Puppet masters
RIP-ROARING MUSICAL THE LION KING IS TAKING PRIDE OF PLACE IN BIRMINGHAM DIANE PARKES
DISNEY’S smash hit musical The Lion King plays Birmingham Hippodrome this summer – and taking one of the lead roles is local actor Matthew Forbes.
Matthew has been touring with the show for four years, playing the king’s royal attendant, the hornbill Zazu – and it is a part which he relishes.
“Zazu is such a funny character,” says Matthew. “He has such brilliant one liners that people love him. He was voiced by Rowan Atkinson in the movie.
“There are lots of gags there and we try to make many of them local to the city where we are performing, which is really fun, so we will have some Birmingham gags in there.’’ He adds: ‘‘Comedy is always difficult, you’re always nervous in case people don’t find you funny, but this show has been so beautifully written and it’s so well-crafted audiences always laugh.”
As a teenager, Matthew, who grew up in Leicester, frequently visited Birmingham theatres, sparking a love for the stage which then led him to train at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. “When I was at high school we would often take the train over to Birmingham and watch shows there. It’s a brilliant city and I’m really looking forward to getting there with The Lion King. Not only will I be a bit closer to home but also there’s a real buzz around the city. “It’s so great to be touring with this show as well, taking it to people who can’t make the trip into London. This way they get to see it on their doorstep.” The Lion King premiered on New York’s Broadway in 1997 and London’s West End in 1999, and has since toured the world, being watched by more than 110 million people. The show is a real spectacle. It takes around 150 people to put the show on each night – with 50 onstage and 100 backstage. “The Lion King is a massive show and I think sometimes people might worry it’s going to be pared down when it tours but it absolutely isn’t,” Matthew says. “There’s just as many people in the touring show as in London and on Broadway and we have all of the same pieces of set and costumes, all of the same props and puppets – the whole shebang.
“Sometimes squeezing that into a theatre on the road can be a bit of a challenge because we want to make sure that we give the best shows to the audience but the Hippodrome is a big theatre and it is going to fit perfectly in Birmingham. So we’re bringing Broadway or the West End to Birmingham.”
Matthew has played Birmingham Hippodrome before, notably with the National Theatre’s War Horse, in which he gained many of the puppetry skills he now uses in The Lion King.
Originally directed by Julie Taymor, The Lion King features more than 230 different puppets including rod, shadow and full-sized creatures. “Before War Horse I hadn’t really done any puppetry so I learned a lot on that show; that was sort of like doing a masters degree in puppetry,” Matthew recalls.
“Since then, that’s opened the door to lots of other shows with puppets.
“I now often work as a puppetry director and I’ve done lots of different family shows, Christmas shows and operas with puppetry. In fact, puppetry is now becoming more and more popular and more mainstream and I think a lot of that is down to The Lion King.
“Julie Taymor had the original vision of using puppets incorporating the actor or performer along with the puppet and I think that really changed how people viewed puppetry.
‘‘For a long time puppetry had been seen as something for the kids at the end of the pier but the success of The Lion King changed that.”
And in Zazu, Matthew needs all his skills.
“Zazu is one of the most complicated puppets in the show. His eyes blink, his mouth moves, his wings open, he’s got two little feet that are responsive, and then his neck is a slinky kind of thing so he’s so expressive. ‘‘Every perfor- mance you’re mak- ing sure that he’s coming to life and then focusing on the words, and the dance moves, and not falling off the stage! It’s quite complicated but I love bringing him to life.”
Matthew, who has toured with many shows including The Good Life, Holes, Babe the Sheep-Pig and The Wizard of Oz, fell in love with The Lion King as a child.
“This is one of those magical musicals which I have always been
a massive fan of,” he says. “I remember seeing it with my grandparents when I was very little in London and it was one of those musicals that just blew me away the first time I saw it.
‘‘I remember sitting in the auditorium during Circle of Life and just having a really strong response to it and wanting to be part of that story.” And he says the show has different elements for children and adults. “When I was younger I thought it was beautiful and wonderful but then as I grew up I realised it has some quite adult themes. ‘‘It’s a story of overcoming adversity, of friendship, of trying to work out where you sit within the world. “It’s such a popular show, everybody loves it, and it’s just a joy as a performer to work on a show that has such an exciting buzz.”
I was very little and it was one of those musicals that blew me away Matthew Forbes
Disney’s The Lion King is at Birmingham Hippodrome from July 6 to September 16. See www. birminghamhippodrome.com