch, Spanish, Mandarin and Portuguese.
Naturally, a large part of mainstream appeal of “The Lion King” is its music, which to date is America’s best-selling animated soundtrack album.
One aspect of the new film is Beyoncé ‘s new song “Spirit.” Dodgson isn’t sure whether the anthemic track will make its way to future “The Lion King” stage productions.
“I doubt it, if I’m honest,” Dodgson said. “Those things are often written for the film as a way to get an Oscar nomination. Now, I do like the Beyoncé track, but it doesn’t sound — based on what I saw — like it would fit in the stage production.
“It’s in Beyoncé’s style for the genre, so having someone else sing it would have been a bit strange. So it’ll be interesting to see what happens. However, I worked on ‘Les Misérables’ in the past.
“After the movie came out, a few elements did make their way into the stage show.” What’s interesting about Dodgson and “The Lion King” is the theater veteran, who grew up in the United Kingdom, never saw the movie as a kid.
Granted, he finally did watch the ‘90s classic about a year and a half ago when, after working on other Disney-based stage productions “Beauty and the Beast” and “Mary Poppins,” he joined “The Lion King” tour. Even though he may have been late to the game, Dodgson said the experience was worth the wait while also providing perspective to the property’s lasting appeal.
“‘The Lion King’ is based on ‘Hamlet,’” Dodgson said. “So the great thing about these shows — the cartoon and film — is that they play along many levels. They can appeal to children, adults. There is lots of stuff in it for everybody.
“I look at them for what they are, and then you watch the animated movie again or you watch the stage production again and see different things you missed the first time. That’s why people keep coming back to the musical. They love the show they grew up watching.”